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Whitby Free Press, Wednesday. October 18, 1995, Page 21 Board 'clarifies fly Mark Reeor Durham Board of Education chair Patty Bowman has sent a l1etter to education and tra*ning minister John Snoblen to "asst" bim in dealing with a letter fr-om another fruste.. Oshawa trustee Kathleen Hopper recently sent a letter te Snobelen asking for bis help ini obtaining expense accounts of board supervisoiy officers, which se was unable to obtain fr-om board director Pauline Laing. Laing said she'd turn the information over only if the board, flot just one individual trustee, requested it. .Hopper said in her letter that se must make decisions about spending public money without accees tô information needed te make those decisions, adding that "if trustees are not entitled te this information, who is?" Bowman's letter was given to the. prees at last week's Durham Board of Education meeting, but siiortly after Pickering truste. and tnistee's eterto ministe r board vice chair Ruth Ann Schedlich asked the four members of the press present to, give the letter back. Tih. letter was te b. furtiier discussed in camera, she said, promising that the new version would b. released when it was completed. The request was refused and Bowman sent a message the. following day that The Fre. Pres was firee te use the letter. 5h. refused te comment on Schedlich's request in an interview, adding "it's interesting te, me that no otiier individual has the, level of concern around these issues that you do." In her letter toe i.ninister, Bowman notes Hopper cidn't reveal what was in* her letter befor. it was read in public sesson, adcling that the. information request "is stated -te have come from an individual trustee, not fromthe. board itself. "It is the. intention of this letter te clarify for the minister that the Durhiam Board of Education is, in no way, commenting on thi. performance of the. director and/or the. rights of an individual trustee." According te the board's understanding of the. education act, "an individual truste. may seek a board resolu'ion on any matter affecting its3 responsibilitieis, but it is the. collective decision of the. board that govemna," the. letter continues. "Tiie above information is providd. to amst you in your response te Kathleen Hopper," Bownian adds. Smoking ban in ai Dy Mark Reesor The Durham Board of Education hast bann.d smokring inside ail its buildings and moved to stop staff and visiters from smoking in designated areas outside its iieadquarters and maintenance shop. The board'a former policy "discouraged" smoking inside board buildings and, in accordance witi the. provincial tobacco control act, banned it on sciiool property at any time. Sts'i' and others have been smoking on a balcony off the. staff cafateria at board headquarters - which isn't regarded as school property even tiiough it's connected te Sinclair Secondary Sciiool - for over a year, director Pauline Laing teld trustees at last wek's board meeting. A regulation with tii. policy change motion would have officiaily permitted the. outside smoking areas. Aiowing the areas would amount te a "two-tiered system," argued Oshiawa trustee Mike Nicholson. "How can we tell staff that we make work at a sciiool that they can't smoke where their peers can smoke in a different building tiiat's Mstchool related?... "We'r. telling the. students they have te smoke on the sidewalk and yet they walk right by this building and we're aliiuddled out in the. patio iiufflng and pufflng away." Pickering trustee Susan Kular agr.ed, noting lots of buildings have no-smoking policies. "If the visiton s used toesmoking, well, teo bad," said Kular, adding tiiat there siiould either be "lsmoking acrosa the. board or no smoking acrosa the board." "How are you going to feel seeing your employees iiuddld out on the street" te, have a sinoke, asked Ajax truste. Colleen Jordan, who moved the. motion to change the policy. Tii. board doesn't control tiie tobacco control act "or we'd have designated smoking areas in high sciiools," said Jordan, "but we do control our employees and can give them a smoking area." !Me board recentiy voted to lobby the. province to once again allow smoking areas in high schools. The motion came after residents living near schoois complained about students smoking in their yards, blockIng their driveways and littering. Headquarters staff can use the. smoking area "without an undue waste of time," said Laing, who added it wouid help workplace effectivenesa, efficiency and functioming of staff. She aiso noted that there are smoking areas at the. Durhiam Catiiolic board iieadquarters, Whitby municipal building and Wiiitby and Oshawa general hospitals. The board voted 9-5 against ailowing thie areas. The change isn't immediate, iiowever. Staff require two te three weeks te, put a new regulation "iproperly in place... (and) te fuily explain the. rationale that trustees have given," said Laing. 'o Samantha Muir ANDERSON CVI University seminars have been in progress for a few weeks now and many students have te soon decide whicii coilege or university they want te attend. The reality of our higii achool lif. coming te an end is just beginnng te bit home. My message te aIl leaving this year is make it the beet, sometbing you'il always look back on with a amile. Join ail those clubs .or teams you've been waning te since Grade 9, ites neyer toa late te make memories. Ail this week yearboeks wiil be on sale in the front-foyer for $25. mhe yearbook is being put tegether in sligiitly different fashion this year -instead ofiiaving a club put it tegetiier, a casm, in bot.h semesters, wiil assemble it. Aise the yearbook won't be distributed in June, it will b. iianded out in September in order te capture the entire previous sciiool year. rve been reassured that the books will get te ail students net returning next year, no matter where we are.. This year'!s prom will be held June 7 at Le Parcein Markham and the theme is 'Thie Orient.' With almost 400 people attending, it is almost impossible te find a local banquet hall that could fit us ail in comfortably. The closest place, and in our price range, is Le Parc. Tiiere have neyer been any problems at the hall and security has neyer been needed. Tii. price for tickets has net yet been decided. However, we are trying our best te keep it at or under $100 par couple. The promn commnitte. wiil undertake various fundrai ming activities ta lower ticket prices. sohool board buildings, DURHAM BOARD of Education headquarters smoking area, whicn as been open for more employeessmoke on a balcony off the staff tha a year. cafeteria. The board recently voted to close the Photo by IMrk Reeor, VhItby FmooPros PARENT A W± '1i ilS] :I <'U1II [I 9 seek election for 4 Whitby spots There are 49 nominees for 21 positions in tonight's (Wednesday) elections of a Durham Board of Education regional parent advisory council. There will be six available positions for Oshawa, four for each of Whitby, Ajax and Pickering, and on. eacii for Uxbridg., Scugog and Brock. Ail candidates had to be parents of students in the. Durham board system. Elected representatives will serve for a two-year term and may serve for a maximum of two terms. Two trustees and the supenintendent. of community services will round out the. group, but they will not be voting members. Elections in Whitby will b. held at 7:30 p.m. at Sinclair Secondary School in Whitby. The nine Whitby candidates for the four positions are Allan MacDonald, Carol Cudinore, Debi A. Bentley, Greg Reid, Jan Ellison, Linda Smith Millar, Pam Berry, Phil Williams and Rues Halden. Candidates will have an opportumity, prior te, the actual election, te address those in attendance. The advisory council is being established by the board to serve as; an orgamizing body for Prin-cipal changes The Durham separate echool board rec.ntly approved principal transfera, appointments and retirements, effective Jan. 1, 1996. Mitch LePage, currently vice- principal at St. John the. Evangelist in WhItby, bas been appointed principal of St. Mark the Evangelist in Whitby. Ida Edgecombe, currently vice- principal at St. Bernard in Whitby and previously vice-principal at St. Theresa in Whitby, bas been appointed te Our Lady of the Bay in Pickering. Retiring as of Jan. 1 are John Arbour ef St. John, John Holoway of St. Bernard in Whitby and Marie Van Den Hoogen of St. Michael in Oshawa. Placements and transfers, effective next January, include John Nichoils te St. Bernard, Beryl Cameron te St. John, Sheila Lynch te St. Matthew and Brian Vrebosch te St. Theresa. The board says the changes aliow a principal, new te a schoei, te continue the work already in place, make assesamentz sud begin werk with the n.w staff in planning for the 1996-97 school year. community consultation and to serve as liaison to municipal or area parent groups. It is anticipated that the council will meet montiily. Forum on child care Thursday A child care forum will be ii.ld temorrow (Tiiursday) nigiit in Whitby. Building Bridges II is described as an "information siiaring session with the constituents of Dunrham Region who are concerned about quality chuld car. and the future of our children," says Patricia Mowers, forum director. 5h. says the "dialogue" is alse a chance for local politicians te se. how proposed cuts te ciiild care wiil affect Durhiam residents. Tii. forum will b. held in the main boardroom of the Durhiam Board of Education headquarters building on Taunton Road. Interview Day Henry Street Hligh Sciiool will iiold Parents' Interview Day on Thuraday, Oct. 19, 2 te 4 p.m. and 7 to9 p.m.