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PAGE i-2, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 1980, WHIITBY FREE PRESS Everything to know about education çr~9 ~J. eiý4c"a CM(La/W Easy apartment living with the warmth of a home ln unique century oid architecture. DURHAM REG IONS MOST LUXURIOUS ADULT APARTMENTS . Brickf replace .Wood tri m balconiles . Acre of Garden s .Spaclous 1il' cell11nga electronic securlty avallable MN.2 - M-v4T. Modern kitchens & bathrooms Sauna & Excercise FAoom Varlety of floor plans .30 min to downtown too. FOR RENTAL AND APPOINTMENTS CALL 579-4453' 9 a.m. -4 p.m. Edulnfo The Corridor Ratepayers Association will make a proposai to town council in the new year whereby the current Whitby bus system will be replaced by taxis. Mary McEachern, a spokesman for the ratepayers said the suggestion is based on a system currently in use in Peterborough. With that system taxis are used to bring bus passengers from outlying areas of the city to a downtown bus stop. Passengers make the trip for the cost of a bus ticket while the remainder of the taxi fare would be subsizised by the transit system . will address itself to answering questions from Whitby residents on the issues facing the board. The Whitby Free Press presents this as a public service. Anyone having a question to put to Trustee Brown shouid write te hlm at the Durham Board of Education, 555 Rossland Road West, Oshawa, Ontario L1J 3H3. What is the role of a trustee? (Mrs. R. Spiel> The board of trustees, as a corporate body, is ultimnately responsible for the operation of the sehools in its juridiction. This means keeping building and premises in proper repair, equipping and furnishîng them, appointing principals, teachers and other employees, and determining their salaries, providing textbooks, materials, and supplies and providing instructions for pupils. In addition to determining how our education tax dollars are spent, a trustee also acts as an ombudsperson, representing the needs and interests of the comrnunity, and attempting to resolve difficulties which arise between schools and parents. How can 1 find out what the board of education is doing? (J. T. King) Ail meetings of the board and its committees are open to memebers of the public. Information about the dates, times, and locations of these meetings can be obtained fromn the director's office (576-4000, ext 248). Regular board meetings are held on the second and fourth Mondays of each month in the boardroom at 555 Rossland Road, Oshawa. A public question period is provided at 7 p.m. during which questions may be asked for any board memnber. At these regular meetings, the agenda, minutes, and other materials are available for the public. I encourage you to attend these meetings and to ask questions. How cao we get a schooi hault la our subdivision? (R.C., Ot- ter Creek> It's not easy! The Ministry of Education will provide gran- ts covering about 75 per cent of the total cost of a new school, but before doing so, the board must demonstrate to the ministry that the enrolment and capacity of all schools in the community are at maximum (i.e., every available classroom is being used). Further, most of the pupils for the needed space must already be in school, in portables, or being tran- sported to distant schools before approvai to plan a new project will be granted. Once the ministry approves the board's building proposai, some 16 steps must be undertaken before final approval is given and construction can begin. It could take two years or longer fromn initial ministry approval to completion of construction. The board currently owns six school sites in the region and has options on a further eight in Whitby. Ratepayers want subsi*dized taxis By f RUSTEE IAN BROWN Durhiarn Board of Education EDITOR'S NOTE: Ian Brown, the newly eiected Whitby representative on the Durham Board of Education wili be author of a monthiy column entitied *"Edu Info." The coiumn