HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2004-02-19, Page 6Getting set
Area students who had advanced on to the next level
participated in the free throw competition held this past
Saturday at St. Anne's school in Clinton. (Vicky Bremner photo)
L
Looking for local heroes
There are so many people out there who do
so much to improve their community.
Now you have a chance to say thanks.
Nominate that special person for the 19th
Annual Citizen Citizenship Awards.
Each year a committee chooses an outstanding citizen from each of
the Blyth and area and Brussels and area communities to receive an
award for contribution to the community. If you know someone you
think should be honoured, please fill in the ballot and send it in. You
may attach a longer explanation of why you think your nominee
should win, if you like. If you have nominated someone before and
he or she didn't win, please feel free to try again.
I nominate
q Blyth Li Brussels
& area & area
I feel she/he deserves this award because
as Citizen of the year for
Nomination Deadline April 30, 2004.
Name and phone number of nominator
PAGE 6. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 2004.
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
Four years after angering many
students and the local secondary
school teachers' union — and after
four years of hearing sporadic
opposition from both groups — the
Avon Maitland District School
Board has almost entirely reversed
its January. 2000 decision to
eliminate semestered timetables
from its secondary schools.
Though the wording of a motion
approved Tuesday. Feb. 10 is
somewhat ambiguous
"support(ing) flexible scheduling in
its secondary schools" for the 2004-
05 school year forward — director
of education Geoff Williams
confirmed in an interview following
the meeting that the vote will almost
certainly mean all 10 of the bo ird's
secondary schools will revert to
semestered programming next year.
That means students will no longer
study as many as eight courses all
year long in approximately 40-
minute periods, and will now study
four or fewer courses over half the
school year in longer class periods,
then switch to four other courses for
the remainder of the school year.
There will be some exceptions,
however. So-called "traditional"
timetables will remain in place for
all Grades 9 and 10 math and
English courses.
Assuming high school
administrators choose — as
Williams expects they will — to
revert to semestered programming in
all other subject areas, they'll be
required to dovetail these particular
year-long courses into those
timetables.
"We believe (year-long
scheduling) allows for better skill
development in these areas,"
Williams explained, adding the Avon
Maitland board's results in
provincially standardized literacy
and numeracy tests at these grade
levels have consistently been higher
than the provincial average. He
quickly noted the board has no
scientific evidence to link that
success to the past four years'
traditional timetable, but compelling
By Bonnie Gropp
Cititen editor
A delegation of parents from
Wingham Public School and Sacred
Heart School appeared before
council Monday night to request that
school crossing guards be hired.
Spokesperson Pat Newson
explained that there is a safety
concern for the children walking to
both schools. "Near misses and cars
not yielding to children are
common," she said, adding that an
accident is "a potential reality".
Of particular concern is the fact
that dismissal at F.E. Madill
Secondary School is just before that
of the public schools. This, said
Newson, creates a lot of high traffic
in the area, with most of the drivers
having relatively little experience.
Newson presented information
regarding crossing guard programs
in other municipalities. In all they
are managed by the municipality.
In Clinton there are four places
where crossing guards are used.
They are paid $10.30 per hour and
the total hours in 2003 was 2,400.
arguments have been made in other
jurisdictions that the use of year-
long courses decreases the loss of
math and literacy skills from one
grade to the next.
Questioned by Stratford trustee
Doug Pratley, who applauded the
move back to semestering but
wondered why the exceptions should
remain in place. Williams responded
that. "at least as we move into the
first couple of years (of flexible
scheduling), there have to be some
compelling reasons for us to
reconsider" the Grade 9 and 10
exceptions.
The 2000 move to traditional
timetables was made in response to
two changes brought in by the
former Conservative government: a
condensed curriculum running
through to Grade 12 instead of
Grade 13: and increased teacher'
workloads.. District 8, the Huron-
Perth local of the Ontario Secondary
School Teachers Federation
(OSSTF), opposed the Avon
Maitland reaction, suggesting the
board's move to full-year courses
actually forced most union members
to teach seven out of eight periods
instead of the government's required
6.67 out of eight.
Disapproval was also expressed by
students, particularly those who
hoped to complete a small number of
courses in the first half of the school
year, then have the second semester
free to work and save money for
further studies.
Williams, in his report to trustees
prior to tabling the recommendation,
admitted the issue never died down
even though the students who had
experienced semestered timetables
during part of their high school
careers gradually moved on.
"We had up to four years of fully
desemestered timetables, but the
conversation has continued," the
director of education said.
Last fall, Williams told trustees, he
decided to bring that conversation
into the open. Beginning in
November, he met with department
heads and principals. Although there
was recognition that certain subject
areas may benefit from year-long
schedules, Williams said, "if you put
Total budget for last year was
$26,241.
Brussels and Seaforth also have
two crossing guards each. They are
paid $9.15 an hour and the 2003
budget was $20,000.
In Listowel there are three
locations. The crossing guards
receive minimum wage and work
17.5 hours a week. The total annual
budget, said . Newson is
approximately $20,000.
The proposed locations are at the
corners of Carling Terrace and
Cornyn Street, Frances and John
Streets, Patrick and John Streets and
Josephine and Victoria Streets.
The proposal from the delegation
was for an approximate annual
budget of $23,000, for four guards
working three hours per day at $9
per hour.
Council tabled the information for
budget discussions.
BUY? SELL?
TRY CLASSIFIED
it w a vote, I think most of the
department heads would prefer to
return to scmestering."
Tom Barker, District 8 OSSTF
president, said after the meeting he
was glad to receive an invitation
from Williams to take part in those
November _meetings. Likewise he
welcomed the opportunity
outlined in a section of Williams's
report describing consultation with
teachers and school councils — to
have input into how timetables are
created by principals.
Northwest Huron trustee Emily
Milley cast the only vote against the
return to semesters. She complained
that her daughter has experienced
several format changes during her
high school career, and yet another
would be unnecessary. She also
suggested the board is "walking into
this blind," and sought to delay the
decision by two months, until staff
could provide information about
jurisdictions which have initiated
"flexible scheduling."
South Huron's Randy Wagler and
Perth East's Tina Traschel, both of
whom represent areas which border
on other counties, related feedback
they had received from constituents,
suggesting border-crossing students
may return to the board if
semestering is put back in place.
North Perth's Jenny Versteeg,
while supporting the motion,
cautioned that several weather-
related cancellations over a short
duration — such as those this
January and February — can be a
much bigger problem in a
semestered system, compared to a
traditional timetable. Versteeg
advised staff to keep this in mind,
and plan to mitigate those effects.
Semestering makes comeback
at local secondary schools
Wingham parents
want crossing guards