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page 30, Whltby Free Press, Wednesday, Maroh 15, 1995 AND. MOREý LETTERS ABO>UT THE 'EXPERIMENT' Print both points of view To the. editor. R1e: Article in the Whitby Free Press on Feb. 15, concerning the new directed study echedule at Sinclair HigliSchool. My daugliter je a student in this prograin and enjoye it very mucli. Her current grade average is well over 80 per cent. There are soîne very serious points left out of the article. The. most important one is that the etudentïs' chool day at Sinclair je, one hour longer on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, If the average sehool day at the* other higli echols je six hours a day, thon the time 'bat,' as some people put it, on Wednesdays ise only two hours. Besicles, what is* the problem with going ta see 'Phantam of the Opera? When I was in higli echool, there were trips 'ta Stratford. Also, there je remedial hebp available for all students for subjecte with which they are having probleme. In fact, thero je no way a student can "goof off' because ail selections muet ho Eignod by a teacher, and a student's agenda is igned to, prove the student attended. If a class je skipped, a detention must ho served. The Batman movie mentioned was shown In Frenchi, so there. are several important points left out of the article. I amn more concerned about the nionev snent ta build 'the administration building, at a timo when money is liard ta corne by and there je fot enougli money ta Courses enr«ich our ability To the oitor. Re: «'Sinclair exeient angora sme parents,' Pr Poe Feb. 15. As' a stildent at- Sinclair, I found this article ta reflect only one aide of the issue; that of the parents who are aganst self-directed study. The parents and prese gave examples of courses that they foît would mnake the echool look worse. They failed, however, ta mention that Sinclimr students bave access ta a wide variety cof BUSINESS HOURS: Mon -Fni 9-8, Sat. 10-3 Tax Return *Professionally prepared computenized tax retumns. » Fast, accurate,, paperless electronic fil ing service. " Refuflds from Revenue Canada as littie as two weeks. " We have expertise in rentai properties,- sales person' s expenses, employment expenses, business incomne and expenses, and more. : Corporate tax returns eG.S.T. and P.S.T. returns 9>* Monthly/Annual Statemnents Reveue Cnada T-4s and ail payroll retumns EFILE Authorized Agent Buiescnltg M*. 2 B Ounida t. E. c l o Coiborne St.E. Yiah ChiG s R T E SME S-N 666m5599 DunlopSt E. 110 Dunlop Street East FamiIy Pack (Halibut)189 includes 4 Fish & 3 Chips18 9 & Large Coleslaw FamiIy Pack (Haddock) 16.99 $2.OO OFF includes 4 Fish & 3 Chips & Large Coleslaw Party Pack (Halibut)259 includes 6 Fish & 4 Chips2 5 9 Party Pack (Haiddock)239 includes 6 Fish & 4 Chips2 3 9 learning activities such as woeld issues, community service, course enrichinent, self-improvement, study skills, seif-defence?, firet aid, computer studios and career planning. The article mentioned that parents feel that this ie a wasted year, and that Wednesdays are a wagte cf valuable tixne. I would encourage these parents to look at the wonderfu courses that are offered on Wednesdays and se how they can help make a more well-rounded etudent. Learning is not imited to reading, writing and arithmetic. Everyper s unique and gifted m% dierent areas. We need ta exploe our strengths and build on them. Wednesdays at Sinclair gi ve- students the chance ta do tliis. As for parents who do not bhleve in etudents makingboxer shorts -and playing bstbal, think about the people who are different from yourselves. Some of us plan ta become physical education teachers , -or seametresses. Tlhese courses enrich our ability and self-esteem in these areas. I am roud tu ho attending Sinclair Seondary School an privileged ta ho participating in Wednesday activities. I hope that parents wiil take another open- inded look at Sinclair, find the positive points and build. on them. Exploiting the negatives wiil get Deorh Sebrok Grade 9 By Drmiùond White The Bob Rae governmnent is, makcing, big - impremnst education in Ontario. For example, we!re creating a provmnce-wide curriculum thates based on results, a standard report card, a mandatory voice for parents in every school, and province-wide testing i reading, writing and mathematies. 1W. know that ta make these changes we can't embark un a lot of new spending in a time when we are ail workIng liard to, live within our means. It makes more senso ta reallocate wha± we spend now so that more money goes to the classroom, not administration and bureaucracy. We've had ta do plenty of our own reallocating and belt-tightening at Queen's Park and it hasn't always been easy. We are the first government since 1942 ta reduce annual operating costs -- and we did it two years in a row. The message from the public that MEPPs heard was clear: get more efficient i how you spend our monoy. One way ta do that is reduce the- duplicated administration of- Ontarios 168 school boards. Minister of Education and Training Dave Cooke recently announced that we will introduce legielation that will reduce the number of school bords in Ontario by40 to50 pr cent.A sffcial, task force will recomrnend new achool board boundaries ta; the Minister by' Aug. 15 of this year, and the public will ho nivited ta comment. The result will ho less duplication of services and les waste. New boundaries will ho in place for the next municipal elections. Some school boards have already started ta cooperate with neighbouring boards, as is the custom between the Durham separate school board and Durham Board of Education. They have shared purchasing, computer, library, courieur and traspotaton services going back ta 1969 in some instances. But more can ho don. acros Ontario. So the Bob Ras government wil make it mandatary for school boards ta share sme services ta save rnoney, and they wiil have ta publicly report their progrese every year. School board trustees wil ho paid no more than $20,000 a year, aiid their jobs will lbe strictly part-time. Ites their role ta- make local policy decisions and ho accountable for them ta the public, but handling day-to-day operations is the job of school brd staff. We expect htlmmin g sre scholbrsand eurn boards taro services can save Ontariotaper hundrede of millions of dollars. These savinge, along with others we have implemented, wiil help pay for more up-to-date inomtn tochnology.in the classrooms, enhanced biteracy prograrna for grades 1 ta 3, and other important education reforms. Drummond White is MPP for Durham Centre riding which includea Whitby aouth of Taunton Rrxzir To reach his conatituency offloe, oeil 430-1141. GM SOMEONE A SECOND CHANCE. March is Kidney Month. Please give generously. 111E KIDNEY FOUNDATION 0F CANADA buy textbooks for students. Why is the cafeteria in the administration building the same aize as the school's but used by three tiznes lees people? Maybe someone should ho resposbe te, the taxpayers for this overspending. My wife and I have concerne about the experiment being carried out on our child, and we do not like. the fact that she is being used in this experiment. But a lot of the responsibility for Wednesday selections lies with the students. If the student is mature and does not look at Wednesdays as a free day, then the program is worthwhile. I have found the programs that mY daughter ana her friends select are very good, and I feel they are p robably worthwhile for her beaueof her maturity. I have attended a coupleof meetings and found that the extra hour has been explained, but not too many of the parents listened. In fa t, the last meeting I was at, the attendance was very poor. I would suggest that both points of view ho printed in your' paper. 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