The Citizen, 1998-06-24, Page 22Graduation
Robert Shortreed has
successfully received his
electrician's licence. He did
his apprenticeship with
Pletch Electric, Wingham
where he is presently
employed.
Congratulations Rob.
Love, your family.
Finding a bargain
Blyth Festival Theatre crew members Caroline Gillis, left,
and Katherine Ashby took time out to check out the
bargains at the Blyth Legion penny sale held, June 18-20.
BLYTH LIONS CLUB
ANNUAL SUMMER DANCE
Dancing to
Cactus Jam
(Kim Souch, Juanita Arkell, Arlene Darnbrough)
from
9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
SATURDAY, JUNE 27, 1998
Blyth & District Community Centre
Arena Floor
Tickets - $8.00 single,
$15.00 couple
available at the door
Proceeds to
Blyth Brook Community
Greenway Project
Lunch Available
Licenced by the LLBO
Age of Majority
Being held in conjunction with
Santa's Summer Toy Ride
PAGE 22. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 24;1998.
Board of education plans move to Seaforth
By Victoria Jackson and
Scott Hilgendorff
Huron Expositor
One hurdle in the way of keeping
Seaforth District High School open
could be cleared with current plans
to move Avon Maitland District
School Board (AMDSB)
administration operations to
Seaforth, said Director of
Education Paul Carroll.
Options are currently being
studied to move part or most of the
board's operations to the high
school, which Carroll said helps
ensure the viability of the school.
That and enrollment are among
the main issues that have led to a
threatened closure of one high
school.
A committee of board members
and community partners formed
last month and will meet regularly,
starting in September, to look at
ways of keeping the school open.
The way Carroll sees it, when
that group starts meeting, "space is
no longer an issue."
But in regards to enrollment, he
said, "That door is wide open."
The board discussed plans to start
centralizing its administrative
operations by moving some offices
from Stratford and Clinton to
Seaforth at its June 8 meeting.
At the meeting, Ray Ford, vice-
chair for the board, said the board
hopes to be using four classrooms
at SDHS by September.
"I think that is the plan," Ford
said. "It is a matter of finding some
central spots for people to work
from."
Abby Armstrong, chair of the
AMDSB, said the board has been
considering this move for a long
time.
"That's been under discussion for
years under the old board. And
since amalgamation it's been
discussed more heavily," she said.
Armstrong said the board will be
moving its operations base from
Stratford and Clinton to Seaforth.
Carroll said on Monday there are
three options being considered
which will determine how much of
the board's operation comes to
Seaforth.
The board decided last week to
put two Stratford properties, 210
Water St. and 426 Brittania St., up
for sale.
The new offices at SDHS may or
may not be permanent.
Armstrong said the board has
assured the Seaforth community
that SDHS would remain open for
at least the next year.
Because of a previous motion
from the board not to decide on the
permanent location for the offices
for two years and not to make a
final decision on SDHS for one
school year. Armstrong said they
can't say for certain this is the final
location.
She said they made a
commitment to work with the
communities regarding these
decisions and that work could lead
to any number of options coming
forward.
John Patterson, interim director
of education for the board, said the
future of SDHS will be decided
during the school year. He also
points to the issue of enrollment as
a factor in any future decisions.
"There has to be a discussion
with the community and the school
during the year," he said.
He added that the goal is to try to
get payroll and human resources
together and administration and
business together.
Armstrong said the biggest
concern is always for the students.
She said if the community wants
to keep the school open and can
think of any way to do that, the
board is more than willing to listen.
"But if we lose the school and
don't put anything there, it's a loss
for the community," Armstrong
said "If we put an office there, we
would be bringing jobs to the
community."
She added that last year the board
had agreed not to make any firm
decisions on relocating for two
years, but that they had to start
centralizing their offices.
"Since the amalgamation we
have one board operating on two
different payroll schedules and two
different administrative offices,"
Armstrong said.
She said that amalgamating
offices at this point doesn't mean
job losses, but down the road the
board fully expects that some
people may lose their jobs.
"It depends on how many people
want to relocate to Seaforth. We
may not actually have to lay off as
many people as we thought."
She added that if SDHS closed,
most of the students would then be
bussed to Central Huron Secondary
School (CHSS) and the board
offices at CHSS could be used for
extra classroom space.
"We are going to start
downsizing the (Clinton) office
too," Armstrong said. "The
technical support, the computers,
will stay in the Clinton bid
offices. It's really expensive to
move that equipment, so it will stay
there until we have picked a
permanent site."
If the board space in Clinton
remains unused, Armstrong said
the board may consider renting the
space to different organizations or
putting an adult learning centre
there.
Carroll said the movement of
board offices to the high school is a
win-win situation for Seaforth.
He expects there will be a
decision by next week about what
offices will be going to the school
and what renovations will take
place to accommodate them.
Whatever option is selected,
Carroll said renovations will be
done if necessary to ensure
classroom space is not lost to the
offices.
"I don't think there's anything to
be feared, he said.
eattputtulatiana
Congratulations John
Stewart on receiving your
title as a Certified Municipal
Officer from the Association
of Municipal Clerks and
Treasurers of Ontario June
15, 1998.
Love your family
gatttliceming
dfiattuage
Ann Marie and David
Edwin, together with their
parents, Mr. Jerome Cullen
and the late Mrs. Cullen and
Mr. and Mrs. Grant
Sparling, announce their
forthcoming marriage on the
twenty-seventh of June at
the Blyth United Church,
Blyth, Ontario.
Blyth Festival
gives you 40 great reasons to celebrate Canada Day!
On July 1, the box office will offer
a special one last chance to purchase Festival Coupons.
Priced at $60 your four coupons can be exchanged for four tickets
to any performance(s) of your choice during the 1998 season.
That's a $40 savings off the weekend ticket price.
4 4 /4 0 you? ki1411 thicuot Canada ez)411
hatit a great Canadian play.
Wtlaut County Elaes, 6y Andteht Moodie,
pieviews 9uly ist, 8 p.m.
Call the Box Office 519-523-9300