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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1986-02-19, Page 3--NEWS AND FEATURES Teachers get raise, dental plan The Perth elementary school teachers contract signed last week won some key points for the teachers. A dental plan partially paid for by the Penh County board of education, closer parityto the secondary school teachers and aded staff for kindergarten and Grade 1 are three outstanding gains. Teacher negotiator Ron Marion of RR 3, St, Marys, said the one-year collective agree- ment represents the school board's recogni- tion of concerns that tea ers have had for awhile. Mr, Parlee said i eneral, he is pleased with the agreem Mr. Marion aid 150 of 370 elementary school teache voted on the contract on February 11. The teacher negotiator said 87 per cent voted in favor of the agreement. He noted on the evening prior to the mediation session, 350 teachers metand he was given "very specific direction to sign an agreement." The trustees voted 12 to one in favor of the contract. Only Listowel trustee Bert Johnston opposed the agreement. People Of the three remaining trustees, Peter Black of RR 1, St. Marys and Ron Richards of Stratford were absent. Trustee Rodney Bell of Shakespeare declared aconflict of interest. Mr. Bell said he made such a declaration in the "interest of the board" and not because he has any relatives who are teachers. The trustee said he couldn't share information with a trustee whose position on the board was in question. He was referring to St. Marys trustee Midge Jewson, Since she was an employee of the school board (although no longer) when she announced her intention to seek election her trusteeship could have been questioned within 90 days of the municipal election. Even though there were only a few days remaining in that period and he has no proposed grudge against Ms. Jewson, there was a question mark in Mr. Bell's mind, he said. The negotiated increases will cost the school board $1 million more or reflects a total of 6.43 per cent increase including salaries and benefits. The maximum teachers' salary at the end THE HURON EXPOSITOR. FEBRUARY 19. 1986 - A3 of the agreement will be $45,827, Mr. Marion notes that is $218 less than the maximum secondary school teacher salary. "'There was a $500 difference previously," said Mr. Marion. The average teachers' salary will be $35,382 at the end of the contract, This new contract has increases scheduled for three different times. There will be a 3.9 per cent increase retroactive to September 1, 1985, an .8 per cent increase on February 1 and a .4 per cent increase on August 31. The teachers and trustees had different reasons for the tri -split grid. "From our point of view it was to assist parity (with secondary school teachers) without breaking the bank," said Mr. Marion. "Any delay in increase benefits the board," said Mr. Parlee. The board will also add 2.5 teaching positions to allow for particular class sizes in Grade 1 and kindergarten. The agreement states when a kindergarten class size reaches 24, it will be split into two'classes requiring an Continued on page A15 to get finances in order There may have been a subtle warning in an off-the-cuff comment made by Federal Finance Minister Michael Wilson a couple weeks ago. He recommended Canadian citizens have their finances in order before the 1986 budget is released February 26. "He made no further comment on what will be affected by the budget, but he does suggest something is going to happen," said Toronto Dominion Bank employee John Strangway. Although he has no way of knowing for certain, Mr. Strangway said one area where there could be some changes is in the criteria for the Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP). There were some changes proposed in last year's budget which were opposed and resulted in the budget not being passed. It is possible, according to Mr. Strangway, some of those changes could go through this year. Because of that possibility he urges Seaforth residents to follow Mr. Wilson's PUBLIC SPEAKERS — Tom Wtlbee and Jim Watson of the Seaforth Legion pose with the winners of the annual Legion Public Speaking contest. Terry Kelly, front left, took top prize in the senior category, with a speech on his antics as a child, Michelle Murray was second In the Junior division with her speech on drinking and driving, and Jennifer Seller finished third In. the Junlor.dlvlalon, with her speech on "Mom, the bus driver."„ In the back raw Shelly t,llgh was second in the senior category with her speech on teenage suicides, Melanie Segoren was first In the Junior category with her speech on the alphabet, and Dwight Eckmeler was third In the senior category with his speech on laughter. The top lspeakers iwill li now compete in Clinton at the Zone level. IN THE YEARS AGONE Ino YEARS AGO Mr (1 (' W illson and Dr. Scott. of this town have been appointed members of the special committee in charge of poultry exhibits at the Toronto Industrial Exhibition, to be held next fall. Two rinks of the Seaforth Curling Club went to Brantford on 'Thursday to play the club of that city and today they play a rnatch with the Paris club in that town. The following gentlemen compose the rinks No. 1 - W.O. 'Reid. 51 R Counter. George Patterson and John Lyons. No 2 Geo Henderson, A. Willson. .1 A Wilson and R Common. There ivas a meting of the Town Council on Wednesday night, but there was no business of importance transacted i5 YEARS AGO Another Seaforth Public School student is coming to the front. Miss Ruth C. Van Egmond. daughter of Mr. W.D. Van Egmond and her companion, won the championship in a debate in ;farts Street Collegiate Institute, Toronto, this week The prize is a beautiful silver shield to be hung in the classroom. Although Seaforth curlers G. Bethune. W . Bethune. W McDougall and W . Anrenl, who have been competing in the big bonspiel at Winnipeg for the past week will not bring back any of the big prizes with them -- they have made a splendid showing. Messrs. McLennan and Broadfoot, who have been conducting the Commercial Hotel here for the past two or three years, have dissolved partnership and in future the business will be conducted by Mr. Alex McLennan. 50 YEARS AGO Thomas "Dad" Stephens. proprietor of the Queen's Hotel here. and the oldest active hotel keeper in the province. celebrated his 95th birthday. on• Saturday, February 15. The ladies of the Seaforth Badminton Club held an enjoyable tournament an Saturday evening at the club rooms. Honors were won by Janet Cliff and Margaret Canino in the main event and by Betty Southgate and Mrs. W eedmark in the consolation. Frederick G. Sanderson, Liberal member for Perth, Thursday night was elected deputy speaker of the House of Commons. Ile was nominated by Prime Minister MacKenzie King and his election was not opposed. 25 YEARS AGO Two pupils from Separate School Section 4, Hibbert, were among the finalists in the annual public speaking competition sponsor- ed by Mitchell Branch 128, of the Canadian Legion. Jim for girls winner was Sharon Burke and junior boys winner was Gordon Moylan. Teacher at the school is Mts. Joseph Melady, RR 2. Dublin. Seaforth rinks skipped by W .C. Moore and Dr. MW. Stapleton took top honours in the first and second draws of a mixed spiel at the Seaforth Curling Club on Saturday. Mr. and Mrs. Harold Sprung. of the 10th concession. tfullett Township, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on Wednes- day. Mrs. Sprung is the former Rachel Patterson. COMMUNITY CALENDAR Wednesday, February 19 1-3 p.m. Moms and Tots 1:30-4 p.m. Senior Shuffleboard 430-5:30 p.m. Jr. Ringette 1 5:30-6:30 p.m. Midget Practice 6:30-7:30 p.rn. Minor Broomball 7:30-8:30 p.m. Centenaires Practice 8:30 p.m. Ladies Broomball Seaforth Jr. Farmers will be canvassing for the Heart Foundation Feb. 18-23 in E. Tecitetssmiih Township. Thursday, February 20 4:15-5:15 p.m. Atom Practice 5:15-6:15 p.m. Bantam Practice 6:30-7:30 p.m. Minor Broomball 7:30 p.m. Mens Broomball Friday, February 21 4-5 p.m Jr. House League 5-6 p.m. Sr. House League 6-7 p.m. Pee Wee Practice 7-8 Ringette Practice 8:30 p.m. Centenaires vs Clinton Playoffs Saturday, February 22 7:30 a.m. Oilers vs Bruins 8:30 am. Canadians vs North Stars '930 a.m. Flames vs Penguins 10:30 a.m. Flyers vs Jets 11:30 a.m. Leafs vs Whalers Saturday Cont'd 12:30-1:30 p.m. Ringette 1:30-3 p.m. Public Skating 1:30-2.30 p.m. Story Hour at the Library. 3-4 p.m. Mites 4-6 p.m. Flgure Skating Rehearsal 6:30-8 p.m. Bantams advice and get their finances in order before midnight on February 25. He added some people hadn't bothered to go ahead with their RRSP plans because they weren't sure of the criteria for the 1966 year. That criteria has now been clarified. Mr. Strangway reminds people although there is a stigma attached to the RRSP, because it is regulated by the government, the plan is a means of ensuring a person will have enough income to support themselves once retired. Because of birth control there are less children being born, who will grow up, and be taxable to•support a possibly larger population of seniors (today's baby - boomers ). At present, regardless of the size of a person's income, a larger retirement savings nest egg can be built by starting an RRSP. And, the younger a person is when he -she starts an RitSP, the more dramatically their funds will grow. A person can contribute up to 20 per cent of their income each year to a maximum of 53,500 less contributions to an employer- sponsored pension plan. For self-employed individuals and those with no employer- sponsored plan, the limit is 20 per cent of their eligible earned income to a maximum of $5,500. However, proposed budget measures in May 1985 were to increase RRSP contribution limits to 57,500 for the self-em- ployed. Over and above those limits, a person may also contribute all or part of certain types of income -pension benefits and retirement allowances; for example, into their personal FJRSP to shelter it from taxation. 1t could also be to a person's advantage to split their income during their retirement years between their spouse and themselves. In this way they can reduce the total income tax they have to pay each year during retirement. This can be done by arranging to have a spouse open an RRSP, then placing all or part of their allowable annual contribution into this),tli$)?,.,Ast;thg::coetributer, this person benefits from the tax deduction while building a retirement nest egg for their spouse. it is benefits like this spousal RESP Mr. Strangway could he axed, if anything were going to be changed although that is just one possibility. in actual fact, come February 26, RRSPs may not he affected at all GRANDMA'S VISIT — Brent Ribey, a Grade 1 student at Seaforth Public School, leafs through the pages of a book with his grandmother Peab Dale, of Seaforth. The public school held a grandparents' day on Monday, as a means of celebrating the unofflclal Heritage Day holiday. Raftls photo Perth county ends year in black a deficit of $227,145. However, a surplus in the general account reduced the county's deficit to $173,583. The 1984 deficit was covered by reserves from the road department, which had the effect of reducing the reserves to just over $50,000. The idea behind budgeting for a 'surplus in 1985 was to build that 20 -year-old reserve back up, said Mr. Bell. The road reserve is now up to $308,633. The general county reserve remains at $506,796. last year, the county used $41,782, the surplus from the previous year, to reduce the county levy. The clerk -treasurer said the budget com- mittee will make recommendations on the future of the surplus from the 1985 financial statement. The county's tentative budget won't be presented until the March session. The county's final budget is expected to be approved on March 20 at a special 3 p.m. meeting. Perth County council ended 1985 with a 5334,747 surplus, due in part to the road department budgeting for such a surplus. County clerk -treasurer Jim Bell presented the year-end financial statement at . the February session of county council. "It doesn't have any effect on the general support and resource equalization (provin- cial) grant," Mr. Bell said of the surplus. The county had budgeted $4.2 million to run the corporation last year. That figure includes a road budget of $2.5 million, However, only $3.8 million was actually spent. The largest savings was in the road department, where only $2.2 million was spent. The road budget had a surplus of 5231,607, but fn answer to question, clerk -treasurer Jim Bell said county engineer Tom Collings had budgeted for a surplus. "The road department had a huge deficit the year before, he said. in actual dollars, the road department had Band finishes third twice BYCHERRYLSMITH McGavin. • The Seaforth District High School Girls' During their stay, they practiced every Band took a new look "South of the Border." morning and went to the beach several times. They left for North Ft. Myers, Florida on W eatherwise, it was very cold on Wednesday Friday, February 7 afternoon to participate in and Thursday and it rained all day Tuesday the "Thomas Edison Pageant of Lights" when they went to Disneyworld. band competition. The girls showed off their attractive new uniforms (made by the Booster Club and funded through donations) during the compe- tition and parade. The new uniforms are the same style as the old ones but with a different color scheme. The girls were billeted to homes in the Cape Coral area of Ft. Myers. They stayed with one family until Wednesday and then switched to another family, "We all got along okay," said Heather Under the direction of Charles Kalbfliesch, the girls performed their "Beatles" routine on Friday night. They received two third- place trophies for the color party and percussion. The girls also received a participation trophy for the parade on Saturday afternoon. The band left Florida late Saturday night and arrived back from their successful trip about four o'clock Monday, (February 17) morning. Sunday, February 23 2-4 p.m. Flgure Skating Carnival 5-6 p.m. Ringette 6-7 Ringette 7-8 p.m. Atoms vs Mitchell (W.O.A.A. Playoffs) 8 p.m. Canadians vs Flyers 9:30 p.m. Hawks vs Rangers Monday, February 24 4:30-8:30 Figure Skating 8:30-10 Beavers Old Timers • CLASS ACT — The Grade 516 class of Mrs. Riley recently completed a newspaper unit of study. Their studies prompted the letters to the editor on this page. Members of Ole class are: back row, Susan Stewart, Mrs, Riley, John McKercher, Valerie Laverty, Barbara Forrest, Mark MacDonald, David Soontlens, Jeremy Somerville, Jason Beuttenmiller. 3rd row, Feria Kahn, Morgan Murray, Michelle Murray, Kenny Hildebrand, Randy McClure, Kalen Carroll, Michael Pearce, Brian van de Bann. 2nd row, Michelle Cooper, Greg Fritz. Jonathan Hunni!, Danny Taylor, Scott Jervis, Stephen Pletsch. Frons row, Guinn Ross, Julie Garter, Cheryl McLIwain and Angela Wood. Mcllwraith photo Students voice concerns Every year violence is a big part of hockey. For instance how many stick swinging goalies, goons who go out to hurt other players and are ready to throw off their when they come on the ice. can you Billy mith and Greg Stefan think irhoalteave sticks theirare weapons. Many players careers wrecked because high sticks have poked their eyes. Many coaches order their players over the boards to fight. Brad Park for instance only got six game suspensions. We think he should have got 20 games suspensions. Violent acts in hockey are too great in number. We think it should be stopped. Mark MacDonald and John McKe c er 5-6 Seaforth Public School Tuesday, February 25 5:30-6:30 Novice Practice 6:30-8 p.m. Bantam Game (Playoffs) 8:15-10 p.m. Midget Game (Playoffs) Wednesday, February 26 7:30 p.m. S.C.O.U.T. Meeting at Optimist H Our class is doing a newspaper unit and we were wondering if you could put some crosswords and jokes in your newspaper. Please make them easy enough for US to do. Could you put word searches and mazes in also? Thanks. Yours Truly, Soula Kiritsis and Michelle Murray 5-6 Riley Seaforth Public School TO THE EDITOR We are -Writing this short letter to ask if you might put cartoons in your newspaper. We think you could improve your paper by putting homemade funnies somewhere in it. We think kids would enjoy reading different kinds of comics - not comics like Charlie Brown, Garfield, Andy Capp. Marmaduke etc. Maybe you could put an ad in your paper to ask people to send in their homemade comic; - Sincerely, Kalen Carroll and Stephen Pletsch Grade 5-6 Riley Seaforth Public School 1 think your local sports report is great. Maybe you could put some scores from the big leagues in your paper too. Could you have a page with features like the New York Times and the Toronto Star. Ma/be when your next issue comes out you coule have an update on the space shuttle blowing up. Vours Very Truly Quinn Ross 5-6 Riley Seaforth Public School At Seaforth Public School we are doing a newspaper unit•and 1 was a little concerned about there being no comics. One benefit of having comics is more people will buy the newspaper - especially children. 1 also think you should put crosswords in for the same benefits as comics. Yours Truly, Angela Wood 5-6 Riley Seaforth Public School I have a topic i would like the town to think about. i think ALL the sidewalks should be blown out because when 1 walk home after school i turn off onto the highway. 1 have to walk on the roads. It is a bit scarey when you see the cars corning on the icy roads. My biggest argument is safety for little children and older people. They could slip on the ice. This is the concern f would like the people of Seaforth and the town council to think about it. Sincerely, Jason Beuttenmiller 5-6 Riley Seaforth Public School