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The Goderich Signal-Star, 1983-09-14, Page 2PAGE 2—GODERICH SIGNAL -STAR, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBk:It 14,1983 Jobit Stringer is retired Herb Murphy is new principal at GDCI The halls are filled with students at Goderich District Collegiate Institute once again. The school is getting a fresh coat of paint and new trim outside. There are some changes inside too. Enrohuent is down to fewer than 800 students, following a general trend of declining high school enrolment across the country. The biggest change however is in personnel. While the teachers have remained the same, the principal has changed. Herb Murphy is now at the helm, replacing John Stringer who retired at the end of June after a 31 years at GDCI. Prior to coming to GDCI, Murphy was principal at Central Huron Secondary School in Clinton for three years. Before that, he was vice-principal at South Huron Secondary School in Exeter for seven years; vice-principal at Seaforth District High School for one year; head of the GDCI science department for six years; and a chemistry and biology teacher at Pauline Johnston Collegiate and Vocational School in Brantford for three years. Before entering the teaching profession, Murphy did agricultural research for the government for five years. He received a degree in chemistry from the University of Western Ontario; did one year's post degree study at Waterloo University; and earned his Master of Education degree from the University of Toronto while teaching at the same time. Murphy has made his home in Goderich for many years. His wife Lindais a native of Goderich and two of his three children presently attend GDCI while his eldest is a graduate of GDCI. After 11 years of driving back and forth to his jobs at other schools, Murphy says he is finding that working in Goderich once again is much more con- venient. He admits that he did have some misgivings about leaving Clinton high school after only three years because he felt he hadn't had a chance to ac- coniplish everything there that he wanted to. However, he is looking forward to his job inGoderich because he says the school has a fine reputation and good programs. - Presently his main concern is getting the school year off to a good start without any major problems. But he also has some long term goals which he has laid wit in a student handbook made available to both the teachers and the student body. He feels that the funadmental goal of education is the development in every student of a sense of self worth in conjunction with an un . erstanding of the rightsand privileges of others. he says that schools should endeavour to provide a framework within which every student can develop to the best of his or her abilities the necessary skills, knowledge and attitudes to enable the student to become a co- operative, functioning and useful member of society. Although he sometimes misses the sense of ac- complishment that teaching brings, as principal he hopes to provide good leadership and has set the following personal goals for himself : to administer the school effectively to ensure that organizational problems do not interfere with the desired goals of the school; to be a strong, positive influence on the staff, students and community; to seek feedback regarding ways to improve leadership; to constantly strive to seek ways to make the school a more productive and more satisfying place to learn and to work; andr .to present evidence each yeanthat the school is a better school than it was the year before. Herb Murphy Commission agrees to expenditure for problem The Goderich Police Commission has agreed to spend $500 to rectify a problem of i adio interference within the Huron Municipal Police '''ommunications System. The system's Provincial Common Channel started receiving severe interference at the end of June from an active, widespread ambulance radio dispatch service. Authorities advised that the only solution was to purchase and install a channel guard on the Provincial Common radios in the Goderich and Blyth locations at a cost of $480 plus tax. The Goderich Commission passed a motion agreeing to this expenditure at its meeting last Wednesday and Police Chief Pat King has set up a meeting with the other Chiefs of Police involved in the system to discuss the problem and solution. Face-off to a .great Season of Values with COOPER SK2000 HELMET $2499 SALE COOPER HOCKEY GLOVES No. 28 Reg. $59.99 No. 9 Reg. $42.99 MEN'S SENIOR COOPE RALL OUTFIT The confidence of Protection, the freedom of Lightweight. CG2-GIRDLE provides unsurpassed protection and comfort. The padding is removable for easy cleaning. Thighs, tail bone, hips, kidneys and abdomen are always protected because the girdle keeps the padding where it counts. AND LONG PANT Designed for ultimate flexibility and freedom of movement ... allows maximum heat dissipation too. Featuring a dlasta- foam knee insert for extra protection in the vulnerable area between thigh guard and shinguard. Reg. $14.98 ea. QUALITY, SERVICE, SELECTION, PRICE AND THE BEST FIT AROUND! WE ARE YOUR COMPLETE HOCKEY OUTFITTERS. OPEN: MON., TO SAT...9 AM- 6 PM FRI. NITES ... 9 AM - 9 PM We honour VISA and MASTERCARD 4 THE SQUARE GODE RICH DOWNTOWN PHONE 524-2822 Neighbor not informed ® from page 1 with the new application of 1983. It must be noted that this tragic event had already taken place before the 1982 application was made and turned down. Connected with finances When Warden Stirling was asked whether he can foresee cases where compassionate grounds could be extended to cover all kinds of financial hardships many people have or situations where a severance could mean simply more money in the property owner's pocket, his answer was that all severances are always connected with finances one way or. another. Is there concern that once a case has been decided on purely personal and compassionate grounds, the system would leave itself wide open to all kinds of questionable interpretations and perhaps abuses? Neither the Warden nor the Planning Director an- ticipates a problem. As Mr. Davidson puts it: "No matter what kind of system is used, if one wants to abuse it, he will find a way; there is no hard and safe policy to prevent it. One has to rely on the judgment of people or a group of people. And the security is pro- vided in the right to appeal." However, to be able to appeal or to object, one must know about the case. This leads to the second major point of alarm. This time it was Mr. Bayley who was not notified, some day it may be any of us who finds major changes next to his property without any prior knowledge, Furthermore, under the new Planning Act, an appeal may be filed only by a person who has requested "notice of decision". Right - but how do you request it, if you have no prior notification? The Ministry regards severances as essentially ad- ministrative tasks. The Act also allows the consent granting function to be delegated to just a single per- son (in the Waterloo Region, for instance, the Plann- ing Director alone has this power ). The Huron County Connell has chosen to create a committee of six elected representatives. Notification policies differ The Act leaves the County the choice to establish (or not to establish) its own notification policy. The committee members interviewed are, without hesita- tion, in agreement that there should be prior notifica- tion and to establish such a policy is now the commit- tee's top priority. Reeve Armstrong and Deputy -Reeve Britnell feel that an amendment to the Planning Act would be in order. Warden Stirling and Administrator Hanly have no wish tosee mandatory notification re- quirements in the Act, but prefer only optional local policy. Mr. Davidson points out that when the new Plann- ing Act was being prepared, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario and the planning profession made strong recommendations to the Ministry to have mandatory notification requirements included, but the Ministry refused because it would involve costs and delays. Mr. Davidson, who is personally in favor of notification, mentions that -most municipalities do not notify in case of severances. Mr. Bayley has now been in touch with M.P.P. Jack Riddell, with the aim of taking whatever steps are necessary, to have prior notification made man- datory under the Act, an action from which many On- tario citizens stand to benefit. The county's most recent voluntary notification policy under the old Planning Act was to have signs posted on the properties for which severance applica- tions were made. Last year the Ingram property had a sign posted, but for this year's application not even that was done. Mr. Davidson's explanation is that as the old signs referred to the outdated Planning Act and a new policy was not yet in place in August, he decided to omit the sign in this case. Questions and controversy It is an unfortunate situation. The Ingrains are bewildered and mildly resentful about the controver- sy. The Bayleys feel that their rights have been total- ly ignored and the case has been handled badly, to the point where some of the relevant reports carry later dates than August 18 when the decision was made. Mr. Bayley takes the stand that the Planning Act treats us poorly, but he also asks - is a reeve elected to represent all citizens fairly and equally or is it right for him to appear at committee meetings in sup- port of some property owners whilst completely ig- noring even the common courtesies towards some others? Since the municipalities hadknown for more than six months when the new Planning Act would come into effect, was the County well prepared in August when it let a severance case fall through a hole between the no longer existing old notification policy and the not yet established new one? Reeve Stirling and Mr. Hanly feel that any new system has wrinkles at the start. What is our reaction to "compassionate grounds" for property severances? There is a feeling on some occasions that governments are without compassion for human conditions and only go by the letter of the law in a bureaucratic machinery style. Can a govern- ment take a different approach without being accus- ed of unfairly taking sides and having regard for con- siderations for which it has no mandate? How well informed are the County Council members? How well informed do they want to be or do they rely too much on the administration? How much interest do we take in our government? These questions are valid. If we want good govern- ment and fair treatment, we must ask them. Board of Education agrees to provide speech services BY STEPHANIE LEVESQUE The ramifications of special education are now be- ing felt as the Huron county Board of Education Wrestles with the question of "providing speech language pathology services to school-age children: The board agreed at its September 6 meeting to provide such services "as soon as possible in the most cost-effective manner". This action follows a notice from two hospital speech language pathologists in- dicating this service will be discontinued for Huron's school-age children effective August 31. Director of Education, Robert Allan, told the board its special education plan does call for providing speech-language pathology services, but not until 1985. "The public should be made aware that up goes our "cost. We have to accept this. We have to help the children," said trustee John Jewitt, adding that what was once the domain of the Ministry of Health now falls under the jurisdiction of the local school boards. "There is increasing pressure for boards to take over what was formerly in the health domain," said Allan, noting that some hospitals are recommending that parents contact the Huron County Board of Education for future service. Trustee John Elliott expressed concern that with the implementation of Bill 82 (the special education amendment to the Education Act) health related ser- vices will become the responsibility of boards of education. "I don't disagree with the recommendation (to pro- vide speech-language pathology services), but there should be some clear guidelines to go along with it," said Elliott, asking what other services will become the responsibilty of the board. Trustee Tony McQuail voiced similar concerns say- ing other groups could turn over their responsibility to the board of education. He said it would be like the board discontinuing instruction in physical education and turning it over to recreation groups. "We could be asked to have physio -therapists just as urgently as this particular request," said trustee Joan VandenBroeck. Exeter trustee Clarence McDonald suggested that if the board has to take over responsibilities that formerly came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Health, money that previously went to the hospitals should come to the school boards. In 1982-83 there were about 115 school-age children served by speech-language pathologists in the hospitals. In a letter to the board, two hospital speech- language pathologists, Jennifer Brabant and Kathy Riedlinger-Ryan, state, "In order for us to decrease our present caseloads and thus improve the efficien- cy of our tivatinent, we have received authorization from our administrators to withdraw our services from school -aged children". Citing a three to six month waiting period, the' speech-language pathologists need the time to serve pre-schoolers and adults. Allan said it could take time to find a speech- language pathologist and it was indicated to the board such a position would have a salary of about $18,000 to $27,000. The director will also be con- sidering other possible ramifications of special education. Best Interest * 1 2 Y2 % 5 Year Annual We represent many Trust Companies. We are often able to arrange for the highest Interest being of- fered on Guaranteed Investment Certiflcotes. 'Subject to change raGaiser-Kneall Insurance Brokers Inc. EXETER CLINTON GRAND BEND GODERICH 235.2420 482.9747 238-8484 524-2118 GODERICH RINGEiTE ASSOC. REGISTRATION Goderich Arena Saturday, September 17 '83 a Saturday, September 24'83 10 AM -12:00 NOON Fee ®$ Soso each F a"r more Information please call 52488197 vv• EST. 1975 441%.' GOLDSMITH -SILVERSMITH JEWELLERY DESIGNER, REPAIRS ALSO CERAMICS, WEAVING, WOOD, ART, GLASS CANADIAN AWARD WINNING DESIGNER 524-4509 Se WEST ST., GODERICH, ONTARIO If you haven't yet visited The" Sitting doom Be sure to come before the Van Egmond House Egmondville closes for the winter. We still have an excellent selection of fine, handcrafted gifts at affordable prices. 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