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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2000-10-18, Page 22 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, October 1a, 2000 News Vincents has break-in Thirty snowmobile coats and a Kodak generator, valued at a total of $10,000, were stolen from Vincent Farm Equipment overnight on Oct. 16. Huron OPPreport that a door w the main building was forced open at the dealership on Hydro Line in McKillop Township. Anyone with any related information is asked to call Crimestoppers or Huron OPP 'buck stolen out of Hensall driveway -A Hensall resident tried to leave for work recently and found his $34,000 truck stolen out of his driveway. • The resident of London Road was woken by squealing tires at around 4:30 a.m. on Oct. 3 and when he later got up for, work he discovered his truck, which he had left unlocked with the keys in the ignition, was stolen. • The 2000 Ford -F150 extended cab blue and white pick-up had Ontario plates #3640AP on the front and rear. Agar, Floyd seek office to oppose rural school closures From Page 1 candidates to become trustees. • "1 was shocked when Wendy said she didn't go to school council meetings because I think the contact between school councils and the board is so important. I thought. `That's not right.' and. I thought I'd make a good trustee to.. the five schools in her area," says Agar. During her battle to keep Seaforth District High School open during the past several years. Agar says she's attended hundreds of school board meetings and is confident she understands the workings of the board. Shewas one of five Seaforth-area residents who launched a successful. court case against the sdho_ol board. challenging yrs February. 2000 decision to close SDHS. •I have a great liassion for rural life and rural schools and I think keeping families and rural commpnit}es together is important. ['m strongly opposed to closing schools." she 'says. Since? she has worked closely with Central Huron candidate Charles Smith. of Seaforth, to keep SDHS open. Agar says she wouldn't consider running against him. Smith was. one of the five Seaforth residents involved in the law suit against the Avon Maitland board. • "It would be silly to run • against Charlie because we've been a team and we. might be a team again and work toward furthering education together," she says. • • But, Agar didn't want to see any of the current trustees returned to office *by acclamation. While . she doesn't live in Perth East, Agar is eligible torun because she resides within: the. entire school board's jurisdiction. , . • "It was like flipping a coin between Wendy and Don Brillinger (who represents the Listowel area in North Perth). I'd be lying .if Isaid.1 haven't had a - few contentious issues with Wendy but I've had contentious issues with all the trustees." she says.. • She says her• family and farming connections in the area of Perth East will help with the voter name recognition. necessary to be elected. "Going there is like going Ihome. I can easily go to the school council meetings there. The distance means nothing to me," she says. Floyd says'"concern for the rural education system" and wanting "to prevent any further school diosures" is also hisimpetus for seeking election as a trustee. "The board needs new blood with other ideas," he says. Floyd says he chose to run in Northeast Huron because that's the area where Walton Public School was closed this year and that's the area where further closures could occur if a five-year plan by education director Lorne Rachlis is followed. While Floyd has no previous experience on school councils or in education politics, he' says he decided to run 'while attending the public meetings during the school closure process this year when_ the board voted to close six of seven district schools being studied for closure. . "I couldn'tunderstand the board's reasoning for closing the schools and I still don't especially when they had so much; support. to keep them open,". he says. Floyd -runs his• own business, which. involves mechanics; teaching mechanics at night school at Fanshawe College part-time and creating signs with lettering: and graphics. "It will definitely be difficult running in an area where my name's not known but I'll work at that just by . campaigning that's the only way you can do it." he says. Hugon East to take over water and sewage departments From Page I' over the management of water When the.Seafotth PUC is sold to Stratford. Positions of water manager and sewer manager still need to be filled, along with positions for two other workers. "Are there things there that can be transferred to the Public Works. small items paid for by .taxpayers here' Is it our decision what we keep or Stratford's what they give?" Tealt asked. Ptrblic Works superintendent John Forrest also expressed interest in the PUC inventory. "One of the biggest concerns about taking over the,water isahat.we don't have to go out and buy a lot of things," he said. Mayor Dave Scott said he'd never seen that detailed an inventory of the PUC's assets but said he thought most of the tools for electricity will go to Stratford. Coun. Mike Hak suggested PUC manager Tom Phillips be asked "what's on the list and where it belongs - water or electrical." New policy makes consulting all communities mandatory From Page 1 • prior to its approval in November, 1999, of a list of seven schools -for possible closure. No such study was undertaken in the Seaforth community, though three schools in the area were eventually affected by the list. Extensive community consultation was then' undertaken in Seaforth, but the Divisional Court judges ruled that was not sufficient. In presenting details of the new policy to trustees at the Oct. 10 meeting, superintendent Bili Gerth explained it will now be mandatory to consult all communities which could be affected. before naming any schools for possible closure. He used a flow chart to summarize the process, and its various stages all included three steps: staff reports, board decisions and community input. "If you look at the chart, you'll see that there are several steps. before the actual naming of schools for possible closure, and that step doesn't actually occur until about three-quarters of the way through the process," Gerth said. The superintendent also noted there will be increased involvement by school councils, members of which are elected by parents of ,students attending the schools. "We're recognizing that the school councils are the elected representatives of the schools and, in this instance, are probably best suited to dealing with the situation at each school," Gerth said. The two-month consultation process. following the naming of schools for possible closure, remains in place. That means, even if a fast -tracking effort was put in place. the current edition of the Avon Maitland board could not close a school before its mandate concludes at the end of November. But following the meeting, director of education Lorne Rachlis would' not rule out the possibility that the new trustees, to be elected in the Nov. 13 municipal vote. would approve the closure of schools for June. 2001. "It would be physically possible. to make some changes for the end of this school year.".Rachlis said. Under Policy No. 29, the first step would be an annual report from board staff about the over -alt state of student accommodation 'across Huron and Perth Counties. According to Rachlis, that report could come "any time between now and June." Trustees would then vote on any recommendations made in that annual report and, if a "substantial change" is to be made, a "community accommodation study" must be initiated. But Rachlis noted that "substantial change" doesn't necessarily mean school closure. "We could be looking at an area of rising enrolment, such as in Listowel, where we have a number of portable (classrooms)," he said. "We may decide that we need community involvement to make a change in that regard." However, Rachlis said his five-year student accommodation plan, which included the possible closure of two more schools this year in Central and North Huron Counto, remains in place. The board justified its ongoing plan to close schools by pointing to budgetary shortfalls brought on by declining enrolment and strict provincial funding guidelines. Both factors remain in place. WAr KNECHTEL AM& Food Markets FALL SAVINGS Selected Varieties 80 ml. HU.'STHICK & RICH PASTA SAUCE Selected Varieties 9X3X250 ml. SMART CHOICE TETRAS 59 1 CASE Product of Ontario Canada Fancy 8 Ib. Bag McINTOSH or COURTLAND APPLES • 2?9 Selected Varieties 12X355 ml. COCA COLA, SPRITE or CANADA DRY 99 31v 225 g. KRAFT DINNER 12r 1.36 kg. Frozen SMART CHOICE BEEF BURGERS 3 99 ■ Boneless, Skinless. CAS Seasoned SALE FROZEN CHICKEN BREASTS 4kg. ' - Box Canada AA/AAA Grades of Beef BONELESS TOP SIRLOIN OVEN ROASTS or STEAKS 11 Selected Varieties 398 ml. HEINZ BEANS • or PASTA 9t 9 Selected Varieties 350 400 g. CHRISTIE COOKIES 88 • Product of South Africa.4 lbs. 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