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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuron Expositor, 2004-09-29, Page 1414 -THE HURON EXPOSITOR, Sept. 29, 2004 Seaforth Suminer sports Seaforth Minor St. Columban Soccer Soccer The Seaforth Under 11 minor soccer team for 2004 includes from left to right in the front row, Logan Cairns, Jordan Menary, Jason Poppe, Boe Watson and Holly Becker, in the middle row, Marissa Scott, Logan Bruxer, Ethan Scott, Julie Vincent and Jeremy Chisholm, in the third row, Chris Cairns (manager), Heather Heard, Danielle Chisholm, Dalton Becker, Brodie Cairns (captain), Alex Ashby and Dylan Bruxer and in the back row, John Cairns (coach) and Todd Chisholm (coach). Absent are Joe Metzger, Jordann Murray and Shannen Murray. The 2004 Second Division Ladies St. Columban soccer team includes in front, Tanya Costello, in second row from left, Pat Koehler, Erica Murray, Christa O'Neil, Carali McCall, Nicole Kistner, Ashley Flanagan, Teresa Finlayson and coach Sally Clark and in the third row, Michelle Durst, Michelle Flanagan, Maegan Nolan, Jessica Costello, Rosie Grobbink, Amy McClure, Kathleen Moylan, Mary Finlayson and Rebecca Bohii. Absent are Michelle Elliott, Cathy Coyne, Denise Koehler and Peggy Sloan. The Seaforth Under 13 minor soccer team for 2004 includes from left to right in the front row, Keegan Melady. Josh Butt. Paul Doig, Jon Shepherd, Brittany Chaput, Tabitha Arts and Leen Den Herzog and in the back row, coach Sandra Melady, Brandon Van Dyk, Kurt Hoggart, Conlan Melady, Justin Arts, Ben Shepherd, Robyn Doig, Kaitlyn Arts, Kelsi Trotter and coach Linda Doig. The 2004 St. Columban Irishtown 11 Premier Division women's soccer team includes from left in the front, Tara O'Reilly, Carmen Carnochan, Erica Mahon, Jane Crowley, Julianne Ryan, Janis Kaspersma and coach Jason Dietz and in the back row, Robyn Carnochan, Krista Dickson, Maegan Nolan, Tenna Larsen, Meaghan O'Reilly, Jessica Finlayson, Michelle Murray, Katrina Belfour, Julianne Crowley and Laura Otten. Absent is Mary Finlayson, Cathy Coyne and Sheila Murphy. News Catholic board hires two social workers, discusses self-contained class By Stew Slater Special to The Expositor In two separate discussions, the special needs of certain students received attention from trustees and senior staff, during the Sept 27 meeting of the Huron -Perth Catholic District School Board. First off, director of education Larry Langan informed trustees about the hiring of two school-based social workers, in keeping with a budgetary decision from last June to set aside $60,000 to initiate the program. Original projections had that money providing salary and resources for one full-time social worker to serve students in one secondary school and some of its feeder elementary schools. • However, according to Langan, months of negotiations with the Huron and Perth Children's Aid Societies (CAS) led to an agreement to cost -share the hiring of two employees. In his presentation to trustees, Langan noted the former Huron County Public School Board already had a long- standing similar agreement with the Huron CAS, which has been carried on by the amalgamated Avon Maitland public board. The Avon Maitland board has also provided social work specialists in Perth County through an agreement with the Perth District Health Unit, though that service has been reduced due to budgetary constraints. The new Catholic board agreement will provide for two social workers, employed through the CAS hut stationed full-time within schools. One will serve St. Mary's elementary school in Goderich, along with St. Joseph elementary school and St. Anne's Secondary School in Clinton. The other will be stationed in Stratford, serving St. Ambrose School and St. Michael Secondary School. • According the Langan, they'll provide on-site counselling for students and deliver programs to address issues like bullying and anger management. , He added their training and career background will allow them to more easily identify possible cases of abuse or neglect, and to reach out to families which may not feel comfortable accessing counselling services outside the school. North Perth/North Huron trustee Vince Molnnes wondered if similar services couldn't be provided by existing employees of the board, at a lesser cost. Langan assured him that's not the case. "There's an expertise there that doesn't exist in the teaching profession or in the guidance office," said the education director, who had previous experience with similar agreements while Working with the London and District Catholic school board. He added social workers "also have access to a quick referral for expertise that our teachers don't have access to." Principals from other schools may also request the assistance of the social workers, but only in times of crisis. Following the discussion about school-based social workers, education superintendent Martha Dutrizac delivered a report highlighting the projected decline in enrolment at a so-called "self-contained classroom" at St. Joseph elementary school in Clinton. The report had been requested by Goderich/Northwest Huron trustee Mary -Catherine McKeon, and McKeon made it known at the meeting that she's concerned about the fate of the facility. Self-contained classrooms were designed as learning environments for students whose special needs -- most often expressed either as learning disabilities or behavioural problems -- prevent them from fitting into the social fabric of regular classrooms. According to Dutrizac, there have been no requests for referral to either of the board's self-contained classrooms -- in Clinton and at St. Ambrose elementary school in Stratford -- since she began working for the board over a year ago. Pressured by McKeon, she refused to say the classrooms would eventually be closed, but did note the enrolment statistics point towards fewer and fewer students being served by those facilities. Langan pointed out that changes in Special Education funding have allowed for many more in -school Educational Assistants to be hired within the home schools of students with special needs. He also said the education ministry has changed the way it looks at how best to serve Special Education students. Dutrizac added that transporting Special Education students from all areas of the district to centralized locations isn't always the best option. Trustee Bernard Murray spoke strongly in favour of integrating Special Education students into regular classrooms where possible. He agreed there may be cases in which students are best served outside the classroom -- or where regular classrooms are better off without certain students -- but argued that doesn't necessarily mean they must be placed in a "self- contained" facility. "As long as we keep in mind what's best for the students, l think we'll be doing our jobs," Mutray said. Accountants tighten financial requirements for school boards By Stew Slater Special to The Expositor School boards in Ontario have been given a year's grace in the movement to have the finances of all government -related bodies administered in a standardized fashion. But by next year, every penny taken in at the school level for class trips, or every dime paid out to purchase supplies for school-based special events, will have to be accounted for somewhere in each board's financial database. That's because the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants has informed the Ontario Ministry of Education that its members will no longer provide "clean" audits for school boards which don't comply with standards set out by something called the Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB). According to a background paper provided to members of the Huron - Perth Catholic Distri School Board, PSAB is committee of CICA whic "sets the financial reportin standards and generally accepted accounting principals for governments being audited by CIC members. At the Sept. 27 Huro Perth board meeting, seni . r administrator Dennis Mac ie updated trustees on the phase-in of PSAB recommendations for Ontario's school boards. He noted an agreement was struck to give boards an extra year to adapt to the strengthened requirements, largely because a great proportion of school -raised funds tended to stay and get spent within each school, without ever getting reported to outside officials. "The biggest problem is going to be funds raised in the schools at things like Pizza Days, or for school trips. Most of that stuff is handled in cash," Mackie explained. "That's going to be the issue -- all the little bits of money that come in." He reassured trustees that such practices would still be allowed to happen, but admitted significant changes in record-keeping would likely be required. The first step will be assessing what record- keeping methods or computer banking software are currently in use, then attempting to standardize systems a ' ong the schools. "It'. quite often the pri pals who are in control of a lot of these funds, and they're going to be the people I'm doing to have to talk to," said Mackie, who has been charged with ensuring the Huron -Perth board is ready for PSAB compliance. "My approach is going to be that it's for (the principals') protection, as much as for anything else."