The Citizen, 2001-10-31, Page 7FOUff
at MAITLAND MANOR
NURSERY
Wednesday, October 31
5-9 p.m.
TG's rea11~ S'pooq
Dress appropriately
wear warm clothes and
boots & bring a flashlight
Admission: '2:^/person
For more information check
cur website
wwwmaillaldmanorcom
RR #1
Blue 'ale
335-3240
IT
IVES
INSURANCE BROKERS LTD.
Visit us at:
WWWIVESINSURANCE.COM
"All Classes of Insurance"
DOUG GOUGH, Broker
184 Dinsley St. W., Blyth
Tel.: (519) 523-9655
Fax: (519) 523-9793
.Special day
St. Michael's Roman Catholic Church and its sister parish of St. Joseph's in Clinton celebrat-
ed 100 years together. Among those enjoying the day, which included a dinner at Blyth's arena,
were, from left: Bishop Grecco, Deb Machan and Theresa Machan of Blyth, Cecelia Ryan of
Seaforth and former St. Michael's priest, Father Joe Hardy. (Photo submitted)
Parishes celebrate 100th year
Colour
Scanners
Complete
Computer
Systems
Christmas is just around the corner
and we've got great gift ideas
now available at RadioShack.
inv•n i
Colour printers by
LEXM41RK &
The future of photography is here!
Capture all those special memories on Kodak & Agital cameras
Vibrant colours, great resolutions, compact size all at a price you can afford.
Check out our complete selection of computer systems & accessories at
ioShack OLDFIELD PRO HARDWARE Rad
Brussels
& RADIOSHACK 887-6851
pm)
THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2001. PAGE 7.
Ministry letter concerns Catholic school board
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A letter sent by Ontario's Ministry
of Education has officials of the
Huron-Perth Catholic District
School Board concerned that inade-
quate information could be used to
indicate there's no need for replace-
ment of a 77 year-old elementary
school in Hesson.
The Sept. 14 letter, from the direc-
tor of the ministry's Business
Services Branch, Drew Nameth,
came in response to a June 6, 2001
letter from Huron-Perth Director of
education Gaetan Blanchette.
Blanchette`s letter reiterated con-
cerns which were originally
expressed on Dec. 23, 1998, asking
the ministry to establish a process
within its funding formula under
which a board could prove that it
would cost less money to construct
an entirely new school than it would
to repeatedly fix older facilities.
Supporting evidence, sent with the
June 6 letter, included an unfavor-
able architectural report from a
Stratford firm and a list of inadequa-
cies provided by St. Mary's elemen-
tary's school council.
Nameth's letter states, "the min-
istry is developing criteria to deal
with the problem of schools that are
beyond being brought to acceptable
standards by a reasonable investment
in renovation."
At a regular Huron-Perth board
meeting Monday, Oct. 22,
Superintendent of Business Gerry
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The level of labour stability was
heightened in schools of the Huron-
Perth Catholic District School Board
on Monday, Oct. 22, with the
approval of three-year collective
agreements for all teachers.
But the board's top administrator
admits such ratification is a risky
move, considering the provincial
ministry of education has given no
indication of how much money it
will make available - for teacher
salaries beyond this year.
Deals for both elementary and sec-
ondary teachers were among eight
collective agreements unanimously
approved by Huron-Perth trustees at
the regular board meeting. Two-year
deals were also approved for three
separate types of administrative
staff, for secretaries and educational
assistants represented by the
Canadian Union of Public
Employees, and for a custodian and
courier driver based at the board's
Dublin offices. The board's lay chap-
lain position also received a three-
year settlement.
"For the most part, they're based
on two per cent (increases) for the
first year," explained Superintendent
of Education Gaetan Blanchette,
answering .a question from Trustee
Vincent McInnes.
Blanchette went on to explain that
the increases in years two and three
of the three-year deals would be
"formula-driven," using a combina-
tion of the average and median rates
paid to similar employees in all of
the province's Catholic school
boards. For those employee groups
with two-year deals, the second
year's increase would be based
largely on the increase given to
teachers.
Blanchette said the split between
two-year and three-year settlements
prevents a situation similar to what
happened this year, when all of the
Thuss acknowledged the ministry is
aware of the problem.
Thuss told trustees that, at a recent
meeting attended by administrators
from various school boards, a mem-
ber of Nameth's staff said the issue is
being discussed.
But another sentence within
Nameth's letter -- one referring to
the newly-released province-wide
School Facilities Survey — has
Thuss and South Huron trustee Mike
Miller concerned.
"If they're going to use (the
Facilities Survey) as criteria, that's
simply unacceptable," Miller said,
referring to Nameth's assertion that
"part of the ministry's work in this
area involves taking information
from the School Condition Reports."
The reports, available for public
viewing on the ministry's website,
are based on in-school surveys
administered by each principal in
October, 2000. In what will be the
second year of what the government
plans to make an annual process,
similar surveys are currently being
administered in each school for
2001. The surveys ask five different
stakeholder groups — principals,
teaching staff, non-teaching staff,
school councils, and students — to
provide ratings for five different fac-
tors — cleanliness, condition, com-
fort, accessibility, and level of part-
nership between stakeholder groups.
A partial analysis of the province-
wide results was provided to trustees
for the Oct. 22 meeting. All 17
Huron-Perth schools are rated "satis-
board's collective agreements
expired at once. For this, he blamed
the fact the board felt it could only
sign one-year deals with its teachers
in 2000, due to uncertainty about
how much money would be made
available by the provincial govern-
ment beyond the current year's edu-
cational grant.
While that uncertainty remains in
place, the province attempted to
bring labour stability to the teaching
profession earlier this year by forc-
ing school boards to only negotiate
teachers' deals of three years or
longer.
"Now, what we've got to hope for
is that there's going to be enough
money in the funding grants to cover
that type of a contract," Blanchette
said.
In late September, Blanchette had
predicted trustees would vote on a
secondary school teachers' agree-
ment at the Oct. 22 meeting. But the
list of eight separate settlements
brought forward for trustees sur-,
passed any hints he had given previ-
ously.
"Everything was just falling into
place," he explained following the
meeting, after being asked how so
many agreements came together so
quickly.
"Once we were able to come up
with a formula that was suitable, we
were able to use that as a pattern with
the other employee groups."
The new three-year contracts will
expire on Aug. 31, 2004, while the
two-year deals expire one year earli-
er.
Only two Huron-Perth employee
groups weren't included in the list of
agreements put forward Oct. 22.
Custodians currently have a tentative
deal and are set to vote Nov. 3 for
ratification, with Blanchette expect-
ing to seek trustee approval at the
board's November meeting. And the
director of education says he hopes
to initiate talks with the board's prin-
cipals some time in November.
factory" or better over-all, with two
rated "excellent," 13 rated "good"
and four rated "satisfactory."
Under the survey process, two cat-
The parishes of St. Michael's
church in Blyth and St. Joseph's
church in Clinton celebrated 100
years on Sunday.
In 1901, the two churches were
grouped together sharing a priest.
Father Lance Magdziak, the new
pastor of St. Michael's, St. Joseph's
and St. James' in Seaforth read a his-
tory of the churches and discovered
that 2001 was indeed a significant
year. The 100th anniversary celebra-
tion was then organized by the parish
council.
Bishop Grecco of the London
egories fall below "satisfactory," and
province-wide results show two per
cent of Ontario's schools were rated
"needs improvement" while none
Catholic Diocese presided over a
mass at St. Joseph's church in
Clinton. This service was also
attended by many former priests of
the church cluster. An enthusiastic
choir from both churches along with
many instrumentalists added to the
service as did the Knights of
Columbus in full regalia.
After the blessing of St. Michael's
church, the bishop along with over
200 guests enjoyed a dinner at the
Blyth Community Centre. Many
speakers congratulated the faith
community for celebrating its strong
were rated "unacceptable."
According to a numerical rating
out of 4.0, the lowest rating of any
Continued on page 8
roots, and expressed hope for God's
continued blessings in the future,
3-year collective agreement
raises labour stability level