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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Times Advocate, 2005-05-11, Page 20Ironwood 20 Exeter Times -Advocate Wednesday, May 11, 2005 French Immersion gets another look By Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE SEAFORTH — With two previously -dissenting trustees apparently confident their concerns had been addressed, the Avon Maitland District School Board voted 7-2 in favour of asking administration to again look at the possibility of introducing French Immersion outside Stratford. A report will now be delivered to trustees Oct. 25, 2005, "provid(ing) information about a potential French Immersion program to start in September 2006." The present board first requested information on a potential program following a public delegation in November 2004 from a representative of the group Canadian Parents for French. After a series of public information sessions throughout the board, and a survey of parents with children already in the Avon Maitland system, trustees received a report suggesting French Immersion should not expand. Early last month, South Huron representative Randy Wagler informed fellow trustees he would bring the issue back to the table for the second meeting of the month — April 26. He suggested "new information" had been provided by Canadian Parents for French and a local parent group affiliated with the larger organiza- tion, including during a meeting with some Avon Maitland trustees and staff. "Generally, in rural settings, enrolment tends to grow over time ... which would suggest you don't need quite as high of numbers to have a sustainable program," Wagler said, in defending his motion to revisit the issue. North Huron trustee Colleen Schenk seconded the motion, saying, "most of us were disappointed that results were not better when we did the survey original- ly." But support for Wagler's idea seemed slow to build at the April 26 meeting. "I approve of looking at this pro- gram, but just not at this time," said Perth South/West Perth representative Carol Bennewies. "I don't think the numbers will change sufficiently." North Perth's Jenny Versteeg and Central Huron's Shelley Kaastra also expressed opposition. Kaastra won- dered if all parents are clear on the possible introduc- tion of French Immersion, and the fact it could be brought to a school within their secondary school feeder area but not necessarily their child's home elementary school. And Stratford's Doug Pratley was concerned about revisiting a decision made so recently, arguing, "it sort Men Senior Men May 3 A flight 1st Darren Mason 36 2nd Rob Dionne 38 3rd Marty Mitchell 38 4th Brent McDonald 39 5th Bill Farquhar 40 B flight 1st Brad Murray 37 2nd Al Preece 42 C flight 1st Steve Campbell 43 2nd Mark Mcllwain 45 3rd Randy Gilfillan 46 4th John Geiger 46 1st Ron Hol Dfines 44 2nd Steve Schroeder 46 CTP: A&B #1 Brad Murray, #9 Jim Guenther; C&D #4 John Geiger, #7 Dick Lord. Skins: A&B #3 Brad Murray, #4 Darren Mason, #9 Darren Mason. C&D #7 Dick Lord. May 5 LOW GROSS A flt. Joan Heywood 41 B flt. Gail Murray 46 C flt. Kelly Holtzemann 53 D fit. Maryjane Taylor 55 New member flight Marcia Sweet 45 Game of the week: Pick a Card 1st -202: Joan Heywood, Kelly Holtzemann, Ann Prout, Bernice Thompson. 2nd -204 tie: Ruth Mercer - Ross, Marj Green, Debra Pfaff, Gail Murray. 2nd -204 tie: Judy Hodgins, Carolyn Gillfillan, Barb Smits, Lynda Bogart. 3rd -207: Marcia Sweet, Joy Darling, June Jaffray, Sandy Trapp. Draw for cart Janet Wedlake 50/50 draw Kelly Holtzemann Golf May 4 First Place Ernie Ahrens Dennis Rowe Jim Gifford Doug Pearson Total Second Place Don Gifford Don Ross Mike Barclay Jerry MacLean Total Third Place Jack Chipchase Howard McDonald Bob Clark Del Nixon 41 41 43 47 172 44 44 45 45 178 42 45 47 47 Total 181 Fourth Place (tie) Jim Russell 45 Wayne Pearce 46 Don Heywood 47 Ben Hoogenboom 51 Total 189 Fourth Place (tie) 45 45 47 52 189 Ron Mabee Bill Soldan Sandy Trap Bob Coates Total Sixth Place Al Preece Bill Thompson Jim Hughes Craig Webber Total Seventh Place Joe Wilson Peter McIntyre Guy Giddings Jim Morrissey Total Eighth Place Frank Dumont Casey Zeehuisen Bud Preszcator George Shambrook Total Ninth Place Jim Pfaff Rusty Irons Bill Schaefer 45 47 49 50 191 43 45 51 54 193 46 46 48 54 198 45 47 51 Bill Coleman 54 Total 197 CTP #4 Jack Chipchase #7 Dennis Rowe ROUND -UP of smells of let's vote until we get it right ... Surely, our staff have better things to do than constantly survey the same question over and over again." However, Kaastra and Pratley eventually voted in favour of Wagler's motion, following expressions of sup- port for revisiting French Immersion. In particular, chair Meg Westley passed the gavel and had her say, suggest- ing the recent survey was "superficial" because it failed to seek input from parents of children outside the Avon Maitland board — including those in the Catholic and private systems, as well as those not yet of school age and those being home -schooled. "It is a program that has experienced tremendous suc- cess in Stratford," Westley argued. After the meeting Westley conceded Avon Maitland staff may be limited in who they can pursue when it comes to seeking information for a survey. She also agreed it may be difficult to determine, based on a sur- vey of interest, how many people would actually take the next step and register for French Immersion. "I, personally, wouldn't mind seeing (the Avon Maitland study) go to registration," she said, while admitting that mandate wasn't necessarily stipulated in Wagler's motion. "I think we can do that without actually approving the program, because registration doesn't commit you to anything. If you do it early enough, you can have people registered and then call them back and say we can't provide the program." Referring to Pratley's concern, Westley said the board doesn't intend to continually revisit the program if it isn't approved. Education director Geoff Williams, however, cautioned that it's unlikely French Immersion will ever disappear from the board's agenda entirely. "It may be something that comes around every five years or so," he said after the meeting. "You get a different parent community and they may have different priorities and decide they want you to look at it again." School board frustrated over funding By Stew Slater SPECIAL TO THE TIMES -ADVOCATE SEAFORTH — Frustration about funding for special education bubbled to the surface at the Avon Maitland District School Board April 12, with Northeast Huron representative Colleen Schenk leading the way. "I'm tired of being nice. I'm tired of being kicked .. . I'm just totally disgusted," the veteran trustee and for- mer board chair said after a report about the provin- cial government's recent analysis of how it would dis- tribute what it referred to as "repatriated" funds — money held back from certain boards if they had spent their Special Education reserves while the ruling Liberals were in the process of changing their Special Education funding regime in 2004. "The estimate of the amount that the Avon Maitland District School Board was forced to contribute to this (repatriation) fund was $619,566, in spite of the fact that the board had budgeted for the use of this money during the 2004-05 school year," states a report from staff delivered at the April 12 meeting. Since August, trustees have lobbied the government on the issue, including sending letters to Education Ministry staff and raising repatriation questions when minister Gerard Kennedy visited Stratford earlier this year. They remained hopeful the money would eventually come back to the board, through what the govern- ment referred to as the Effectiveness and Equity Fund (EEF). But according to superintendent Marie Parsons, a March 31 announcement about the EEF fell well short of the board's hopes. Government calculations show the board should receive as little as $194,000, plus approximately $17,000 for each Special Education student who was- n't with the board before the change but moved into the board before it took effect. In all, it could amount to about $350,000. Chair Meg Westley, in accepting a motion from Schenk that another letter be sent to the government regarding the issue, referred to the EEF as "the inequity fund." And South Huron trustee Randy Wagler complained the EEF was promoted as a two-year measure, but the announcement only explained funding for the current fiscal year. "We're coming up to the budget cycle and we're going to be in the same position for next year," Wagler said. Volunteer appreciation Midwestern Adult Day Services recently held their Volunteer Appreciation and Conference Day at the Goderich Knox Presbyterian Church. Over 100 vol- unteers and staff from the five Adult Day Centres which Midwestern operates — Exeter, Grand Bend, Clinton,Wingham and Goderich — gathered for a fun and informative day. Workshops on safe food handling and client safety were held in the morning followed by a choice of either tai chi or aerobic exercises. A deli- cious roast beef dinner was served at noon with the help of the church ladies.After dinner, years of service awards were presented. Above from left are Exeter Adult Day Centre volunteers Harry and Ann Klungel and Edna Mielke.The afternoon was taken up by speaker Anna Allevato of the consulting firm A. Allevato and Associates of Dundas who discussed the issues involved in maintaining professional boundaries with clients. One of the most important points raised was that the very thing which makes for a successful match between clients and volunteers — the sense of bonding, attachment and trust — is also what poses the greatest risk for boundary breaches. Following Day Centre policies and procedures can help clarify decision making in questionable situations. Everyone felt the day was a valuable learning experience and a great success. (photo/submitted) Shuffleboard e x e ter 3 May 05 3 Wms Isobelle Rescorl 322 Marge McCurdy 257 2 Wins Irene Dyck 227 June Hodgson 180 Bernice Boogemans 169 Constance Kernick 90 4 May 05 3 Wms Irene Dyck 345 Hank Dorssers 249 Ann Lorento 213 2 Wins Marge McCurdy 196 Jeanene Tucker 161 Wilmer Adkins 159 Constance Kernick 105 Ll!Lt (i b • April 27 • Jordan Ritchie 25 Brent Lees 25 Ernie Marshall 24 Brad Mann 24 Chuck Krieger 23 Brittany Caldwell 23 Glen Mogk 22 Marco Van Driel 22 Tim Hoff 22 Kyle Tr16 Trap • May 4 Brad Mann 25 Chuck Krieger 25 Brittany Caldwell 25 Brent Lees 25 Ernie Marshall 25 Bill Cameron 25 Dennis Boyd 24 Jordan Ritchie 24 Ron Alton 24 Ken Nelson 24 Tim Hoff 24 Doug Dalrymple 24 Wayne Peachey 24 Mark Ramsey 24 Reinhardt Gotz 23 Kirk Krieger 23 Marco Van Driel 23 Jan Hoff 22 Craig Pulger 16 Kyle Mann 16 Panther rugby STRATFORD — The girls and senior boys rugby team played in the Miller Cup tournament in Stratford May 3. The girls tied their first game 5-5 against Kincardine with Lindsay Allen scoring the try. South Huron lost their second game 7-0 to Newtonbrook from Toronto before defeating Woodstock St. Marys 20-0 on tries from Julie Prout, Anne Gregus, Danielle Love and Allen. All in all the girls played well on the day. The senior boys defeated St. Ignasius 19-5 in their first game on tries from Jordan Darling, Jeff VanBergen and Justin Knee. Darling also kicked two conversions. The Panthers lost their second game 5-0 to Mitchell and won their third game on a penalty kick in sudden death by Darling after being tied at the end of regulation. Darling also scored the try. All the teams put forth an excellent effort on the day and well done to both teams from coach Terry O'Rourke.