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HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Huron Expositor, 1968-04-25, Page 1010701B, HURON WCPOSITOR. SEAFDRTticDt4T., APR. 25, 1968,„ THE HOME TEAM "Gordie cloves . Howe stick, Bobby Hull skates, Davv . • and still I'm lousy!" ••=mlemm•••=1•• Keon Seaforth Monument Works All Types of Cemetery Memorials OPEN DAILY T. PRYDE & SON Inquiries are invited - Telephone Numbers: EXETER 235-0620 CLINTON 482-9421 SEAFORTH: Contact Willis Dundas Read the Advertisements - les a Profitable Pastime-! SEAFORTH'S HOME COMING. WEEKEND AND 100th BIRTHDAY June 29, 30 and July 1st Let us have the Names and Addresses of former residents of the district The OLD BOYS can't come to the home coming if they don't know about it. Prepare your List now. Send it the Mrs. Jos- eph McConnell, Chairman, Invitation Com- mittee, or phone 527-1560. Here Are Some Names: - NAME NAME ADDRESS ADDRESS NAME ADDRESS Discusses 'aackgroundi To School HPiiiiposals. (These background notes have been prepared by Dr. Mor- gan. Smith of Bayfield, who has been closely interested in the school situation in Huron for some years. Dr. Smith writes as a citizen and not in any of his capacities as a inember of a board or committee. His views do not necessarily represent those of the groups with which he is associated.). In 1962 there were just under 1300 children born in Huron. This approximately is the num- ber who should be in our grade one classes in September. This is the number in each of our first four grades, slightly larger than the under 1200 pupils in the upper four grades of the elementary schools. Let us look at the births since then. They have dropped by about 100 a year, so that in 1966 only 825 .babies were added to the County population. The fig- ures are not yet assembled for 1967. Unless there is immigra- tion into the county, we will have need for the equivalent of 509 less desks in our schools in four Iyears, the size of our pre- sent largest public school build- ings: Our county birth rate is 15.2 compared with 18.9 in Ontario. This indicates an aging popu- • lation, and reflects the loss of our young people to the cities. Will this trend be reversed? Now let us look at our ex- isting plant. Most of our schools are relativelynew. The only one -room schools left are in Mc- Killop Township. All our high schools have been frantically` putting up costly additions in ‘, the past years. Are we likely to be paying debentures for the •next 15 to 20 years for buildings that are one third empty. Nearly half our children have no opportunity of attending kindergarten. Is kindergarten necessary, or only a frill? Why have some schools nearly all the advantages of the best city 'schools, while others'are provid- ing almost a 19th centgry style of teaching? Because we change, is this for the better? These are some of the prob- lems a group of your elected representatives are now consid- ering in the Huron -Interim School Organization Committee. On January 1st next year the Ontario Government has stated there will be one county board of education. They have publish- ed a white paper outlining their proposals. The majority of boards in rural counties have been opposed to this plan, but many are now becoming recon- ciled to the fact that the legis- lation has been brought up in the speech from the throne, and will likely become law in the next few weeks. It will be up to them to make the transition Diamond Ring Sale 20% - 30% discount on entire stock of diamonds SAVAUGE JEWELLERS (Opposite Post Office Evening Appointment By Arrangement 527-0270 milinommommimmo• PROCLAMATION! TOWN OF SEAFORTH DAYLfGHT SAVING TIME The Council of t e Town of Seaforth has instructed me to-deelare-DAYLIGHT SA-VING TIME, adopted for the Town of Seaforth, during the period of Sunday, April 28th, 1968 at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, October 27th, 1968 at 12:01 a.rn. • and respectfully request the citizens to observe the same. FRANK KLING, Mayor "GOD SAVE TIM QUEEN" as smooth and equitable as pos- sible. The present 23 boards will -merge into one board, leaving only the ten separate schools and the Calvin Christian School outside the system: These rep- resent alput 1600 children in the county. There will be 14 trustees elected to 'oversee this responsibility, and to control a budget larger than that of the county council and municipali- ties. There wU likely be one sep- ate school trustee on this board to represent the interest of their school system in High school matters. The electoral divisions for the remaining 13, positions will he determined by county council. They will use the relative amounts of farm and residential public school as- sessments to determine equit- able boundaries for the wards. ' At a meeting in Ridgetown of some 150 trustees from five counties who met to study this problem, it was evident that there were many things troub- ling the present board members. Some of these are worth com- ment. 1. Is The Basis Of Representation Fair? Many farmers felt that they would have to say no in the management of their schools, and that the town people would dominate the board. Using the tables published by the county council last year, and disregarding separate school supporters who make up a small - proportion of the electorate, and omitting villages for a sim- ilar reason, we find the follow- ing: In the 16 townships there are 27,398 people with an assess- ment of $42 million. In the five towns they are 18- 123 people and an assessment of $12 million. It .appears tliat when county council determines the wards, they will be giving three-fifths of the population from the town- ships over three times the num- ber of trustees from the towns. Of course we shall not know their plan until it is worked out by our county fathers. 2. Is Local Taxation Fair? , This is perhaps a "Red Her- ring" in that we can ask if local taxation was fair in the past, hence is bearing a decreasing • proportion of educational costs each year. Last year the prov- ., ince paid about ,60% of our ,costs, and the federal govern- ment gave us large grants for the secondary schools. The Min- ister of Education has told the Legislature that he is,increasing this support for 1968. We are also embarking on a County Assessor system in Hur- ron next year, and the province has promised to equalize all as- sessments as soon as possible. As the proposals of the Carter System reports on taxation are studied, no doubt a still fairer sharing of the tax load will re-- sult. Perhaps the farmer will still have a lower number of children per unit of assessment than the citizens of the town. How much does the favourable position of the farmer under the Income Tax Act compensate for this? The writer is unable to settle this dispute. 3. The New System Will Cost M Costs are risinogreeverywhere in Canada. t• would therefore be nonsense to say that the.County Board would cost less than the • present system. In addition Hu- ron has been slow to update its • edueational system, and in the interests of all our children there should be more equality of opportunity. The important consideration is whether we are getting value for our dollar spent. Many peo, ple are convinced that under the small board operation we are wasting money, and unfor- tunately -the larger part of that waste comes from provincial or federal taxes. Our watch dogs of the treasuries in Ottawa and Toronto cannot view waste of public funds with equanimity. Should we find that we have the equivalent of one new 15 room school empty in four years ($600,000) or have overbuilt our high Schools by several class- rooms, what is the .cost of this under the present system? T.f we can take for or five' buses off our townlines, is it possible there may be a saving here? I confesS I haven't the answer to these question, but no one has this problem --t�- date. Boards have not communicated with each other, nor has the De- partment of Education taken any leadership in trying to solve these problems until noww. 4. There Will Be An Increase In Bureaucracy • This worries all taxpayers. The only, control is through the electorate. Certainly the new board will be directly iespons- ible to the electorate, and if they waste public money on -an Inflated bureaucracy, the re- course is to "throw the rascals' out". At present, with a large number,of trustees appointed, rather fan elected i this control does not exist • 'The Selection of the public servants on this new board will be one of the most important duties the new board Wes. If they are well chosen, we will have a good systetn. 11 they are poor administrators, it will af- fect- the whole of Ruron's schools adversely, One highly paid officials may save his sal- ary costs many times over in service to the community. • 5. A County Board Is Imperson? al, and Cannot Be Approached By The Ratepayers ' For many years parents in the cities have taken their prob- lems to the principal of the school. By and large this has worked. In the past most par- ents in Huron have had no principal to approach, and dealt with their board member on a personal basis. School board meetings are open to the ratepayers, but it is a rare event when a ratepay- er attends a meeting. Will this change with the County Board? 6. Parents and Teachers Who Think 'Their School Is Good,Are Worried That Its Standard Will Decrease, and That They Will Be Subject To Arbitrary Con- trols It is the intention of the de- partment that considerable free- dom will be given to County Boards, in order that rigidity will not result. Undoubtedly they will pick up this direction, and allow considerable autono- my to principals. Change will come about slow- ly because of the cost, as well as to avoid upsetting establish- ed systems. Even Toronto' has had this problem. The public , school that my father and I at- tended would ww have my grandson as a pupil except for a change in boundaries. • The Huron Interim School Or- ganization Committee The County trustees have formed a committee from repre- sentatives of each board to study the problems that will be faced next year, and to collect sufficient information to make the transition to the new man- agement with as little disrup- 'tion as possible. It must be un- derstood that this committee has no powers, even though it has provincial backing. Present boards are autonomous. It is the hope that by discussion we can come to some common agreement on how the interests of municipal ratepayers my be best served for the rest of this year, and in what manner the new board may be launched with as few difficulties as pos- sible. We are concerned about the equality of the merger. Some public school boards have mill rates as low as nine, and others as high as 20. Secondary school rates vary from nine to 20 mills. Some boards have large sur- pluses, some have heavy deben- tures, and others have debt. Some have spanking new build- ings, and others date from the last century. These variations will have to be reconciled. If we can reach some agreement, we may save much unpleasant- ness from courts of arbitration next year. Your boards have had four meetings since December. They will be having many more; in addition to their own board duties. At the last meeting ev- ery board but one was repre- sented. One trustee had a round' trip of 55 miles. The ratepayers are getting value from their representatives, - at their salary of $20 a month., Even at $18,000 a year we have some members of parliament who do not attend alrmeetings of the house. 11111111111111111111111111111111111111I11111 For Every Occasion K. C. FLORIST 482-7012 61 Orange St. - Clinton IIIIIIIIIIIIIII11111111111111111111111111111 • For Complete INSURANCE on your HOME,, BUSINESS,..-P_ABM;-- CAR, ACCIDENT, LIABILITY OR LIFE SEE JOHN A. CARDNO Insurance Agency Pisa* 527-0490 : Seeforith Office Directly Opposite Seaforth Motors soitesormwoorawwwonswoo• •IEIEDY BILL444E111...1. LISTEN OFFICER - "THIS NEAP wor Go OYER S.S;-SO MOTHS TICKET? • NOT FOR sPggPsve SONNY- FOR PISTURBIN THE PEACE WITH THS RACKET IT MAKE51 HAYS 1110R0U6141-Y • Oihdtiotvierester+ ANP QUIET t.jsp CAR$. GOTRAPE .1N-0-1* NOW CAR: VE,A1-11. KNOW I WORK *MERE ANP THIS CAR. 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