The Citizen, 2001-02-28, Page 19STRICKLAND TOYOTA GODERICH
346 HURON ROAD • 524-9381 • 1-800-338-1134
WINTER HOURS FOR-SALES
MON. - FRI. 9 - 6, SAT. 9 - 4, EVENINGS BY APPOINTMENTS
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2000 TOYOTA ECHO
Roomy 2 dr., 5 speed with only 20000 km., style
package, lots of warranty!
1998 CHEV CAVALIER
Shop and compare, 4 cyl., automatic, complete with
A/C, great value.
SALE PRICE 0,900
1997 CHRYSLER INTREPID
Sharp, one local owner! Fully equipped and only
70000 km. Shop and compare!
SALE PRICE $1 1 ;900.
1998 DODGE NEON
Excellent condition great value, 4 cyl., 5 speed, A/C, AM/FM
cassette.
SOLE PRICE $9,295.}
1998 GMC SONOMA SLS
4.3 litre, V6, auto/overdrive, NC, AM/FM cassette, box
liner, roomy extra cab!
SALE PRICE $13,995
2000 TOYOTA COROLLA VE
4 cyl., auto/overdrive, A/C, AM/FM CD, great
condition and lots of factory warranty left.
SALE PRICE $15 495.
1997 CHEV MONTE CARLO LS
Roomy and sporty. Fully equipped with cruise, tilt,
p.w., p.I., sunroof & more!
SALE PRICE $1 1,995.
2000 TOYOTA SIENNA CE
Dual doers, dual A/C, V6, auto/overdive p w.. p
cruise tilt and more, balance of tech') warranty.
1998 DODGE CARAVAN
Great 4 dr. family van, V6, auto., air, cruise, tilt, pm.,
p.I., AM/FM cass. & more!
SA1.E PRICE $1 3,495.}
SALE PRICE $1 2,900.)
SALE PRICE $23,495.2
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1998 FORD CONTOUR SPORT
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1998 FORD WINDSTAR GL
Above average. condition. V6, auto. overdrive, air,
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SALE PRICE $14,495./
1996 MERCURY MYSTIQUE GS
Clean 4 cyl., auto/overdrive with A/C, p.w., p.I.,
cruise, tilt, AM/FM cassette, only 68000 km.
SALE PRICE $0 %Pp MEM •
2000 TOYOTA,CAMRY LE
4 cyl., auto/overdrift, cruise,. tilt, A/C, p.w., p.I.,
keyless entry, AM/FM CD, ABS. Factory warranty low
kms.
SALI PRICE $21 ,500.
1996 CHRYSLER CONCORDE
3.3 litre V6, auto/overdrive, climate control, p.w., p.I.,
cruise, tilt, keyless, sharp one owner.
SALE PRICE $9,995.
1998 SATURN SLI
Only 57000 km. and well equipped with
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SALE PRICE $11,900.
1996 FORD F150 XL
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THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2001. PAGE 19.
School bds. get extension on transportation loan
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
After filling out a mistake-marred,
ambiguously-worded questionnaire
from Ontario's education ministry,
the two district school boards in
Huron and Perth Counties have
been granted an extension on their
application for the Student
Transportation Loan Program.
The program provides interest-
free loans to such "coterminous"
boards when they implement gov-
ernment-approved computer soft-
ware for efficiently scheduling
cooperative bus routes.
At the January meeting of the
Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board, staff reminded
trustees that the two boards already
partake in a significant level of co-
operative transportation, but
explained that officials had decided
to apply for the grant in hopes that
further savings could be achieved.
However, they also decided to ask
for an extension beyond the Jan. 31
application date, because of the con-
siderable time necessary to study
the software alternatives, coupled
with Huron County's very recent
conversion to the 9-1-1 rural
address system.
At the board's subsequent regular
meeting, Monday, Feb. 26, director
of education Gaetan Blanchette con-
firmed the extension had been
granted, with Huron-Perth and the
Avon Maitland Diitrict School
Board now expected to hand in a
full loan application by the end of
June.
But also included in the informa-
tion packages for the meeting was a
photocopy of the original applica-
tion questionnaire, which was filled
out in part by officials from the two
boards and submitted by the Jan. 31
deadline, along with a letter stating
"it will be impossible to (fully)
complete this assessment and
review within the timeframe expect-
ed under the application."
The questionnaire, which is just
over one page long, could hardly be
considered adequate considering it
was created by employees of the
Ministry of Education: In the pro-
gram's title atop the first page, the
second 'r' is missing from the word
"Transportation." And for the final
question, the person responding on
behalf of the Huron-Perth and Avon
Maitland boards was forced by
ambiguous wording to insert a clar-
ifying note.
In the question, the respondent is
asked to answer "yes" or "no" to the
following statement: "Existing
resources are not duplicated."
The Huron-Perth/Avon Maitland
respondent answered "yes," but
obviously didn't want this to be mis-
interpreted to mean that resources
ARE duplicated. So an extra note
was included, stating, "this state-
ment is correct — Existing
resources are not duplicated."
Blanchette wasn't concerned
about grammatical or spelling
errors.- He did, however, criticize
some of the wording in the ques-
tionnaire, saying it pointed to the
wider issue of the Conservative
government's unswerving promo-
tion of such cooperative ventures.
"(Government officials) have this
great idea about working together
and how it's going to save all this
money, but they don't actually know
about how it all works within the
school boards," the director of edu-
cation said.
He reiterated that the two boards
have already worked together on
transportation schedules for many
years.
He also explained that, in small
boards like the ones in Huron and
Perth Counties, often only one per-
son per board handles all transporta-
tion-related duties, sometimes in
conjunction with other responsibili-
ties.
These people will still be neces-
sary at both boards even after a
cooperative computerized system is
implemented, so the savings could
be quite small.
Lack of emphasis on trades concerns coalition
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A coalition representing manufac-
turers in Huron County has sent a
letter to the Huron-Perth Catholic
District School Board, expressing
concern about the implementation of
the new four-year high school cur-
riculum.
"It is apparent to us that the
changes in education do not direct
students into technological studies,"
states the letter, signed by John
Grace, chair of the I74-member
Manufacturers Group of Huron
County. "This change in education
will have lasting implications on our
manufacturers' ability to acquire the
necessary people to compete locally
and globally." -
Specifically, the letter points to a
provincially-mandated increase from
16 to 18 compulsory courses
required for high school graduation,
with most students predicted to com-
plete those credits in four years.
"These two facets reduce the
importance of technological educa-
tion simply because of the emphasis
placed on other subject areas and the
length of stay students will have to
take options courses."
The letter goes on to cite "reports
from our district secondary schools,"
showing enrollment in technological
courses "dropped by as much as 50
per cent" among students currently
in Grade 10, who will be the first to
graduate under the new curriculum.
Asked to comment on the letter
during the board's regular meeting,
Monday, Feb. 26, Education
Superintendent Ray Contois agreed
it has become less likely that stu-
dents aiming for careers in non-tech-
nological disciplines will enroll in
technological courses as non-corn-
pulsory options. But he noted tech-
nological training facilities are cur-
rently being built at both of the
board's secondary schools, in
Stratford and Clinton.
Director of Education Gaetan
Blanchette cautioned that it's not yet
known what proportion of students
will actually graduate after four
years under the new curriculum.
On the whole, however, the com-
Continued on page 23