The Huron Expositor, 1978-02-23, Page 1Ar.
ON' 'H,E PICKET LINE—:Seaforth District High t
School teachers walked a picket line .outside the
stool Friday and again on Tuesday, and Wednesday '
in their strike agairwt the HUron County board. Two
issues, sick leave credits and pupil load, divide the
two sides. Picket ing herd are from left, teachers,
Georges Ring, -Jeanette Harris, Marianne Weiler,
Eric Judge, a Pelss. (Expositor Photo)
Teachers picket
Board can lock them out
LINING THE 'H ALLS—With their teachersout on strike Friday students at SDHS
gathered in The halls to. talk things over. From left, on the floor are Joan. Sills,
Jahind-Melanson and- Darlene Whiolio,.,.,- standi ng Ali-county- h igh-schbol-rdathert- - '-
,were out of the schoolruesday and yesterday' (EXpos,ifpr PhotP)
Housing survey underwa
in town, three townships
bathroom, and kitchen: Pent is
related to.,, total income and
includes heat, hot and cold water,
stove and refrigerator. -
The size of the family housing
units ' varies with community
needs, but they can have as many
as ,, five bedrooms.. Rents are
based on gross family income and
are independent of the number of
bedrooms or type of housing'
provided.
.After it-receives the results of
the survey, th6 municipality may:
Develop as assisted rental project
on its own; Request the Ministry
of Housing to undertake the
development; ASk the Ministry to
seek private sector involvement to
secure unip undei, the !Rent
Supplement' Program Or Private
Assisted Itcatal Program; Under-.
take the development through a
municipal non-profit housing
corporation; or, encourage the
creation of a • local non-profit
group-community, Labour or
service club organization, for.
Example-to develop a non-profit
housing project. •
Those who arc interested in
this' type of accommodation are
asked' to' obtain an application
form from the Municipal Offices
or the Huron County Housing
Alrthe rity, and return it to the
Huron County' - Housing
Authority, at '53 Stanley Street,
Godcrich, Ontario.
PUC to share watermain
cost with consumers
the Commission Of' the total value •
of the material and services
„supplied 'for each extension' and.
all amounts therefore Shall
become payable upon 'conviction
of the' work.
When the Commission is
replacing undersize mains, the
cost. Will be borne
Commission.
- Mayor Betty Cardin. asked Mr:
Phillips• to eonftct arena
Manager. Jack Price again, to see
What could be done about the
peak load at the arena which puts
the service charge on the arena
account quite high. .„
Mr. Phillips, informed the
• -"leoritinued on Page 3)
Inside this week
kite Auttion
P. 4
B. Westcott is first (oriole seaman P. 8
Public Speaking Winners P.16
Cal:denten favour free market PAS
Centenaires standings
Council learns
uckersmith tax
arrears ,369 781
Whole No. 5737
119th Year SEAFORTVI, ONTARIO THURSDAY FEERUARY23 1978 —20 PAGES
$1j.00a,Year Advance
Single copy 25 tents
, 1
Iton School
Secondary School, teachers at until the strike issue IS skied or
Seaforth DHS and the county's settled or the board chooses to re-,
other high schools were on the open the schools. , •CA
picket lines Tuesday t and , Parents an&teachers witnessed
Wednesday after stepping up •a:the Short beard meeting while
. rotating Strike and striking -all about 200 secondary, school
sehools at once. " teachers walked - the streets
The Huron County Board of surrounding the board offices in.
Education set the 'stage for a Clinton. The teacher's picketed
lockout, of the secondaiy school the administrative offices to,
teachers at a special, board according to teacher negotiatior
meeting called Monday night. Shirley Weary, "make .a point to
The board met . according to the board".
provincial, regulations to hear the Mrs. Weary said she wasn't
final offer by •the •teachers in a convinced the board was • not
public .§eissiep•t;'''4'<4-'7.4'..;,gtn "threaten,, theteacherse-
The meeting is a formality, the with the lookout. She isaid the
board'must go through if it wants teachers forming the picket line.
'to exercise its option of locking were Protesting the board's stand
teachers out the .schools: if that on the 1977 contract but added
course - is' aken by, the board it that thetwo dozen teacheys al the
must n2w call a special meeting board „meeting were there as
to vote on the lockout and if the private citizens.;
vote is in favor of closing scho'olS Director of r eclucation John
the classes will be cancelled in all Cochrane told— the board that
five county secondary schools • before a .- lockout can be
. •
Huron County Board of
Education Will consider' a
, proposal at their Ivfarch.6 meeting'
that. would See Walton Public
School closed, it's 120 studentS
accommodated at Seaf orth
'Public School and SPS Grade 8
. students- moved to'' classes at
SDHS, trustee ,John Henderson
has confirmed.
The plan,. proposed by Mr.
Henderson's property and fiscal
committee of the board,. has been
,the sdhject of` rumours among
parents at. -the two elementary
Schools'!for the last .Week„and is
desi„gned to save the board money
in the face of decli ning enklment
in the county as a whole.
.Walton Public School has full
enrolment' new and expects 33
new, kindergarten students in
September. Childra---in the first
five school grades ,from the
townships ,of Morris, Grey and
McKillop attend, 'the school.
S.P.S, • Principal Paul Carroll
. .
told the Exposito,r, that although
enfolment at SPS may go down
under 350 in .September and the
school has:a rated capacity of over
11,
SKATING FOR PLEDGES—Both the Seaforth Minor
Hockey 'player's arid their mother came but16 -the
eight hour Skate-a-thou last Saturday to raise money
tor Seaforth's Minor HoCkey League,
(Expositor Photo)
considered by, the 'board the
public session must, be field. , He
said the board must publicly
review the final offer Miff . the
teachers and - on its'
acceptance. Should the. ,bdard
'reject the offer then it is free 'to
lockout teachers if it so choOses.
Negotiations
NegotiatiOns 'have not been ,
resumed since, the first' strike
action was taken by the teachers
February 15. the last forrpal
Contract , talks ended at norm
February 14.and not only have, no
`xfneetings"':breei 'arranged- -the „
parties can't even decide Who.
.should take the first step."
Mrs. Weary said the teachers
made• the five proposal before
taking strike action adding 'that
the- teacher ;negotiating-. team •
expected a call from the board
instead of hearing '"no, no, no":
6'3/Ley-Ha—chairman of the
board's- negotiating committee,
saSid the teicherSjiad better'"-re'
think. ,Their - proposal" • before
'assuming the board should take
the first step toward further
contract talks.
_ Mr, Rill•said the Huron County
board had "cut a lot,of grOund"
in the past toinerease teacher
benefits a-nd working
conditions". He said the strike
appeared to exhibit a teacher
••attitude:th at if-they- ci on 't get-their----
way they won't.'teach. He said
they didn't appear to be thinking
about the past:
The teacher negotiator said she
"didn't*fiow that the teachers
objected to arbitration" adding
that they' offered to take that
route in September of 1977. She
said the teachers pointed out that
that they had already suggested
arbitration adding that it seemed
a "reasonable way out". She Said
,she didn't think the teachers had
any change in that attitude,
The board aegotiater said he
felt the teachers should listen to
the .board's- offers • themselves
rather than dealing with them
through an outside group that is
conspiring to strike. He said_ it is
obviouS who is "calling the shots
for theteachers'`. adding that that
person is not from Huron County.
Parents, 'teachers, board
trustees and students at the
special board meeting agreed that
the people suffering most in .the
strike are'the students. David St.
Jean,- a grade' .13 student at
'Cradetich District Collegiate
Institute., said he was worried like
everyone else, '
Mr. St. Jean said he didn't
want to lose time in school but
also didn't want to sit in a class
with 30 students and have the
teacher not even know his mac.
He said his largest class was 26
students pointing out that in a 40
. minute period the teacher doss
not have time for individual work
• with the students and so hag to
treat theni all -like one.
The senior student said that,
what really bothers,him• is that,
"no one is Willing told] students
• what's going on". He said that
when factory workers go on strike
nobody really cares 'except the
cotimany and the 'workers but
When teachers go on strike
"they're fooling around with our
education."
George Robertson, a parent of
a 'student . Grade 12 in
Goderich, said he' attended the
' Senior citizens and others who
live in ' Seaforth, MCKillop,
Tuckersmith or- Hibbert and who
are interested in low rental
housing 'have a chance to let
Ontario's Ministry of Housing
know of their needs.
• An estimate of the number of
families and senior citizens living
in Seaforth and, the three
townships whose housing is
inadequate or beyond their
financial capabilities will be made
here by the Ministry.
Seaforth council learned last
week that there are 55 appli-
cations now on file from senior
citizens who want apartments in
Seaforth.. The OFIC apartment
building planned for John Street
will have only 16 units.
The study ,which begins
shortly was requested by the
municipal councils of Seaforth,'
McKillop, Tuckersmith and
Hibbert. If the joint survey shows
a need, the town and the three
townships hope that' •, another
seniors building could be built in
Seaforth, for residents of all four
municipalities.
Seaforth clerk Jim Crocker says
it wouldn't hurt people Who
already have applications on file
to apply again in response to the
new survey. Ads with 'information
for town and townshipbfesidents
appear inside the Upositor.
If the survey shows a need for
senior citizen housing, 'it will
likely be an apartment building,
although consideration is given to
one-storey units which do not
require stairways., Apartments
have a living 'torn, bedrooti,'"r
400, SPS would not have rooni for
the 120 or so Waltop P.S.
students.-
' Mr. Carroll wouldn't give an
opinion on Grade, 8 classes
moving to SDHS because' he had
"no factual information to
indicate -Substance to the
rumours. There's been no
direction given to us as to whal
would htippen."• It's his polity,
Mr. .Carroll said inform
parents of what's happening at
the schoel", but in, this case he's
had no firm word from ibc.boBrd.
Mr. Henderson•said the shift-of
students to SPS and then to'SDHS
will "accommodate the students
and help maintain the high
SeihTZI' high school, which expse2cots,
about 380 students September,
has a capacity' of
according to, principal .13rtice
and the two grade 8 •classes
"could be accommodated here
'without effecting high school
programs at
,
Mr. Shaw said SDHS may haVe
. two redundant; teachers in
September but said secondary
teachers wouldn 'the teaching the
Grade 8,clases if they Were moved
to SDHS. •
Parents of WPS students,
alarmed about the closing
proposal, have organized a
meeting tonight at Family
Paradise which the three trustees
andLI3on Kenwell, the B. of 'E.
Superintendent .who produced
facts and figures on the dollar
saving to the board if the yValton
School is closed, will attend.
The ar ea is represented'by
three' trustees, Mr, Henderson
Larry
Dubli
orga
504
Taxes amounting ,to $369,781
are still 'owing to Tuckersmith
Township for 1977. The figure
was revealed when .Mike Meyer,
an •accountant with Diegle,
colm and Hagey in Stratford
appeared at a meeting of
Tuckersmifh council on Tuesday
of last. week to 'discuSs the
township's financial report for
1977.
Total taxes owing ve
increased by more than $100
over-the 1976 total. of $264,112.
Substantial increases in certain
departmental totals were
explained by Tuckersmith
Toh.ovn•shi
said
_ Township :cle_rkJ a ck M clAch Ian w
• • ,.
"In the past the township used
to shoky net expenditures for'
.some N ,patrinents and now gross
expendi tires are shown along -
with gross revenue".
Taxable assessment has
increased and farm acreas up
from $3,901,000. -in 1976 to
$3,-970.000 in 1977, Comthercial
assessment was down in 1977 as
compared 'to 1976 'frOnt $314,000
to $303,000 and business
assessment was up, just slightly'
grade 8 students. There are other
,ways 'the board can find to cut
back on spending 4, her letter to
parents said. '
get into SPS instead of going
through the, bus turn 'around at
Winthrop. '4
Huron's director of educatiOn
John Cochrane said Tuesday
morning • that closing Walton
Public -School has not, yet ,been
discussed• by the
.
board. As a
straight money saving plan- it
might make sense, but there are
from 5106:000 to $112.000.
Mr.' McLachlan said the
increase in residential
,assessment is partly because of
the commerical assessment going
down. He explained that -khen a
commercial property is Vacant• it
k assessed at a residential rate,,
PO locks
up lobb y.
at night
Loitering an vandalism in the
lock Box lobby of the Seaforth
post office has resulted in the
closing of the lobby on weekends
from' 12:30 noon SaturayS 'till 7 •
a.m. Mondays.
Orville Oke, Postmaster, said
thatthe lobby will remain open as
usual through the week if thereis—
no more loitering or vandalism
but if there 'is, that the lobby will
be locked at the close of business
..each day until 7 the nextmorning.
minute
classes Ttlkscussed
committee of the Huron
County Board of Education• is
looking at the 70 minute class
periods at SDHS, following some
complaints...from_ -parents--- that-
students have too much free time.
B. of E. trustee. Don McDonald
of R.R.2, BruSsels, said he
mentioned the complaints at•the
board's last meeting. Parents are
concerned at senior students' 70
minute lunch hours and the, 70
minute spares that result when
subjects have,• been dropped, he — • , Said.
Some, oJf. the same concerns
were' expressed by parents at the
recent sex education nieetings ,at
SDHS. - --
SDHS principal' Bruce. ShaW
—saidt eacherstareloo kin g_at the 70-
minute periods' too from an
academic point of view, and said
he hoped any decision• to .change
the class length, in force at the
school since September 1976 will
be an academic one.
Personally, he said he thinks
the free time problem is
'heightened by the' easy access
students have to cars "and that's
a, parental responpility".
The Public Utililties Commis-
sion has adopted a ,policy on'
extensions o watermains that is
the same as the Clinton PUC
The resolutionp states th4t the
total cost . of laying grid ,
constructing any extensions to the
system 'required and sought by
the consumer will be shared with
two-thirds of the cost ,on a-perfoot
frontage basis paid equally by the
owners of the property on either,
side of the street on' which the
ext elision is being 'constructed.
The remaining one-third of the
cost will be paid by the, Pubjie
Utility CoMmiSsion. The cost
-shall be deterniined as the cost to
board meeting to .try to
understand the situation.. He said
he had. learned nothing.
Trtist be Henderson. said
parents were jumping the gun by
holding their own meeting and
said his committee•had planned to
have an information meeting
before the board considered ,the'
closure: but needed -board'
apProval before it could be called.
"We weren't going fo do it (close
the school) without parents being
covers M cKillop, Don -informed."
cDonald who covers Grey and- Has committee is not looking at
J hit Elliott, board chairman, who closing any other schools in the
represents Morris:
Wheatley of
county, Mr, Henderson said and
the proposal to clsoe Walton is.
, one' of the • meeting based on "plain common sense."
iizers, estimates that at least Seaforth Public hassome space
r cent of parents, of WaltOn • available and it has facilities like a
tudents are concerned 'about library, Mr. Henderson , said.
the closing. Parents resent the "Why close it and keep, open a
feeling that the closing is. being . four room school that's in need of '
„"railroaded" and the lack', of repair?"
diplomacy, the board committee Althotje— Grey trustee
has shown by. not letting the McDonald says his "phone has
parents in on their plans. been, ringing" with a lot of
"I don't want •to see ,a fig ht parents very concerned about the
M started", r. Wheatley said, and. fate of the school, --Mr.
he understood that board' Henderson says other parents are
Members 'faced pressure to tsave, asking when their children will
money. Perhaps the Walton
closing would make sense, if
enrolment there was dwindling,
but it isn't and Walton PS is "one
of the most efficient schools we
have," Perhaps ' the board
committee could look at boundary
changes to even 'out school
enrolment„, he ar"n suggested.t
A • Seaforthp
Betty
Beuttenniffler, sent letters to other things to consider, he said'.
nen ts SPS • grade, :7. Sttidentew''''' • /Parehts P.S. ,
o let them know what Mr. students have criticized trustee
Henderson's committee , Henderson' as as backing off on a
proposes,, and inviting them to campaign he helped win six years
the meeting ,at Family Paradise. ago to keep the Walton school
-My real objection is the fact opera
we weren't informed anedid not But Mr. Henderson says he
receive a questionnaire asking us wasn't fighting then so much to
if we approved of it (sending the keep ,Walton open as to "build
grade 8's to SDHS) ' she says..., Seaforth Public. School up".
Personally, Mrs. Beuttenmiller Walton parents were guaranteed;
says, she feels grade 9 is soon then that when space was
enough to cope with-high school, available their children could
which is too unsupervised for move into SPS, he' said.
1 7.
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