The Citizen, 2009-06-25, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, JUNE 25, 2009.
This year’s Grade 10 students in
Huron and Perth Counties had a
higher-than-normal bar to strive for
as they completed their Ontario
Secondary School Literacy Test
(OSSLT) in April, 2009.
And, according to recently-
released results from the agency
which administers the standardized
test, the Education Quality and
Accountability Office (EQAO), they
were up to the challenge.
For the second year in a row,
success rates among students from
the Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board were the highest in the
province, with 92 per cent achieving
at or above the EQAO standard.
That’s a one-point improvement
over last year. Students from
Catholic school systems in Kingston
and Halton region shared the top
spot among English boards.
Students from the “co-terminous”
Avon Maitland District School
Board, meanwhile, improved by two
percentage points on the results of
last year’s Grade 10s. Their success
rate was 88 per cent, compared to 86
per cent last year.
Province-wide, the average
success rate was 84 per cent in 2008,
and increased to 85 per cent this
year.
According to a news release from
the Huron-Perth board,
administrators remain “committed
to improved performance.” And
Perth South/Stratford trustee
Bernard Murray, after learning of
the results, said, “it speaks to what
our teachers are doing to raise
their skills so they can help our
students.”
In publicizing their results, each
board chose to highlight a particular
trend. The Catholic board stressed
its ability to lessen the effects of the
so-called “gender gap” that saw just
82 per cent of males across the
province achieve the EQAO
standard. In Stratford St. Mikes and
Clinton St. Anne’s high schools,
88 per cent of males met the
standard.
The Avon Maitland board,
meanwhile, looked back in its
records to 2004-05, when the group
of students writing this year’s
OSSLT sat down for their previous
EQAO literacy test – the Grade 6
assessments of reading, writing and
math.
“Of the 1,059 students who wrote
the Grade 6 EQAO in Avon
Maitland in 2004-2005, 937 students
were successful on the OSSLT,
including over 200 students who
were not at provincial standards in
Reading in 2004-05.
To be eligible for a secondary
school diploma, students must either
pass the OSSLT or complete a
literacy course that’s specially
designed for those who repeatedly
fail to succeed. But, according to
Huron-Perth education
superintendent Dan Parr, the value
of the test extends beyond simply
qualifying for a diploma.
“It’s designed to ensure that the
students who pass the test have a
competent level of literacy,” Parr
said.
Students score high in EQAO
Woo-hoo!
Jonny Ortlieb tests out some pint-sized wings at Jim and
Leona Armstrong’s 20th anniversary of their Pietenpol fly-in
held at their Brussels home on Father’s Day weekend. (Vicky
Bremner photo)
Parents trying to persuade Avon-
Maitland District School Board to
build a new kindergarten-to-Grade 8
(K-8) school in northern Huron had
extra ammunition to take with them
to the June 23 meeting of the board.
At their June 16 meeting, Morris-
Turnberry councillors pledged
$125,000 in support (over five years)
for a new school to replace Blyth,
East Wawanosh, Turnberry Central
and Wingham Public Schools, but
only if a K-8 school is built.
While the accommodation review
committee for the schools had
recommended the K-8 school and
parents had indicated strong
opposition to a proposal to move
Grade 7 and 8 students to F. E.
Madill Secondary School to boast
attendance there, board staff at first
proposed closing Turnberry and
Blyth schools and moving students
to Wingham, East Wawanosh and
Hullett.
Then a provincial grant of $8.8
million was announced and staff
proposed building a new K-6 school
to replace Blyth, East Wawanosh,
Turnberry and Wingham
schools.
Mark Beaven, Morris-Turnberry
councillor and chair of the
accommodation review committee
told council that the promise of
funding was needed to help persuade
trustees to choose the K-8 option.
Trustees need to know they won’t
get funding if they choose the K-8
school, he said.
Deputy-mayor Jim Nelemans
worried that such a pledge would be
the equivalent of “putting a gun to
the head of the trustees. I don’t want
someone doing this to us,” he
said.
Beaven argued instead that the
pledge was “putting a carrot in front
of them. We’re ponying up ahead of
time to keep a disaster from
happening. It’s an opportunity for
the municipality to put its money
where its mouth is.”
Councillor Paul Gowing agreed
that it was not a case of putting a gun
to the trustees’ heads.
“I have no problem with the
amount of money,” he said. “We’ve
committed $100,000 to the Brussels
library and its a smaller project.”
In the long run, councillors voted
unanimously (with Beaven
abstaining) to pledge $125,000 over
five years with the possibility of
further support when the location of
the school is identified, but only for
a K-8 school.
The big one
Jason Eckert had his catch of the day. It was annual fishing derby time at Radford’s Pond
south of Blyth on Sunday morning. There were categories for a number of age groups and
each child could catch up to two fish. The event is sponsored each year by the Blyth Legion
and the Radford Group. (Vicky Bremner photo)
Morris-Turnberrypledges $125,000to new K-8 school
By Keith Roulston
The Citizen
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
After applying for grants for
projects worth over $12 million
from both the federal and provincial
governments, Huron East came back
with just under $500,000 for a
resurfacing and bridge deck
waterproofing project.
Mayor Joe Seili was disappointed,
he said at council’s June 16 meeting,
and a report will be coming through
council for the July 7 meeting
chronicling Huron East’s success
with grant applications in the past
compared to other municipalities in
Huron County.
The project that was approved was
a $1.4 million project, the
resurfacing of Cranbrook/McNabb
Road and bridge deck
waterproofing. This funding came
from the provincial government
under the infrastructure stimulus
fund.
The two other projects Huron East
applied for under the infrastructure
stimulus fund were the Vanastra
Servicing Renewal project and the
Jamestown Road bridge
replacement, valued at $3,055,000
and $1,199,600 respectively.
Huron East also applied for
funding for its largest project, the
Seaforth sewer plant expansion,
valued at $5,753,550, for the Build
Canada fund.
Clerk-administrator Jack
McLachlan, after meeting with
treasurer Brad Knight and public
works manager Barry Mills, advised
council that it would be
advantageous to call tenders for the
project sooner, rather than later, due
to the increased work load of
contractors over the next two
construction seasons.
HE to review grant success rate
By Shawn Loughlin
The Citizen
It’s like shopping with the Heart and Stroke Foundation’s dietitians, who
evaluate every participating product based on Canada’s Food Guide.
www.healthcheck.org