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HomeMy WebLinkAboutClinton News-Record, 1984-06-06, Page 19 .' e THE BAYFEELD BUGLE 50 cents 23 incorporating THE L`TH STANDARD: Wednesday, June 6, 1984 Vanastra School will remain open VANASTRA — A decision to keep the Vanastra Public School open was approved by the Huron County Board of Education on June 4. The vote was divided 9-4 to accept the school 'accommodation studies for Vanastra Public School, J.A.D. McCurdy Public School at Centralia and Hensall Public School from the board. Those who voted in favor were; Graeme Graig, Frank Falconer, Dr. John Goddard, Harry Hayter, John Jewitt, Donald McDonald, Tony Mc - Quail, Robert Peck and Joan Vanden Broeck. Those board members who voted against were; John Elliott, Clarence McDonald, Murray Mulvey and Art Clark. Trustee, John Elliott of Blyth said he was involved with the McCurdy study and he objected to combining all the reports for one vote. He suggested Vanastra students from Kindergarten to Grade 8 be bused to Huron Centennial Public School in Brucefield. "Vanastra 'is the one that we are all concerned about," he said. The main topic of discussion at the board meeting was the Vanastra Public School study. The school has an enrollment of 94 students from Kindergarten to Grade 6. About 35 Vanastra students in Grades 7 and 8 go to Clinton Public School. Low The merits and problems at the school were discussed at a May 23 public meeting. Organized by the school's accommodation review committee, almost three hours of presentations including lists of advantages, disadvantages and future developments of the school to Vanastra citizens were discussed. Recommendations from the meeting were forwarded to the board of education. Mr. Craig, committee chairman, recommended that the board of education agree to have the Vanastra Public School building purchased from Conestoga College for a "nominal fee". The recommendation suggested that the portion of the building that houses Vanastra School be demolished for $10,000. The other section of the building that houses Conestoga College would then be taken over by the school and there would be repairs of $194.000. ' Mr. Craig said if Conestoga College wishes to continue offering adult education here they should go to the Huron Board of Education. enrollment has meant, higher costs at the school. On average, education costs per pupil for Huron County are $187.30. However, the costs at Vanastra Public School run at $478.92. At the May 23 meeting school,prtncipal, John Ross, spoke to Vanastra citizens of the advantages and disadvantages of the school. He spoke of the advantages for the children, the staff and the, community. He said that because the students do not have to be bused to and from school, they are able to become more involved with extra -curricular activities, and they receive more individual attention from the staff because of the lower enrollment. Another committee member, Sally Rathwell, told the audience that "Unfortunately Vanastra has a bad reputation." The report submitted by the committee to the Board on. Monday night charged, "The prejudices against Vanastra and its people unfortunately are very real." It mentioned parents in the community who cannot speak English and. said there are a number of. single mothers. Another deciding factor in the decision to allow the school to remain open was a letter from the CanBay Financial. Corporation in Bayfield regarding future prospects of commercial and residential development be in Vanastra. .Board trustee, Frank Falconer notedthe development would bring more business, Vanastra dveloprnents.proposed VANASTRA - One of the main deciding factors. in the agreement by the ;;f ;con County -Board of Education on Mon 9 . ,'to allow Vanastra Public School to r:ja,ain open, was the prospect of f itore development in Vanastra by the Caay Financial Corporation of Bayfield. IA'- The corporation wrote , to Tuckeriltb,: township of their continuing developments that have been conducted over a 60 day period. They mentioned acquiring property in the survey, by going through various subsidiary companies. "We have to date closed the former Radar School, which should, as plans become firmer, employ up to 60 persons," they wrote. "Additionally, we have closed three rmer dormitories, one of which will come a research centre, the other two will be converted to approximately 60 apartments." The company noted it had a binding ti,ag}eement on 50 town houses, and two other. fi diistrial sites, "For which industries are committed to locate, contributing an additional 60 employment possibilities." During Monday's Board of Education meeting, trustee, Frank Falconer commented on the proposed future development in Vanastra. He said the developments would help to bring additional bu A. Ca } ay, wrote. "These developments were presented, Ilpsed on the excellent r-ec iona1 f : ilities in your village, and the si : i f the public school." The. letter concluded, "We (CanBay) would appreciate your taking steps. to inform the . school board of .these new developments in order that the school is not lost. • You may be assured, that these developments will proceed placing a greater demand on the village school." (asses,: oosht olstenh e and families to the area. astra as a site for growth, e, acting on behalf of Karen Cook (centre) proved to be the fairest of them atlas she was Browned Queen of the Clinton Fair 1984 last Friday night.•Pictured on the left is Second Princess Jennifer Wood and on the extreme Comfortable with computers right First Princess of the Fair Rhonda Lobb. Organizers said the 130th annual event was a success. For more pictures see photos on Page 13. ( Rod Hilts photo Teachers study new technology By Stephanie Levesque 11eads are bent over the warm, buzzing machines. There is some talk going on as the "students" work through computer lear- ning exercis.:s in the classroom. However, this classroom is different in that the teachers are the students. Recently about 25 teachers from the Huron -Perth Separate School system got together once a week for a month to learn more about computers from each other. • Organized by the board's computer com- mittee which includes Stratford principals Larry Cook and Don Farwell and St. Patrick's school in Dublin teacher Terry Craig, the class gives the teachers time to learn. Not only time to learn and learn at their own speed, but the teachers become more comfortable with the computer. - As one teacher explained, the children command the computer during school hours, but in this class, the teacher gets the important time at the computer. There are other means through which teachers may learn about computers, such as Ministry of Education programs, but Mr. Craig said the teachers are more comfor- table and learn more with their own col- league§. For the weekly sessions, the teachers lug- ged the school computers to St. Patrick's in Dublin from all across the two counties. They plugged in the computers, sat down.in front of the keyboard and started learning at their own speed. However, the teachers stress that com- puters won't take over the classroom. "They're just tools in the classroom," Mr. Craig said of the computers. incomes and families to Vanastra and therefore justify the need for the school. The studies and their recommendations will now be passed along to the education ministry for further study. Day care investigation is ted. in Clinton CLINTON - A proposal from Wingham, petitioning for further study before changes to the Day Care Act are made, was turned down by town council on June 4. The resolution asked the Ministry of Community and Social Services to conduct a thorough study regarding the impact of increases and changes to the Day Care Act. The resolution was presented to Clinton Council last month and was deferred until Monday night's meeting. The resolution brought little response from council but in an effort to bring the resolution to the floor, Councillor Jim Hunter made a motion to accept it. He noted that the changes and increases • could result in, "small rural municipalties getting the short end of the stick." He suggested that larger urban municipalities have bigger day care centres and bigger subsidies to help offset financial deficits. In smaller municipalities, "all the community has to help the financing," he noted. A prime example in this area is the Tuckersmith Day Care Centre. By 1986 the centre must be self-supporting if the government proposals to cut funding to municipally owned day care centres are approved. In 1983, the pre-school centre in Vanastra faced a total deficit of $50,145. Of this, the provincial government financed 80 per cent of the loss, leaving the centre to foot the remaining $10,029. Clinton, and surrounding municipalities were asked to help offset the operating costs. As in past years, Clinton council initially opposed the idea of financially supporting the centre. They argued that while single working parents may not be able to afford the day care costs, many families who used the pre-school could afford to pay higher fees, particularly two working parents. In March, Clinton council agreed to pay their chore of the deficit, amounting to $1,505.18. • Clinton council's day care concerns were reiterated by Councillor Charlie Burgess in discussion of the day care proposal from Wingham. He said, "Day care started out as a good thing, but has turned out as the taxpayer paying for babysitting." He also noted, "I've never heard of a study that hasn't cost a lot of money and has proven very little." t The teachers have been learning about computers through self-taught lessons originally prepared by Toronto school boards for Grade 6 and 7 pupils. Any assistance needed by the teachers is provid- ed by the three men in charge. The teachers are keenly interested in the computers, however, they aren't the only ones. Board trustee Vincent McInnes, who is also a member of the computer committee, was also sitting down at a keyboard. Besides just being interested in computers, Mr. McInnes said he would someday like to see a computer in the board room. He visualizes it • being used to call up information needed during trustees' discussions. The children are excited by the com- puters, say the teachers. With a little bit of knowledge that excitement passes on to the teacher. Hundreds of people lined the Bayfield Pier on Saturday afternoon lake, crews came in to officially open the New Yacht Club with a to take in the village's Sail Past. Following a beautiful outingon the ribbon -cutting ceremony. (Rod Hilts photo) Quality standards recognized Hospital earns accreditation status CLINTON - A status symbol in the Canadian health field was awarded to the Clinton Public Hospital ( CPH) on June 4. CPH earned accreditation status for two years, from the Canadian Council on Hospital Accreditation for two, years. • The council is a non-profit organization set up by the Canadian Medical Association and the Canadian Hospital Association. It's tole is to inspect hospitals and award those who are providing quality care and•service. Accreditation status was a project that. former, CPH hospital administrator Doug Coventry set out as one of his goals. In the 10 years that he worked at CPH, he. endeavoured to make• continual' 'improvements and changes, to bring .the hospital closer to accreditation. In a telephone conversation on Monday, Mr. Coventry said that he was pleased to see that his goal was fulfilled, but he noted that most of the credit went to staff, department heads and board members. Meeting accreditation standards at CPH was a difficult task, due to physical plant conditions and limitations. However, after the new emergency wing was completed and opened in 1983, the hospital board and staff set out to bring their facilities into Accreditation Status. A preliminary study was carried out late in 1983 and the results were. positive. Under the direction of Mr. Coventry, the hospital immediately applied for an Accreditation Survey. On March 7 and 8, Dr. G.L. Blackwell •conducted the in-depth study. ,The survey detailed the standards, policies and procedures of each hospital department, from housekeeping to, maintenance, from physiotherapy to nursing care. The inspectionincluded general observations of the hospital, cleanliness, maintenance, staff attitudes and qualifications of staff. CPH received an excellent report and was awarded a two year certificate. Inspections will again be made after that period. In announcing the ,accreditation, hospital adminstrator Dan Steyn said, ."The retired administrator Doug Coventry along with the medical and hospital staff are to be commended for the hard work in achieving this goal: The board of trustees are very . proud of this achievement and wish to thank the staff for their fine efforts and the very professional way in which they. conducted thernselved before and during the Accreditation Survey. The residents of Clinton and are are certainly very fortunate to have such a professional health care, team at the Clinfon Public Hospital." Gerrits gets counciiseat CLINTON - A 28 -year old Clinton native, Gordon Gerrits will fill the empty seat on Clinton council. He was chosen to fill the council vacancy left by Councillor Rosemary Armstrong. Gordon Gerrits Mr. Gerrits was one of three Clinton citizens to vie for the council seat. Former councillor Wayne Lester and 1982 election candidate John Rosenlund Jr. also ran for the position. The successful candidate was chosen at the June 4 council meeting by drawing lots, after the election deadlocked in a tie vote. In a recorded vote, each councillor voted for one of the three candidates. In the first round Mr. Lester finished with four votes, Mr. Gerrits earned three and Mr. Rosenlund received Councillor Charlie Burgess' vote. Since no candidate received a majority vote, a second election was. held. This time council was split on their vote. Mayor Chester Archibald, Reeve Ernie- Brown, Deputy . Reeve Frank Van Altena and Councillor Bee Cooke voted for Mr. Lester. Councillors Burgess, Ross Carter, John Deeves and Jim ' Hunter voted for Mr. Gerrits. The final decision came with a draw from the hat. Clinton's newest councillor also ran in the 1982 municipal election. At the polls Councillor Gerrits fell short of earning a council seat. With 453 vote's, he ran behind Councillor Jim Hunter, who finished with 589. He finished ahead of Roy Wheeler, 412; Mr. Lester, 402; Mr. Rosenlund , Jr., 381; Fredrick Jackson, 266 and Joe Whalen, 166. Born and raised in Clinton, Councillor Gerrits said he ,hopes to represent the younger, working generation on council. One of his goals is to see the completion of the town's industrial park. As councillor, he will represent Clinton on the waste disposal site committee. Stanley Seniors get 10,705 Horizons grant 41 Ir New Horizons grants totalling $15,750 have been awarded to the Stanley Seniors of Varna and Maitland Manor Residents' Council of Goderich New Horizons is a federal government program that enables retired people to create projects of their own choosing. It offers grants to groups of retired people who undertake activities for the benefit of themselves and others in their community. The accent is on local needs as seen by older people and on their willingness to meet such needs. The Stanley Seniors will receive $10,705 to furnish and equip new quarters and ` establish a program of activities including. music appreciation, dinners, crafts, pool, shuffleboard and other indoor games. • The Maitland Manor Residents' Council will receive $5,045 to expand an existing program of activities, including a cooking club, barbecues and picnics, quilting, leatherwork and dry flower arranging.