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Home My WebLink AboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1985-12-18, Page 6'l+ lM a�? • K Yew We represent over 30 Trust Companies, therefore we offer the . "Best Bates" 'always. ti��lo SUPER HG ivusi VIDEOCASSETTES Vili?our stocking to the brim... v[V,�,� � with T120 FUJI @`" VIDEO CASSETTES( MUNN SuPerFlne BERIDOX ■■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ • • ■ ■ ■ ■ ■■ • ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ • f s th le CARMAN CAMERAS ls ■■■■■•■■■•■•••■•■•■•■■■■■■•f 112 THE SQUARE GODERICH 524-7924 . 000110* The .role of the, board of education is` very tnueh today as it a'S years age wht n oroth Wa ge Goderich first . is e a trustee ton the Huron County= oard. of Education, except, it has become' more. sophiisticteed. board;- has, very little to do with education in the' classroom really," says Wallace. `°We.,. provide the schools, the teachers and. keep the woodbox full," she says with a laugh,, as the district school boards did before the county system was introduced. "We can set aside money for resource people for teachers and establish direc- tion. The board can cease to provide cer- tain' ertain' educational opportunities as it did when it cancelled the machine shop pro- gram at the Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton. We can indicate we would like to see certain courses taught by approving them, but the courses then have to be approved by the Ministry of Educa- tion before they are put in place in Huron County. HARD LESSON "The influence really comes from the ministry although there is some influence directly by the board through its choice of superintendents," she says. One of the hardest lessons for school trustees to learn when the county board system was introduced in 1967, was that the individual trustee would have relative- ly little influence in the school. "The board is a policy-making board and the administration is responsible for seeing the policy is carried out," says Wallace. The trustee no longer goes into the school to deal with a particular pro- blem as the trustee did when the district school boards were in place. If a trustee is notified of a problem, it is turned over to the board administrator who follows up on the problem. The trustee is welcome to visit the school anytime and can provide information in the form of parent meetings but they do not become involved in a complaint about a teacher for example, says Wallace. Trustees come onto the board with regional interests in mind, approaching their position as trustee with the attitude that they will accomplish something for their area, only to learn the interests of their area are not uppermost in impor- tance to the board. COUNTY SYSTEM Before county boards were introduced, trustees participated more directly in the school dealing with complaints and actual- ly. negotiating with the teachers to set salaries. Today the board superintendents handle situations and a board negotiating committee negotiates wih the teachers' union. Wallace remembers the introduction of the county board system, having been first appointed to the high school board in Goderich in the 1950s to replace Madeline Edward who resigned. Trustees on the district school board' were not enthusiastic about the change to county school boards but Wallace says it became increasingly evident that a thinning rum) population Shop Early At Suncoast Mall PadalHairs Set., Orrc. 21 & Mem,, Dec, 23 1 OO a.m, SPECIAL tsquite 111011WAY % `N, GODERI01, 524.2 CLOSING 00 - Sat., Dec. 21-6 p.m. Sat., Dec. 21st A Mon., Dec. 23rd Man., Dm 23-9 peri. 8;00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. ONLY Tu sday, Dac. 24— 5 p.*. Bob�►PE SIAL. Samuelsons Mans Wear Store Hours Saturday, December 21st — 8:00 a.rn. 6:00 p.m. Monday. December 23rd — 9:00 a.m. - 9:00 p.m. Tuesday, December 24th — 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. ZILLIAX DID YOU KNOW It's still not too late to have your furniture delivered for Christmas and DON'T PAY A CENT 'TILL APRIL '86 HI -TECH SATELLITE SYSTEMS SPECIAL lot Super $� Ito coo System NO DOWN PAYME ti36 QHS TO PAY GOA, kWhAt Ii1y.�ySt 5 4207 9 Dorothy Wallace has been a school board trustee for more than 30 years. She has been on the Huron County Board of Education since the inception of the county school board in 1961. During that time the board considered several contentious issues including parents' de- mand that the board ban books on the English curriculum, the implementation of special education programs and the board's decision not to introduce French immersion programs. ( Photo by Sharon Dietz ) would have left small one room country schools with only 12 or 13 students. The trustees protested the county board system claiming it would increase the bureaucracy and the cost of education but consolidation of township schools into one central school has resulted in better facilities and a quality education because a teacher has only one or two grades in a class and consistency within the county system. Education costs were bound to increase anyway as each township school had its own secretary and custodian and a teacher for smaller numbers of children just couldn't be justified. One of the fortunate by-products of declining enrolment in recent years has been the high quality of new teacher as the Ministry of Education demanded teachers in the elementary system as well as the secondary panel have university degrees. This has resulted in untold cost to the system as the teacher enters the profes- sion in a higher category, but it has also resulted in better teachers and boards be- ing extremely choosy about the people they hire, says Wallace. The influence of the superintendents in the system has also improved education today, says Wallace. Formerly inspectors hired by the ministry inspected and reported to the board. Today the superintendent has an ongoing role to play in the schools and his or her main thrust is to improve teaching methods. The superintendent also provides contacts and resource people for the professional development of teachers. Teachers were in short suppl% during the transition to county boards and as a result teachers started to make good salaries in relation to what the supporting community Turn topage 8• fa c_$1i tF,l 5 THE COUNTRY SPIRE 'm on Hu, 'In n1 1 mar wed of IN, No 13 PHONE: 229-6341 ?� •Avanti-Dakin • Baldwin Brass •Treasured Memories •Otagiri •Colonial Candle •Country Seamers •Quartz Movements OPEN 7 DAYS! ?4 Deluxe Motorcoach Transportation CARLTON SHOW BAND Saturday, Jan. 18 Join us as we visit the "Kitchener Farmers Market" where there are over 200 vendors waiting to serve you. After the market we move over to ; Bingeman Park to join the "Carlton Showband" for a fun filled afternoon. A superb smorgasbord and great en • tertainment by these loveable Irish - en make our day complete. t,. Robin Hood Tours �a. 524-4®4540 Goderich, Ontori • GODERICH LIVE BAIT AND TAC Li FREE ROD let liiltell . acomucts 360 Buy two Filler Spools of Trilene , get a graphite composite rod FREE $2495 • value FREE BINOCULARS Buy a Berkley Lightning Rod for only and receive FREE Binoculars $54.95 value $6895 TRILENE XT World Record Line *may° EXTRA STRONG FILL THE REEL ¢ For Just • 0 2 per yd. FREE FLY REEL Buy o Specialists tapered fly line. gel a Specialist 556 GR fly reel. a 539.95 value. FRif(SS.00 postage & handling). *-0 COME IN AND ASK ABOUT MORE: BERKLEY OFFERS. -