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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1998-10-07, Page 1Your Community Newspaper Since 1860 — Seaforth, Ontario October 7, 1998 — $1.00 includes GST Not enough room in Catholic schools Students in 32 portable classrooms BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff While public school boards across the province are looking at closing schools, including several in Huron and Perth counties, the Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board doesn't have enough space for all its students. In the public school system the issue revolves around underused space in many of its schools in relation to square -footage. "We have no problem with excess space," chair Ron Marcy said at the Huron - Perth Catholic District School Board meeting in Dublin Sept. 28. Board figures indicate exactly the opposite. For example, construction is complete at the board's newest secondary school, St. Anne's at Clinton, but it has already reached its maximum capacity, according to director of education Gaetan Blanchette. Even before next year's scheduled phasing in of OAC (Grade 13) students. There were 16 new teachers at the local high school. Many of them are teaching for the first time. Blanchette says the increase is due to this year's phasing in of Grade 12, which increased the student population by 126, and the provincial government's recently mandated lower pupil -teacher ratios. NEED 16-17 CLASSES Superintendent of business and treasurer, Gerry Thuss, says this school year the Huron -Perth Catholic board has 32 portables at its elementary schools, and another nine at its high schools. ' ' Portables have been at a few of these schools, Precious Blood in Exeter for example, for close to 20 years. Thuss says using current provincially mandated pupil - teacher ratios at the elementary level translates into a need for roughly 16 to 17 new classrooms at the elementary level alone. "That is if the government follows through with its promise to get rid of portables," Marcy said last Tuesday night. This September's enrollment in the Huron - Perth Catholic system was up 72 students overall from the 1997 figures, all of this due to a 147 increase in enrollment in the system's two secondary schools - St. Anne's and St. Michael in Stratford. Enrollment has actually declined in the system's 18 elementary schools, by 75 students, compared to last year. Board figures indicated total enrollment this year is 5.186 students, 1,439 in secondary and 3,747 in elementary. In 1997, total system enrollment was 5,114 students, 1,292 in secondary and 3,822 in elementary. For Catholic elementary schools in our immediate area, the enrollments have all declined slightly. St James in Seaforth is down by three students, to 236 from 239; identical to the three -student drop at St. Columban, to 169 from 172: and, both less than the 17 student decline at St. Patrick's School at Dublin, to 137 from 148. 600 TO 650 STUDENTS St. Anne's Secondary School now has 567 students. compared to its 1997 enrollment of 441 for Grades 9 through 11. CONTINUED orr Page 3 Catholic board gets more than $1 million far accommodations BY OREGORCAMPBELL Ontario's educatitlitiministry.announced Sept. 29 it is giving capital grants totalling $1,087,699 over the next three school years for accommodation and pupil placement to the Huron - Perth Catholic District School Board. Grants for new pupil places and lease costs for 1988.89 total $287,768. The area Catholic board's grant for new pupil places the following school year is $362,212, with another $437,929 earmarked for 2000-2001. Gerry Thuss, superintendent of business and treasurer for the board says these figures are for elementary schools. The secondary school figures were incorrect and sent back for revision. He says it's "up front" money, allowing the board if it wishes to begin construction valued at up to 10 times this funding, because of a 25 -year amortization method of The rd [net • the night before the grants were announced, so had not had time to digest the good news. Muss said Friday morning his figures were "very tentative" because of the , 's .lexity of calculations, but it appears the various grants coals cover 261 elementary pupil spaces and 393 secondary school spaces for the Huron -Perth board. "Baaed.upon.enrollment figures provided by all (Ontario) boarda:ibt.tl it 1998,•99 budget estimates grants for new ,pupil places in .199049:wW' be oximftly $80 -million," a Imes release from Ontario 'hfinWer of Education David Johnson stats:. "bonds theF reeowves and flexibility they need to finally Owl with longstanding needs fornew pupil s�ppaace�ss Another plus release m the.ministry confirms "the funding Ontarjo is:;ptuviding.will, in this year, allowboards to shift construction valued at,up to 10 titres the $80 -million iii The t comes leas than a week before the area public achool board; makes dettisions about closing several of its schools in Huron and Perth counties. Numbers changed but schools still close BY VICTORIA JACKSON Clinton News -Record Start Although the numbers have changed, the result is still the same — school closures. The Ministry of Education released the loading numbers for schools on Sept. 29 to the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB), according to Abby Armstrong, board chair. Armstrong said the numbers would not change the options presented to the board Sept. 22. The board originally made up the three lists of schools to be reviewed for closure based on the excess square footage within the board, provided by the ministry. Now the board has to look at student capacity figures, • also provided by the ministry. "The board had the choice that they could wait for the loading numbers, which would have meant that parents wouldonly be finding out about possible closures next week, or we could go with the information we had," Armstrong said. In a press release, Armstrong stated, "As we have said the square footage calculations were preliminary. However, due to the magnitude we imagined the problem to be, we needed to get busy right away searching for solutions. As a starting point, the board used the square footage benchmarks identified in the ministry's new funding formula." She added that she feels it would have been CONTINUED on Page 2 1 White squirrel found Squirrel makes home in Harpurhey BY GREGOR CAMPBELL Expositor Staff It was sticking out like a sore thumb. saucily nibbling a nut while nestled in a limb of the Govier family's walnut tree as dusk approached last Tuesday. It is Harpurhey's most noticeable new resident - a .white squirrel. to even rival Exeter's well-known emblem. It almost looks bleached. Alex Stephen. who lives close to the Goviers across the road, near the boundary with Seaforth. says you often see a black squirrel chasing it around, and this new. bushy -tailed squirrel can often be seen these days hanging around his bird feeder at about 5 p.m. in the evenings. He says he first saw this white squirrel in July. It was gone for about three weeks. but recently returned. There was another one in the vicinity, but not as pure white. Stephen said it was killed. "It's a known fact that white Squirrels prefer Exeter, maybe we'll have to conte and kidnap it," says Jing Beckett. editor of that town's Times -Advocate. The white squirrel is used as an emblem for Exeter and is a tourist attraction for the near by community. "Maybe we'll have to send it at -nate," he said. Beckett says white While squirrel like Exeter's urns up in Harpurhey. •• CAMPBELL PHOTO squirrels. lots of then[. have been around Exeter as long as he's been editor there, more than 20 years. He's got two, or three in his backyard. NOT ALBINOS Thai town has got a lot of publicity mileage out of them. They are the town's official mascot, and television stations often come to Exeter to do stories on them. Beckett says the squirrels are Exeter's "claim to fame." but he doesn't exactly know why they are white. "The}' must have had a tremendous scare at birth." he says. Mike Malhiot, a biologist with the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources at Clinton. knows better. Squirrels can be white for two reasons. he says. They can he true albinos, with pink eyes, or really black or grey squirrels in a color phase. so that the whiteness is maintained for life in the individual animals. He suspects the latter in both the Exeter and Harpurhey cases. Red and two-tone squirrels are also your basic black or grey squirrel in a colour phase. Malhiot says -white squirrels aren't as rare as you might imagine. He often hears of them in this neck of the woods. Grand Bend has some too. No derailment answers yet Reasons why 14 cars from a Goderich Exeter Railway train left their tracks Sept. 28 won't be known until Friday. That's when sta will have had a Toronto and further repairs continued un the tracks last week. It wasn't until 4:45 a.m. Oct. 1 that the tracks were used again by rail traffic after rails and timbers were chance to view replaced as safety material recorded in - measures by the a device on the train - Goderich-based similar to that of a Workers return cars to tracks last Tuesday. company. black box on an airplane. No one was hurt in the incident that left one rail car blocking the northbound lane of Main Street in Seaforth LEE PHOTO The train until noon the following day. was carrying beans Equipment to return the and urea, a product used in cars to their tracks was insulation. brought to Seaforth from There was no danger to the public. Fall fair showcases what community offers Events held Friday and Saturday Sarah McLellan was named Ambassador to the Fair Saturday night. Trish Jansen was runner up and Miss Congeniality. Julianne Crowley was second runner up and Kathleen Moylan was the fourth to advance to the final round out of the eight contestants. Amanda Denys (right) presents flowers to McLellan. DALE PHOTO BY SCOTT HILGENDORFF Expositor Editor It's a showcase of everything the community has to offer. That's how Seaforth Agricultutal Society member Gordon Glenn describes this weekend's fall fair. "It's a display of one next door neighbor's cookies versus another's tarts." said Glenn. It's a community event featuring everything from machinery dealer exhibits and livestock judging to pet shows and exhibits of student work. He said there's an emphasis on schools with a chance for the public to see what their school children are capable of. "This is what they can do for their own community," said Glenn. While there are no major changes to the fair this year, Glenn said there are always new and different exhibitors. "It does get a rivalry going between who's got the best tarts or reddest beets," Glenn said. There is something for everyone with back -hoe basketball returning and the annual pedal tractor pull for younger kids. Events kick-off Friday with the annual parade at 10:30 a.m. The theme this year is "Ontario Fairs Yours to Discover." The official opening begins right after the parade although judging of home craft, school and grain and field crop entries begins at noon on Thursday. There are activities for young people starting at noon on CONTINUER on Page 3 1