The Citizen, 2003-06-18, Page 24PAGE 24. THE CITIZEN, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2003.
Waterloo administrator replaces Gerth on AMDSB
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
The man hired to replace outgoing
education superintendent Bill Gerth
doesn’t know if he'll take on Gerth's
most high-profile and unenviable
responsibility: acting as the Avon
Maitland District School Board’s top
administrator in its regular Student
Accommodation Review processes.
Over the past few years, Gerth —
who has taken a position as director
of education at the Waterloo District
School Board — has represented the
face of school closure to several
communities in Huron and Perth
Counties.
London resident Barry Wagner,
Gerth’s replacement, says he’s “not
sure what the portfolios are going to
be at this point” in the Avon Maitland
board’s six-member team of top
administrators. He would only say
Exeter school gets bit of history
By Stew Slater
Special to The Citizen
A reminder of Centralia’s aviation
Funding for the project is not tied
directly to the proceeds from the sale
of the McCurdy building, but Baird-
Jackson noted that, at the time
trustees approved the closure, a
commitment was made to upgrade
those schools receiving students
from closed schools.
that, with his move to the largely rural
board from his present position as
principal of Arthur Voaden Secondary
School in St. Thomas, the biggest
challenge he'll face is “being able to
provide everything that students need
to get the best education possible.”
Wagner’s career as an educator
spans 27 years, all with either the
former Middlesex County Board of
Education or its successor, the
Thames Valley District School Board.
He taught in both elementary and
secondary schools, as vice principal
and principal, and in the former
Middlesex board’s administrative
offices.
Student sports represent a particular
interest for Wagner. For many years,
he has served on the board of
directors of the Western Ontario
Secondary
Association
organization
intercollegiate
London area,
Perth Counties.
School Athletic
(WOSSAA), the
which oversees
sports leagues in the
including Huron and
The hiring of Wagner was officially
approved at a regular board meeting
Tuesday, June 10.
history — for many years, the
community was home to a Canadian
Forces air base — will return to a
place of prominence for area
students, when part of a Harvard
airplane wing is installed this
summer above the check-out area of
Exeter Public School’s new library.
The airplane wing formerly
occupied a similar location in
Centralia’s McCurdy Public School,
which closed in 2000. Most students
within McCurdy’s former catchment
area now attend Exeter Public
School.
At a regular meeting Tuesday,
June 10, trustees of the Avon
Maitland District School Board
approved a tendering process for the
Exeter school’s library project,
awarding the contract to Smith
Construction.
Over the summer, the school’s
existing second-storey library will
be renovated into two classrooms, a
resource room, a washroom and a
custodial storage area. Meanwhile, a
completely new first-storey library
and computer laboratory will be
constructed in the northwest comer
of the facility, in a space presently
occupied by four ’ separate
classrooms.
Total cost is $359,841, but Avon
Maitland business superintendent
Janet Baird-Jackson informed
trustees that the projected cost
during last year’s budget process
was actually greater than Smith
Construction’s final bid.’
In an interview after the meeting,
Baird-Jackson said there have been
discussions about moving the library
to the main floor for more than 15
years, ever since a fire damaged part
of the building. At the time, fire
insurance stipulations meant the
library must be reconstructed in its
original location, and various
stakeholders since then have
suggested a better solution would
have been to install an elevator to
replace two separate chair lifts that
currently are used to carry
wheelchair-bound library users up
two flights of stairs.
It wasn’t until this year, the
business superintendent explained,
that “there seemed to be much more
of an understanding that (the main
floor) would be the best place for the
library, in terms of accessibility.”
She added that the installation of an
elevator would necessitate a costly
upgrade of the school’s electrical
system.
■ Auto Parts Plus
Turnberry St., Brussels
G&M
Auto Parts
Pictured left to right: Bill, Gary,
Phil & Kim, with two of the many
door prizes to be won.
(Absent is Morgan Bishop,
G & M Auto Parts newest
employee).
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