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WiI 1 He Get A Second Chance? ...page WHITBY FREE PRESS nCzVs (Voie» of the County Town) t soI smON ST.S Volume 2 BOX 206" WHITBY, ONT. FREE HOME r Number 27 Thursday, July 6, 1972 DELIVERY MUST Sinclair School in Whitby is the traditional Ilittle red school house'. In si de one can stil savour that dis- t i n c t i v e o d o ur that emanates when chalk dust blends with old wood. Outside at recess, youngsters play in an expanse of thick green grass. The highway, Taunton Road, is the only pavement in sight, and instead of busy traffic one can hear the lowing of cat- tie coming from the peaceful farmer's f i e I d whi ch adjoins the school prop- erty on the left. S i n c l a i r School is not nearly as c o m m a n d i ng as some of i ts giganti c counterparts but it's comfortable and lasting having served students and ad- ults alike in the Taunton Road Whitby area for nearly a century. Sinclair School was therewhen little girls wore pinafores and little boys, breeches. Erectedas the sign on its red brick top says in 1874, Sinclair will in 1974 celebrate its centennial. If the Boardof Education ailows that it would seem. The board h as not yet announced outright plans for the closure of Sin- clair, but it has made discreet hints at a possible phasing out of the school and And that'fs no buli! "No bull" is ex- a c t I y w h a t Jack Lusted did, or di dn't have last Sunday. He called Department to re- port that his black Angus bull, worth $200, hadbeen stoienfrom the the Whitby Police pasture. SINCLAIR the handwriting is already on the wall. Since the school's academic record is first rate and since it is adequately handling 120 youngsters from Grades I to 6 inclusive, parents and ordinary interested citizens want to know why. The closure of a successful operat- ion is usually the wrong policy for any- one they feel. The reasons offered for the possible closing of the school were weak ones and not viable enough to convince 96% c o n cerned ratepayers in the area the school serves. "No criticism of Sinclair has ever originated from the students, the par- ents, teachers, administration or board and yet there is talk of closing it, "Dr. Peter Cave, a spokesman for the rate- payer s group told the Whitby Free Press. Other thanserving its natural funct- ion as a school, Sinclair is the commun- i t y focus. The school is virtually the mainmeetinq place for people, explained Dr. Cave. "The board should implement a def- inite policy for small schools. " He con- t i n u ed, "Administration is making the d e c i s i o n s and the board is applying e a ch one ad hoc. But the electorate w h o pay the shot w ill never know be- cause the board will never acknowledge it's making policy. " Parents became aware of the situ- ation a t the school when a headmaster I e f t because of certain 'pressures', followed b y further talk of staff chan- g e s. A r e f e rendum was also circul- GO a t e d a m o n g the parents asking them w h ic h schools besides Sinclair they would choose for their children. I t is difficult bringing the board's attention to the problem said Dr. Cave, explaining that the board deals wi th sums 1 i k e $44 million when the cost to run Sinclair other than teacher's salaries is only $7, 500. By not pinpointing its policy where s m a l 1 s c h ools are concerned, it is quite possible that administration can s Io w I y b e gin replacing the present reasons for wanting to close Sinclair with concrete reasons, when it should be building the school up and securing its future as an ongoing unit. Theonly truly viable solution is for the board to issue a definite policy statement and that the administration be asked to report on how they have im- p I e me n ted i t over the past year, Dr. Cave suggested. In the meantime the 120 students at SinclairSchool are safe-intheir- happy environment. Each child in a school of 1 2 0 a s o p posed tol1, 200 has his own p e r s o n a 1 identi ty and a rare oppor- tunity to be unique. Indeed, i f the Board of Education allows Sinclair to be torn down simply to replace it with a more impressive, br i ck, low-lying structure, it would be not only a loss to the 120 students, to t h e graduates of 50 years ago sti ll living in the area with fond memories, t o t h e p e o ple who use Sinclair as a meeting place, but a sad loss to the whole community. 'Mr X': 2