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Clinton News-Record, 1984-01-25, Page 1144 J _J E f_ 0 0 • i �,rIEL[ ` Tom. BVGI TE .� incorporating YTH ARD cents. -N 4 Wednesday, January 25, 1 i 9t year Education board .4.4 trying to close! schools airsrmIANEEIMVPKIVE The Huron County Ward of Education is not going out to close three. Schools ear- marked for accommodation reviews said trustee John Jewitt, rebuking remarks made by one of his colleagues. Mr. Jewitt made the observation at the hoard's- Jan. 9 meeting after fellow trustee Dr. John Goddard threw questions at the board suggesting that he thinks the schools are going to be closed. The schools in question are J. A. D. Mo- Curdy Public School in Hurn Park, Hensall Public School in Ifensall and Vanastra Public School in Vanastra. Later this month public meetings will be held to start the ac - Committee ® commodation review process. sehool;to_, the minimum effective enrolment or•the least number of students •in which the school A special committee has been set-up to help determine the future of the Vanastra Public School. Chosen to represent the school district were, front row, left to right, Sally. Rath- well, Gloria Burt and Linda Dixon. Back row, board of education trustees Frank Falconer and Graeme Craig and local restdent Ross -Munroe. (Shelley McPhee photo) By Shelley McPhee VANASTRA - The future of the Vanastra Public School remains Berta but a public committee has be leo study the declining enrolmen rat the elementary school. At a special meeting h V04044 -9:!•! - JV0n an.17, concerned paren l ted lm r peo- ple to sit on the board, e work with the Huron County Boo • cation. 'Gloria Burt, Linda Dixon, Sally "Rathwell and Ross Munroe will be working With board. trustees Frank Falconer of Tuckersmith Township and Graeme Craig of Walton, The committee will evaluate the Board of Education's school accommodation review and by the endof the school year, will make recommendations on the future of the school. Vanastra Public School, along with Hen - salt Public School and McCurdy Public School in Huron Park came under the board's watchful eye late last year when studies were approved to determine if the schools are "educationally viable". The three county schools have been facing. continued declining enrolment. Sept. 1983 statistics showed - that enrolment at Vanastra Public School was 92"pupils from kindergarten to Grade 6. Minimum effective enrolment for the school is set at 60 percent, or 109 students and maximum enrolment is 182: Parents fear that the school will close, but school board trustee Art Clark, chairman of the public meeting in Vanastra, emphasized —that -this -may -not be- the -final -solution- The -- future of the school will be determined in recommendations made by the committee. The final decision Will be made by the 16 - member Board of Education. Mr. Clark said, "this is the first time the board has dealt with this lower enrolment issue. The board is interested in hearing public opinion." He noted that the study will involve "thoughtful work". The committee's study will centre on a detailed set of guidelines established by the board. They will be ,re- quired to report on the advantages disadvantages of the educational :psi perience•of students in the school and low of Education's study. The board's accorn- • modatidi report hows that it is more ex pensive -4 rian-Vanastra, Hensall-and -Mc ; - Curd -y Public _Schools- _than the system_ average of $187.30 per pupil. Vanastra has the highest per pupil cost of the three schools. The figure stands at $478.92 per student with noexceptional costs added, such as transportation. At Hensall the cost per student is $229.30• and $267.19 with exceptional costs. At McCurdy Public School the gest is $191.41 each and X312.01 ing to close the community of Vanastra by —stripping-it-oi --airy-tax-subsidized-services: -4s„taxpay.P.mand-ascormtu .tyc ane=wilLpr.o-=- Mt any such actions strongly." • Another Vanastra resident, Dianne Ryan, raised the question that concerned most parents, "If the school is closed where, will our children go? i read that other schools are already full." She noted that families should not be divided by sending children to different schools. Mr. Clark noted that this is one of the " issues that the comrriittee must study. He emphasized that it has not been decided that the school will close, but its future is under., study and alternatives will be considered. Mother . parent suggested that Huron Centennial School in'Brucefield could be ex- panded to accommodate the extra students. This solution, the parent noted, would per- mit Vanastra students . to remain in Tuckersmith Township. Public opinion will be an important con- sideration in the committee recommenda- tions. Through notice in the newspaper and by the school, the committee will be holding public meetings during their investigation. In five months, at the end of the school year, the committee will make a report to the Board of Education. The report will recommend one of three alternatives: that -th&school-should continue . to -operate in its -present form; that it should operate under a - revised format; or that it should close. • If the committee recommends changes and modifications for the school, these must be specified. If the committee recommends closure they must determine the date of closure, the accommodation of students at other Schools, transportation arrangements and proposed use of the closed school. with extra charges. Future education What concerns Vanastra parents is the future education of their children. Mrs. Burt earned a round of applause when she read a letter she has written to the school board and the township council. She said, "My husband and ;myself have been very pleased with the education pro- cess at Vanastra Public School. Our oldest daughter has attended this school since kindergarten. This was our first experience with the public school system and it has been a positive one. The teachers have always been helpful when we have had any concerns or questions. We have never been made to feel that our questions, no matter how trivial, were not worth their time." Mrs. Burt noted, "The teaching methods at Vanastra Public School are individualiz- ed and more personal and this helps the children develop self esteem. We strongly feel that the early years in the educational system are. important ones.for.a child. At- titudes and experiences during the first six years in school will either develop an in- itiative for learning and a respect for , educators and education in children, or they _ develop a dislike and apathy for educa- he experiences at Vanastra Public .4', tool have benefited our daughter and she the community would .. be affected `:by lie omes very upset at the mention. of the changes or closure•of the school poi3srliility of having to go toaanother school The .committee will review enrolment int rdentering-0 youngest daughter will be population statistics and the future develop- school system this fall and is looking' for- ment plans for the -school -district. They will ward to attending Vanastra Public School. We also are anxious for her to have the op- portunity of participating in an educational setting where she will have some individual • attention,. rather than being absorbed in a less personal, larger class," the concerned parent reported.` Mrs. Burt, like many Vanastra residents, is also concerned about the effect the possi- ble school closure could have on the com- munity. , • In her letter Mrs. Burt wrote, "As Vanastra continues to be a struggling hamlet attempting to attract new•residents, and overcome a negative image, we feel that the school is an important asset to the -.community. If the decision were made to close .the school, Vanastra would lose yet another drawing card. As well as affecting the children and their families, the closure of Vanastra Public School would affect the • Tuckersmith Day Nursery in a monetary. way. There are quite a few children from whether we'll carry on here, whether we'll Vanastra Public School who attend the day buy this building or move on." care facility before and after school and ob- "If, we quit," he said, sure this tain a nutritious, noon meal there. This ..,buildingwiil-become—anotherwhite-elephant facility -is the -envy of -many- area --tom- for Tuckersmith Township " rnunities, where both parents are working. on It is very beneficial to the people. of Vanastra to have these two excellent facilities available." Community loss She . concluded, "If the closure of the Vanastra Public School was the ultimate outcome, of this review, it would certainly appear that the local governments were try - also determine where, students could be transferred in the event of closure and the advantages of other schools that are con- sidered as reasonable alternatives. This study may include visits, orientations, and meetings with other principals. The committee will also report on the state of, repair of the Vanastra School building and an analysis of the building's use by the school and the community. In this study the committee will consider the finan- cial and logistical constraints on the board, including building constraints, busing fac- tor's, mill rates and provincial support. Alternative uses of the school building will also be considered. Mr. Falconer, the education board trustee for Tuckersmith and Clinton said he was concerned with the future of the school building. He told the meeting, "We have a very im- portant issue here. We have to decide The school property is owned by estoga College and part of the building ik .us- ed as its Clinton campus, but Mr. Falconer said he doesn't believe that the college can finance the building without the public school support. The high cost of operating Vanastra school has been a major factor in the Board can run efficiently. Dr-: ;Goddard,-the-trustee-reps-esenting--thee I-Ln_saib..area, idhella ,hadmeetixigs_:with— some concerned parents in the area and they "have questions they want answered: Some confusion reigned at the meetings as trustees tried to sort out where the ques- tions should be • answered, either at the board meeting or the public meeting. "Do you refuse me the right to ask ques- tions?" queried Dr. Goddard. Board chairman Eugene Frayne replied, no,`he wasn't refusing -Dr. GOddai•d the op- portunity. After Dr. Goddard presented the questions, Mr. Frayne said they would give those preparing for the public meeting a good base to make preparations for the public meetings. ' Again some wrangling took place as the board attemptedto determine the purpose of the public meetings. Superintendent of operations Don Miller said the first meeting is just to elect a committee made up of members of the general public present at the meetings. '"They (the committee) will decide how to answer the questions," said Mr. Miller. Trustee Tony McQuail said there could be a potential problem if only' the committee is elected at the first public meetings. He sug- gested that there should be opportunities for the public toaskquestions. _• - Mr. Jewitt then expressed his concern that the . board could be going into "pretty antagonistic" reviews if the public has the impression that the board is going to close schools. "That might, might be a recommendation at some, place. But, it's not what we're do- ing, we're trying to look at alternatives," said Mr. Jewitt. Truatee -Dennis Rau ado cautioned against having the whole board at the pub i meetings. "R might look like we're going in with an army," said Mr. Rau. Past chaiirman Dorothy Wallace said that at this point there have been decisions made regarding the schools. She reminded trustees that the sole purpose of the accom- modation review is to look at the alter- natives lternatives. and the review committees, made up of the general public and trustees, will make recommendations to the board. "When everybody goes in with their mind set, that's when there are problems," com- mented Mrs. Wallace. Dr. Goddard's first question centered around future accommodationof the students from the affected schools. He said 419 students attend the three schools being "considered forpossible closure." Where ill. they be accommodated?" asked the doctor 'Director of ediicatiOn(Bob-Altati said -itis his understanding that the review process- - will be about five months long and the com- mittees in charge will "examine quite close- . ly the question Dr. Goddard has put for- ward." The second question was financial in nature. The Hensall area trustee said all three schools have been identified as having -per-pupil-costs-over-the-system-average of • • $187.30 per pupil. He noted that when excep- tional costs are included the three schools per pupil costs are that much greater than the system average. Dr. Goddard wanted to know what exceptional costs are. Previous- ly Mr. Allan had said exceptional costs are such things as transportation. Another question related to special educa- tion. Currently Huron Hope, a . special education school is attached to J. A. D. Mc- ' Curdy. "Where are we going to find six classrooms to house Huron Hope," asked Dr. Goddard. His final question was general in nature. He asked for the purpose of having a review.. 'The first meeting was held at Vanastra Public School on Jan. 17. Trustee represen- tatives are Frank Falconer and Graeme Craig. • On Jan. 24 the first meeting will be held in Henan Public School Trustee represen- tatives are Dr. Goddard and Mr. Jewitt. The meeting for J. A. D. McCurdy will be held .on Jan. 31. Harry Hayter and John. Elliott are the two trustee representatives: All meetings are slated to start at 7 ; 30 p.m. CRSS `students may have looked like they were doing Michael Jackson, Thriller video impersonations but the young people were actually under the magical sped of Mike Mandel. The performer thrilled the CHSS audience with tricks of^illusion and a grand t r. e show where he had control of the subconscious mind. (Shelley McPhee photo) Last Thursday night the Huron County Ontario Federation of Agriculture sponsored a CPR course in co-operation with the Clinton Public Hospital. Brenda MacDonald RNA and Marianne Smith RN conducted the course. Here Marianne demonstrates the ro rates wi rise life saving technique while Brenda and students Brenda McIntosh of Tuckersmith Township and Ron Dougall of Exeter watch on. (Shelley McPhee photo) CLINTON -In a repeat performance from 1983, Ontario Hydro again started off the year with a rate increase. Last year saw On- tario Hydro rates increase by 8.2 per cent and in 1984 the rates are going up by 8.7 per cent. Last year the Clinton Public Utilities Commission (PUC) managed to hold their own rate increase to 4.2 per cent. This year the Clinton PUC rates will go up by 6.6 per cent. The Ontario Hydro increase was announc- ed at the local PUC's December 19 meeting. It was explained that the Clinton PUC, like other municipalities, ' buy electric power from Ontario Hydro and then in turn sell it to the individual customers. The c®mmis- sion feels that the 6.6 percent increase will be sufficient to meet the cost of transporation, equipment and supplies, as well as the cost of power from Ontario Hydro. Gf"tile total if.7 per cent increase "iii rakes for bulk power, three percentage points is the surcharge needed to cover the cost. of _ providing the discount for rural residential customers. Mr. Boussey said that the new rates will be effective on March 1, 1984. All energy us- ed prior to that date will be billed at current rates and estimated by pro -ration based on meter reading dates. This also means that the Clinton PUC will absorb the total increase cost of power from Jan. 1 until March 1 and two per cent for the balance 01 1yti4. Whiie'the electricity rates will rise for Clinton, the water and sewage rates will re- main the same for another year. In dollars and cents, the average Clinton householder who uses 1,000 kilowatt hours of energy, will pay an additional $2.75. For commercial and industrial customers the rates will' be higher, ranging from in- crease of 3.6 to 10.6 per cent. Transport hits underpass CLINTON A tractor-trailgr.., driver escaped injury when the traitor he was transporting struck the overpass located on County Road 13, southwest of the town limits on Jan. 24. Goderich OPP reported that Russel Rut - tan of Pickering was northbound on County .Road .13 -when -the trailer -unit -slammed -into the train overpass. The tractor trailer was enroute to Ball -Macaulay Building Centre with a load of styrofoam insulation when the accident occurred. Damage to the tractor trailor, owned by Pottan Chemicals of Mansonville, Quebec was estimated at over $5,000. The OPP had no damage estimate to the load itself. Two Bayfield -area motorists escaped in- jury when slippery roads resulted in an acci- dent involving a school bus on Jan. 20. .Goderich .OPP reported that. a _schoolbus.. owned by J.T. Murphy Buslines of Clinton stopped westbound on County Road 18 of Goderich Township when the accident oc- Turn to page 11