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Applause greets Fishers motion to keep budget increase to A smattering or applause greeted a hold this years Halloo board of education budget hike eight per cent for 1981 Introduced by Hills trustee Betty Fisher the motion was passed at the boards Thursday night meeting Governments must cut spending The board is no exception Limits on spending must be set Mrs Fishers motion read This is the year to bite he bullet and make tough decisions Last gears million budget was a 13 per cent increase over the previous j car and brought criticism from businessmen local and regional governments and Conscious of the publics anger over mill rate in creases especially in a time of high unemploy ment and salary cutbacks the trustees supported the motion o prevent another huge tump in the mil rate I dont believe an eight per cent ceiling cant be achieved Mrs Fisher said In light of the restraint programs of both the federal and provincial Teachers disappointed with salary Acton High School teachers are said to be disappointed and dlitliu- with the Halloa board of education The schools Ontario Secondary School Teach ers Federation representative math teacher Bill Coates said this week the mood among fellow staff Is not positive because of the long delays In salary negotiations between the board and its teachen Im disappointed tnat negotiations havent pro ceeded with a little more baste he told The Herald Monday One gets tired every year of being one of the but boards to be able to settle I wonder why other boards can reach early agreement and we dont Teachers shrug and say What else is new when Mr tells them no head way has been made be tween the and the board regarding a new contract he said What the neck is It all about Mr Castes said Are we and the board working together for the same purpose or arent teachen was one of resig nation and they were volunteering to show re straint Mr Coates said They were saying Times are tough maybe Its tune teachers show a little restraint They were prepared to accept anything reasonable he The mood of the teach ers has changed to become more bitter late ly Mr said Teachers are asking Why isnt something happening he said Georgetown District High Schools OSSTF staff representative Joan Silk said about 13 staff at the silent protest Thursday night at the boards meeting We were asked to go by the to show the board were concerned about having some meaningful negotiati ons Mrs Silk said I think thats what we showed them We reel the board is purposefully stalling and not acting In good faith because theyre refusing to negotiate Mrs Silk said We started those negotiations In the spring and it looks like theyre stalling until the legisla tion Ea In effect Feelings are strong Acton Highs Clare Henderson said The bead of the English depart ment said teachers are reeling frustrated Mr Henderson said be doesnt like the Idea of having an adversarial relationship with the board when theyre supposed to be on the same side New chairman plans tight grip on purse strings Hatton Separate School recognize Grade and 10 board trustees can only Roman Catholic school hope and pray that the students as secondary province will soon fully students for all purposes Keep Hydro bills down A resolution to save taxpayers from an eight per cent Increase In Ihe cost of electricity to school boards was approved by Hal ton trustees Thursday night The board of education supported the resolution of the Renfrew County Roman Catholic separate school board to petition the premier and treasurer of Ontario along with the ministry of education The petition wants the government to order Ontario Hydro to roll bock its eight per cent increase to five per cent or to increase school board grants for 1983 to make up difference In electrical costs No ministry grants An announcement is expected before the end of December regarding the ministry of educations grants to provincial school boards Helton board of education director is not very optimistic He told trustees Thursday night that according to information he has gleaned from contacts there wont be any ministry grants for In 1983 or 1984 including funding According to the boards new chairman trustee James a former teacher In Hamilton- Wentworths separate school system made the remark during his in augural address to the board lost week noting that Queens Park Is gradually implement ing some of the recom mendations proposed by the Secondary Education Review Project Elected board chair man for the first year of the new boards three- year term Father Mihm is pastor of St Michaels parish Burlington trustee Harry was elected vicechairman Hills is represent ed on the board Irene McCauley of Georgetown reelected for a second term in the Nov munic ipal election Attributing Increased public attention placed on school boards partially to size of budgets required to maintain the quality of education the people have come to ex pect and partially to the publics Interest in educa tional matters Father Mihm stressed the need for fiscal restraint The board must be able to justify the spending of every dollar he said This task is compli cated by the- new prog rams and directions which are brought forth by the ministry of educat ion and which Invariably are cost incurring he commented By when the boards term he noted the provinces Bill will have been imple mented guaranteeing that schools meet the needs of exceptional handicapped or gifted students He expressed concern that while the ministry Is funding the implementation It might not continue special fund ing after governments I believe eight per cent is some where between six and nine and I think It Is achievable Supporting the rationale of the motion Burlington trustee Noel Cooper how ever called the eight per cent figure a number thats been pulled cut of the air Finance committee chairman Bill said the eight per cent figure was realistic Last yew the reality was per cent increase think restraints by the new law if It sever passed provincial Bill would moke eight per cent a possibility he said We may not be able to get lower lhan that Giving strong backing to the motion Hills trustee Arlene Bruce not ed that the ministry of education requires addit ional programs but does nt give any direction as to what can be cut at the some time keep costs in balance School programs are like a vegetable garden thats filled up completely Everybodys favorite veg etable is In there Nobody wants any thing removed Mrs Bruce said to the amusement or fellow trustees and a board room packed with about 300 secondary school cant happen We cant keep adding on with out actually destroying what is there Im not asking our administrat ions to make our decisions for us but to give us some good guidelines she said HOW CUT Advising the boa to stay within a designated amount of money and be sure to spend it wisely Mrs Bruce then made an analogy between shopping for the board to grocery shopping If I took time to be selective and creative I could probably put togeth er a delicious nutritious meal with it and Im asking our administration to be toughminded select ive and creative and give us guidance as to how we can cut expenses Mrs Bruce said Rather than have the budget presented to the board based on need with trustees picking through It to establish what can stay and what must go Mrs Fisher recommended the board start off with a fixed rate of expenditure and allow administrators to decide what should stay and what go Trustees then make the final decision accord ing to material presented to them Trustee Elaine requested that the board be made aware of what Is being trimmed as well as what is on Its shopping list for Ihe next year SECTION A THE HERALD Wednesday December IMZ Page OUR GIFT I TO YOU SWEATERS BLOUSES Values to Mow Just Sale Strictly Ends Saturday December 8th Guelphview Square Georgetown ti A GOOO KLECTKM OF SHOP HALTON HILLS HANDCRAFTED tots arts CHRSTHUDEC9IICTSIIS RAINBQWPETS Htmostm Ventre BEMELC BATH BOUTIQUE SELECTION FOR CHRISTMAS Headache I tub lit lui cm tigs Christmas Relief tin M War Put cm I A HIM pp fin VITQS MARKET FRUIT BIRTHDAY BASKETS CAKES THE BOOK NOOK 8532130 IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ADVERTISE IN THIS FEATURE PLEASE CALL 8772201