Huron Expositor, 2003-11-05, Page 15News
Sara Campbell photo
Halloween fun
Seaforth Public School held its annual Halloween Fun Fair on Friday, Oct. 31. (Above)
Ethan Dale, Grade 1, gets his face painted by Trisha Wall, Grade 6, while Julia
Haney, Grade 3, tries her luck at the Target Toss to earn herself some candy.
(Below) Mr. Farnell's •Grade 3, class's Museum of Masks seemed to be the most
favoured event during the Fun Fair, as (left to right) Lindsay Hatcher, Holly Becker
and Joe Metzger got a scare from trying to tell which mask was fake and which
one had a person hiding behind it.
Administration to appr
non-standard textbooks
for use in board's schools
ove
By Stew Slater
Special to The Huron Expositor
Responsibility for the
approval of non-standard
textbooks has passed to the
staff of the Avon Maitland
District School Board,
despite the objections of a
couple of trustees.
South Huron representative
Randy Wagler -- who openly
spoke against the motion --
and Stratford trustee Ray
Ford cast the two dissenting
votes at a regular meeting
Tuesday, Oct. 28, as the
board approved a staff
recommendation to
"authorize administration to
approve textbooks for use in
(the board's) schools."
Four others voted in
favour, while three trustees
were absent.
In the past, Avon Maitland
trustees generally received a
list -- in recent years,
containing between 20-40
titles -- in June each year,
outlining textbooks requested
by teachers but not appearing
in a provincially -
standardized and approved
collection called "Circular
14." The board was then
asked to approve the
additional texts.
About three years ago,
concurrent with the
introduction of the province's
four-year high school
curriculum, "Circular 14"
was replaced by the "Trillium
List."
"The advent of the new
curriculum has led to a vera
high demand for new texts
for use in high schools,"
states a staff report, presented
to trustees on Oct. 28 by
education superintendent
Marjatta Longston.
"Publishers have been
unable to keep up with this
demand, and schools are thus
scrambling to obtain books to
use as texts for the new
courses."
A complicating factor for
the future is the province's
commitment to have each
Trillium List text reviewed
after seven years, to ensure
Ontario's learning resources
don't become outdated.
Considering the backlog
already in place, boards now
hope to plan ahead to avoid
even more scrambling down
the road.
According to Longston,
several of the non-standard
books now being requested
by Avon Maitland teachers
are expected to end up on the
Trillium List eventually, but
are caught up in the
province's own approval
process.
Describing the steps to
approval as a "bottleneck,"
she suggested it would take
even longer for students to
have access to the texts if the
board continued to require
trustee approval.
Wagler refused to support
Longston's recommendation.
He conceded trustees would
retain the authority to address
complaints from parents
about books which have
already received approval
from the board.
But he suggested the board
needs "a check" in pia
during the approval stage
well.
"If we think we're a
bottleneck, maybe the answer
is to alter the operating
procedure to make it more
efficient, perhaps so we don't
have to deal with (all the
non-standard books) all at
once in June," the South
Huron trustee said.
Perth East trustee Wendy
Anderson sided with
Longston.
"Unless we are going to
receive copies of every single
book on this (non-standard)
list, and unless we have the
time and the inclination to
look through all of this and
try and anticipate when
somebody is going to have a
concern, I think we have to
be pragmatic and put our
confidence in staff to carry
out this responsibility," she
argued.
"The fact of the matter is
that it's not possible for
trustees to have the expertise
to approve or not approve
these books. We simply act
on the recommendation of
staff anyway," Anderson
said, referring to the existing
trustee -approval process.
In an interview following
the meeting, Longston said
she asked about the approval
process in other boards,
during a recent meeting with
administrators from across
the province.
Out of 16 boards, she
related, "the majority" now
allow non-standard texts to
be approved by staff.
ce
s
THE HURON EXPOSITOR, NOVEMBER 5, 2003-15
ST. ANDREW'S UNITED CHURCH - KIPPEN
SMORGASBORD HAM &
TURKEY SUPPER
Held at Brucefield United Church
Wednesday, November 12, 2003
5:00 - 7:00 P.M.
Adults - $11.00, Children 6 - 12 - $5.00
5 and under Free
Advance Tickets Only
Call 263-2682, 263-6502
We're making
our list for
the Annual
Seaforth
Lions Club
"Christmas In The
Country" _==`
SANTA CLAUS
L
PARADE
Friday, November 28
Just use this form & join in the
fun at this year's parade!
Brussels Santa Claus
Parade Saturday, Nov. 29th
SANTA CLAUS PARADE ENTRY FORM
Group/Company Name.
Contact Person.
Phone.
Mailing Address.
Type of Entry.
Donate Candy Be A Walker
Enter a Float Sponsor a Band
Cash Donation Other
Approximate number of participants:
Adult Children
Any Special Requirements.
Are you a former participant
Number of people
staying for refreshments.
Mail or Fax to: Seaforth Lions Club
c/o Joe Steffler
P.O. Box 14,
Seaforth, Ont. NOK 1 WO
Fax: 526-7777
Phone: 526-7231 days,
527-2389 evenings
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