HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2002-11-20, Page 1December 12, 2001
Si
(includes GST)
AMANDA
POPPE
Travel Planner
BAIWAIAS
December 16"
Air & Note
:298 p.L
CALL '_' As. Fvi; .•
tiw 1110101101014 D -40111'
Email:
TPI TRAVEL
SEAPORTS
dirioIYij balceIO IMS
43 Mein St.,
5%2062
tplc4th 0 tcc.on.ca
In brief
7.1•.1.•
Youth
charged
for taking
pop
machine
in truck
Two 17 -year-old males
and one 16 -year-old, all
from South Huron, were
charged with two counts
of theft, one count of
possession of stolen
property and one count of
possession of break-in
equipment after a pop
machine was taken from
the front of the Dublin
General Store on Dec. 8
at approximately 3:15
a.m.
The store owner told
police the three loaded the
pop machine into the back
of a green pick-up truck
and fled east on Highway
8. Police stopped the
truck later that morning,
finding cash, pop, tools
and a pop machine in the
truck.
As a result of the
investigation, police also
recovered a 2002 Polaris
500 X Scrambler ATV
that had been stolen from
a business in Elma
Township in Perth County
at the 16-year-old's
residence. The ATV four -
wheeler was valued at
$7,600 and had been*
stolen Dec. 4. The 16 -
year -old was also charged
with possession of stolen
property over $5,000.
The three are scheduled
to attend court in
Goderich next month.
Barbecue stolen
A Broil King barbecue
and two weedeaters,
valued at a total of $900,
were taken from a shed
on Regina Road in
Vanastra on Dec. 8
between 8 and 8:30 p.m.
The shed was left
unlocked.
Anyone with any
related information is
asked to call the Huron
OPP or Crimestoppers.
Inside...
Bill Weber a
citizen of the
year..
Page 5
Obedience
school...
Page8
More on the current
sdtool closure crisis...
Pogo 6
High school remains listed
for trustees' consideration
Brussels, Grey schools no longer on list
as board considers schools to study for closure
By Susan Hundertmark
Expositor Staff
While both Grey Central and
Brussels Public Schools will no
longer be considered for closure by
the Avon Maitland District School
Board, Seaforth District High School
remained one of four schools to be
studied for closure in a pared -down
list considered by the school board at
last night's meeting.
After an initial study of 19 public
schools and one high school for
possible closure in Tluron and Perth
Counties, the revised director's action
report named SDHS along with
Robertson Memorial Public School in
Goderich and Juliet and King Lear
Public Schools in Stratford to be
identified for possible closure.
The revised director's report was
made available to the public on
Friday but any decisions made by
school board trustees Tuesday night
were not available by press time.
SDHS was recommended in the
Seaforth District High School
report to be possibly closed by
September, 2002, with its students
moving to Central Huron Secondary
School in Clinton and Seaforth Public
School moving to the high school
building.
Seaforth Public School was
recommended to be moved on or
before September, 2003 after facility
changes are made to accommodate an
Out of style...
OAC student Erin Rock dressed in old
her mother s closet for last Wednesday s
Day at Seaforth District High School.
Scott Hilgendorff photo
clothes she found in
Dress in your Worst
elementary population.
Options considered in the report
included closing SDHS and moving
Grades 10 and up to Clinton with
Kindergarten to Grade 9 being
located at the high school building as
well as closing SDHS and moving
Grades 9 and up to Clinton with SPS
moving to the high school building.
While the Kindergarten to Grade 9
option resulted in a higher enrolment
at the high school than the second
option, the report said that its
unlikely that sufficient numbers of
Grade 9 students would want to
remain at a public school setting.
Timetabling challenges would also
cause the need for extra teachers
being assigned to the school if the
first option were adopted, said the
report.
The option of moving Grades 9 to
OAC to Clinton will result in a
loading of 89.4 per cent at Central
Huron and a loading of 78.5 per cent
at a relocated Seaforth Public School.
The report said the annual savings
resulting from the closure will be
$421,595 and a one-time savings
from the closure - deducting the
necessary building additions and
renovations of $500,00 from a
projected 10 -year facilities renewal
cost of $549,039 - will be $49,039.
The community -supported solution
of moving Grades 7 and 8 from SPS
into SDHS was also explored in a
further appendix but was shown to
only produce savings of $25,000.
"It wasn't a very viable option.
There's really no comparison with a
savings of $400,000," said
Seo GRADE, Pogo 2
Bluewater board stand
gets temporary relief
Director of sister board says everyone must take fight
to provincial government to change funding formula
By Susan Hund.rtmark
Expositor Staff
Even the courageous
passing of a $1.3 million
deficit budget by Bluewater
District School Board
recently will not prevent the
board from studying 44 of its
schools, looking for as many
as 15 possible closures, said
Bluewater Education
Director David Armstrong.
"We're almost in identical
situations at Bluewater and at
the Avon Maitland. We're a
similar size and
configuration with a rural
population and one well -
populated urban centre," said
Armstrong Friday.
But, while the Avon
Maitland District School
Board in Huron and Perth
Counties was able to cover a
$1.2 million operating deficit
in 2000-2001 by depleting all
of its reserves, using a
$181,000 sale of bus fleets
and routes and benefitting
from an annual savings of
$550,000 from the closure of
four schools in 2000, the
Bluewater board in Bruce
and Grey Counties was not
able to cover its deficit.
Armstrong said the $1.3
million deficit is the shortage
between what is needed for
transportation and what the
board is getting in provincial
funding.
"We are not getting enough
to bus kids to school and we
had no other (funding)
envelopes to go to, to make it
work. And, the trustees said
enough is enough," he said.
Armstrong said that
because Grey MPP Bill
Murdoch took Bluewater's
concern to Education
Minister Janet Ecker,
Bluewater administration and
trustees may avoid the severe
penalties of passing a deficit
budget - including personal
liability for the $1.3 million -
if the province agrees to give
Bluewater one-time
emergency funding to meet
the shortfall.
"We expect to hear within
the week," he said.
Other penalties could
include the province taking
over the Bluewater school
board, the firing of
administration and trustees,
who could be disallowed
from running for office
again, along with the
personal liability for the
deficit.
But, Armstrong said the
board's legal advice was that
trustees could end up in court
fighting the fairness of being
expected to pay the deficit.
"It was a unanimous vote
and it was quite courageous.
Our trustees are pretty
Quoted
Like your
board, we re
being
penalized for
being
efficient, --
David Armstrong,
Bayswater
Director of Education
frustrated," he said.
Armstrong said the deficit
might provoke the province
to look closer at its
transportation policy and
how it penalizes rural boards,
especially those, like the
Avon Maitland, that has been
sharing busing with the
Catholic system for years
and cannot save any more
money because they've
already reached peak
efficiency.
"Like your board (Avon
Maitland), we're being
penalized for being efficient.
In fact, we're more efficient
than their (the province's)
model because we've been
cooperating with our
Catholic friends for years.
SN ARMSTRONG, Pogo 2
r..-- ••••1•4.,`.
FOR TICKETS
CONTACT
Marie Hicknell
Frank Nigh
John Stennett
Winston Powell
Gord Glen
Sharon Flanagan
Ross Ribey
Lyle Haney
Jim Floyd
Pat DeJong
345-2948
522-0477
522-1103
233-7108'
233-3175
348-0688
527-1390
522-1300
527-1583
482-7971