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OnoWevkly Tiînes, Wçeinesýy, NovembeCr 1, 1995 Peelk-mA-oo! Dylan Empey and Felicia Brown took part in model- ling some of the fashions at the Orono Festive Lifestyle and Fashion Show held at the Orono Town Hall on Sunday. The crowd was more numerous than the Bridal Show this year. Many local businesses took the time to set up booths dis- playing their wares. The Orono Festive Lifestyle and Fashion Show featured glittering holiday looks from Leisure Lady and Braemar, career fashion from Braemar, and clothing from Little Harbour Trading Co. The local models Bridgette Brown, Alison Cowan, Cathy Douglas, Gail Empey, Aubrey Crooks, Marylee Hentig, Cathy McCullough, Wendy Maartense, Betty Mercer, Cathy Miller, Jo Ann Staples and Seasha Staples, looked terrific with hair styled by Lynda McCullough of Family Hair Design and makeup co- ordinated by Sally Staples with Mary Kay Cosmetics. The finalé of the show was beautiful bridal wear by The Bridal Path. Original hand made children's clothing from Family Gathering was Open Letter To Mr. John O'Toole, MPP Durham Eat, Re: "Staying In Touch", October 1995. Mr. OToole: Now we know how Mr. Snobelen is going to create a crises in education. Thank you for this insight. Although not specifically stated, in your article, you were laying the groundwork for school board amalgama- modeled by Felicia Brown and Dylan Empey. Also attending the show with interesting displays were Gabrielle Antiques and Collectibles, Blessings Travel, The Natural Nut Aromatherapy, Joyce Rosseau Folk Art, Don Staples' Water Colour Paintings, The Orono Figure Skating Club, Sugarbush Nursery, The Village Bakeshop, Escapade Fine Lingerie, Fifth Avenue Jewellery, B.B.'s Jewellery and Discovery Toys. Refreshments were donat- ed by Doug Humiphrey's Coffee Time and were served by the Pathfinders, with great music provided by disc jockey Randy Cowan, assist- ed by Kevin Cowan. Proceeds were donated to the Orono Town Hall. tion. While your government plans to "follow up on many of the issues brought for- ward in the Royal Commission on Learning report "For The Love of Learning" might I suggest that they also pay close attention to volume IV, page 114 of said report. I quote - "There is no formula, nor do there seem to be any objec- tive criteria, that would allow us to conclude thlat there are too many school boards in Ontario." The Royal Commission spent 18 months and $13,000.00 of tax payers money on an in- depth investigation of Ontario's education system to cone to this conclusion. Mr. John Sweeny of the Ontario School Board of Education Task Force has stated publicly that his Task Force was told only to reduce the number of school boards in Ontario by 40% to 50%. His mandate was NOT TO INVESTIGATE any finan- cial issues that coincided with said reductions. The only financial figure associ- ated with the Task Force Report was the possible tax increase of up to 20% of local tax payers. The Ottawa Separate School Board bas looked at the cost of amal- gamation to their rate payers and have found it will be over 30%. While everyone agrees that an overhaul of educa- tional funding in this province is long overdue, many of the changes that the Task Force recommends can be accomplished through legislation WITH- OUT THE COST of amalga- mation to the local tax payer. The Northumberland- Clarington Board of Education spent $5,782.00 to educate ONE elementary school student in 1994. Of that total, 94.5% was spent on varied administration costs. We take pride in pro- viding the most for our stu- dents with every education dollar. The N/C Board of Education currently partici- pates in joint services with other boards and is a leader in computer and co-op edu- cation programs. We also have Junior Kindergarten, French Immersion, Instrumental Music at the grade 7 and 8 level, and Special Education programs for our students. Some of the other boards of educa- tion that you are proposing we amalgamate with do not have all these programs. Since programming must stay consistent across any board, there is a real fear that some of these programs will have to be dropped with amalgamation due to the cost factor. You state that in the province of Ontario, "1/3 of our children do not complete secondary school". Not all students are interested in completing grade 13 and leave at the end of grade 12. They have graduated but have not completed sec- ondary school. This would skew your figures. Recent statistics released by the Ministry of Education show that our board has one of the lowest drop-out rates among school boards in Ontario at 2%. In 1956 there was a 70% drop-out rate province wide and in 1992 that figure had decreased to 23%. Northumberland-Clarington has the highest student retention rate in Ontario and we are still improving, while Clarington is the 5th fastest growing municipality in Canada. I will applaud Mr. OToole on your stand re destream- ing. It was another govem- ment experiment with edu- cation that did NOT work. Our students and teachers have suffered from it. Your government will have the support of myself and many others if this idea is pulled before it can do any more damage. I strongly urge you to do all that you can for your con- stituents to ensure that school board amalgamation is not ANOTHER govern- ment experiment that does not work. We can not afford hasty decisions for quick political gain that have a negative affect on our stu- dents, who will be our lead- ers in the not to distant future. Sincerely, Beverly Wakefield - Trustee Northumberland- Clarington Board of Education Stephen's Spoti'Lg Goo g 80 King St. W. Bowmanville 697-2546 SHOP AROUND, GET YOUR BEST PRICE THEN CALL USE FOR YOUR BETTER PRICE We use the full 7% G;S.T. Credit to give youth naxirnun $$$ fr your TradeIr Toll Free frorn Area Codes 905, 416, or 705 a 1-800-361-8154 or local calls 885-8154 The Regional Municipality of Durham Works Department HOLIDAY CLOSURE OF TRANSFER AND RECYCLING SITES The Oshawa, Cartwright and Scugog Transfer and Recycling Sites wiIl be closed Saturday, November 11, 1995 and will resume regular operations on Tuesday, November 14, 1995. V.A. SILGAILIS, P. ENG. COMMISSIONER OF WORKS PUBLIC NOTICE TO ITS CITIZENS At a meeting held on April 11, 1994, the Council of the Municipality of Clarington passed a resolution which states that once each quarter, one regularly scheduled Council meeting will be held at a suitable location in either Ward 1 or Ward 3. Accordingly, the Council meeting scheduled to be held on Monday, November 13, 1995, at 7:00 p.m., will be held at the Orono Town Hall. ONTARIO Dates of Publication: Wednesday, November iand 8, 1995 Patti L. Barrie, A.M.C.T. Clerk Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3A6 PO. 5717