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Document Labelled Hoax By School Official A report stating Helton schools are run In a mafia like fashion has been labelled a hoax by director of education James Singleton The report was circulated to area newspapers last we unsigned and purported to be the preliminary draft of a report prepared by the staff board committee of Ha Hon District Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation Keith Wallace president of the OSSTF said the document did not come from his com and was produced by a sick mind for some unknown reason Mr Singleton however said such a report was presented several years ago to the committee by a member of that committee but was mediately withdrawn In the face of an adverse response from other members He made It clear that In no way was the document a report by the committee The six page text makes an outright assault on progressive educational methods employed in the county and complains of lowered achievement goals within the system New educational methods are said to be devoted to the principle that education is fun and can be picked up on the sly without even noticing As opposed to the old method that flatly accepted education Is hard work As well he new system Is according to the report of too many choices for the students Students are the only ones who really know what education is best for them therefore give them more choices The old system again cording to the report held the belief student really know very little about what subjects to choose therefore give them few choices Mr Singleton believes the report and the wildly prelude that companies It supposedly written by parents has been circulated by a teacher within the Ha lion system The personal stuff In it is meaningless he said What worries me is that whoever is writing it Is leaching someone s kids The complaints made in what Is supposed to be The Report section of release stem from the sweeping changes made over the past few years in the educational system Halton has the most far out advanced of of board said one Acton school teacher who asked to remain anonymous He suggested the report may have stemmed from a teacher discontented with structural changes in the schools a suggestion that Mr Singleton agreed with According to the teacher the board is replacing department heads with chairman of related subjects a move he said may lead reduced teacher authority Rather than have one head of an Individual department such as English Ihe board here is appointing a chairman to govern over communication subjects lumping English French and other related subjects under one jurisdiction Mr Singleton said the move Is being made slowly over a number of years The teacher here noted the high pupil teacher ratio may be grounded in fact as well The Report states the ratio classes contain is is 1 percent One pupil per teacher a ratio which becomes much higher the teacher said when small class sizes In specialized courses such as shop are deducted He noted as well the figures are passed on the ratio of students to administrative staff not necessarily to teachers alone Mr Singleton noted any change in the administrative structure is bound to elicit complaints We have 200 teacher in Ihe system he said I have a feeling we re doing some things but no matter what you do you will have some complaints Among those teachers he explained some think we re and some think we should get back to what we were doing in the thirties The Home Newspaper of Georgetown Acton and Second Class Mall Registered Number THE WEDNESDAY DECFMBbR 12 1973 Hi turn Postage per year Single Copy Price Fifteen Cents NEED A HAND OR FOOT Budokan Judo Club in for wins and medals Georgetown hosted a junior The action was fast and full judo tournament Sunday and of arms and legs and legs and dozens of young people boys arms For more pictures of and girls took part com the action turn to page Brief Denounces Compulsory English Courses LAND PURCHASE FINAL Improvements To Be Exempt From Taxes A five page brier prepared by four county teachers denounces a government move to relnstitute compulsory English courses Into Ontario high schools by September 1974 The brief suggests the move is on unreasonable step back wards In education It was sent to the county school board and the ministry of education Barbara Sproule who prepared the brief with the aid of three fellow English teachers at Burlington Lord Elgin High School said the announcement by Education Minister Thomas Wells displays a lack of rational thinking In our study we did a total research of the matter and find the government has based their decision on rational thinking stated an angry Ms Sproule this morning CAN READ Ms said the move appears to be a response to parents claims that their children can tread or write and lack basic English skills Many students laklngEnglish courses can I understand why the province Is now forcing them to do so she added We ve worked so hard to try and encourage the kids to take English options and now this comes along It silly She and her counterparts Clare Henderson Ian Mills and Watkms claim the province has made no study on Ihe need for such a compulsory program The brief says the province decision implies fewer students are taking English courses under the voluntary system Across Ontario it is quite clear that schools under the credit system lend to have more students taking the core subjects of English and math The brief also says lhat in one school the latest review of this matter indicated no students are taking fewer than four credits in English TERM The teachers taking objection to the brief ore apparently more concerned about the long term effects of reinstituting compulsory subjects When English courses become compulsory com content Is only one step away the brief warns This will naturally work against individualized Instruction Response to the brief has been favorable both from the public and teachers across the county says Ms Some teachers may have different viewpoints but ones I have contacted favor our suggestions She says all her group wants s lo inform the public of the other side of the story so they can make a rational decision as which way is better Basement Oiled The Georgetown municipal offices and the Georgetown police department on Main street weren t worried about any fuel shortage Monday afternoon They had more than gallons of fuel lying four Inches deep in the basement The mishap occurred when Company pumped fuel into an open pipe leading to the basement of the building Basement rooms affected by the fuel oil included police photography and fingerprint room and a store room which housed among other things confiscated liquor The basement is flanked on both sides by an old water reservoir which was not affected by the fuel The Georgetown fire department was called in to mop up the fuel and rid the building of fumes No accidents resulted from fuel spill but several per sons in the police office and municipal building reported feeling a little queasy from the fumes The buildings furnace was turned off at the time of the spill and remained inoperative until clock in the evening Georgetown council meeting In committee and general committee held their meetings without the benefit of heating As councillor Harry Levy at the general com meeting We re Just doing our bit for the energy crisis by keeping the furnace Town Pays 156000 It was officially announced Monday that Georgetown purchased 15 acres of land from Focal Properties at a cost of 000 The land situated Just off Guelph street between Mountalnvicw road and Sin clalr Avenue is the site for Georgetown s arena and recreational complex Fraser of and McLaughlin solicitors for Focal Properties announced the sale Monday The land Was sold at an acre subject to the following four conditions that Georgetown obtain approval from the province or Ontario on its application for a grant under the Winter Capital Projects fund to construct an arena recreational centre that Georgetown obtain approval from Municipal Board lo a bylaw re zoning Ihe real property to permit the use thereof for recreational purposes that Georgetown obtain approval from the Ontario Municipal Board too any capital expenditure necessary to make up the balance of money needed to construct the proposed arena complex that Georgetown obtain approval from any other provincial or federal govern menial authority where such approval is required to the construction and erection of the proposed centre All these conditions have been met BYLAW Georgetown clerk Doug Pritchard said the bylaw hat been passed lhat allows the rezoning of the land to govern mental from industrial Mr also noted hat the zoning change does not In with Ihe official plan of Georgetown Previous to the an nouncement there had been some confusion as to the con for the sale of the property Mr old a recent planning board meetings that the agreement of purchase and sale contained four con dillons While Georgetown councillor Phil Siddall said he thought that Ihe contract did not contain conditions Both Focal Properties and Georgetown agreed to the transaction despite a contract clause which stated that the town had the option of requiring Focal Properties to close the transaction by November 1973 Revenue minister Allan Grossman says the Ontario government is developing a continuing policy to protect home Improvements from property taxes Mr Grossman told a tax conference In Toronto that as an move the govern ment will ex end existing lax mora fori on home provements due to exp re at the end of yeor until Under ex sting legislation introduced in June a home Improvement is nol assessed and is therefore not taxed unless it adds more loan to the market value of the property Mr Grossman said he believes an In the exemption level is necessary particularly in view of the sharp rise In property values during the past few years Two key questions we must resolve are What should be exemption And for how long should apply he said Mr Grossman noted that a planning consultant who examined the question of property maintenance on behalf of the government suggested a market value assessment exemption for home improvements over a five year period That time period would be roughly equivalent to the financing period if a property owner borrowed the money make major properly changes APPROPRIATE Whether approach is he most appropriate will be more clearly apparent when all properties are assessed at market value in 1976 Mr Grossman continued He said that he government must also examine whether the tax benefits for completed improvements or renovations should be non transferable on sale of the property In other words the tax incentive would go to the person who makes the property improvements while lie owns the properly and not be locked into the assessment la Hon system The minister commented that it is widely believed by homeowners that hey im prove their properties their assessments and therefore their property taxes will automatically go up This is an exaggerated and generally erroneous reaction but we recognize that If people believe hey wilt be penalized I hey will be more reluctant to undertake property provements He added that many home improvements do not in fact raise the market value of the property by as much as the original cost of the im provement We have found that it Is possible for a homeowner to spend as much as on his property before the market value appreciates by the present exemption level Lions Roar The Lions roared at their Christmas dinner and dance held at Acton Legion Saturday night Vic led the group in carol singing after being served the traditional turkey supper Dance music was supplied by the Omega Strain Mention was made of the proposed town wide canvas planned for this coming February for funds in aid of the Centennial pool project STUDENTS ADMIRE PROJECT Students of Chapel Street school in Georgetown cluster around the Florida exhibit table just one part of a project presented by the school grade five and six students The project en tilled Around the World In Half a Day allowed students to see projects depleting various countries and regions of the world For more pic lures sec page six second section Almost Home Woman Killed A Georgetown woman went to Guelph Sunday to visit her sister in the hospital She never came home Mrs Helen McClure died when a car driven by her daughter Mrs Janet Goy went out or control and plunged over a steep embankment on High way just south or According lo he ladles were reluming home from Guelph General Hospital and were only a mile and a half CHILLY OFFICIAL OPENING Official opening were held at the senior citizen apartment project at the corner of Mountalnvlew road and Sinclair avenue on Thursday December The apartment complex provides subsidized apartment housing for senior cjtlieni as well as recreational and group facilities Braving the swirling snow and wind for he ribbon cutting ceremony are from left Hills elect Tom Hill Georgetown mayor Bill Smith senator Joan Mrs representing the senior citizens warden Anne and Jim Snow fiom Mrs house when he mishap occurred Apparently newly fallen snow caused the car to skid out of control on a curve It came to a stop on Its wheels partially covered by the cola waters of he Eramosa River ON Mrs McClure was taken by ambulance to Guelph General Hospital and then transferred to the Hamilton General Hospital where she was pronounced dead on arrival Mrs was admitted to Guelph General Hospital where she is listed In satisfactory condition suffering from fractured ribs cuts and bruises Police informed Mrs Clure husband of death at a Toronto hospital ere he Is Woman Injured Car Flips Over Mechanical failure has been blamed for an accident early that has left Acton woman hospitalized In Burlington injured two passengers and caused an estimated damage Milton OPP who Investigated the shop which occurred five mllessoulnofhere that the drive shaft of a Ford driven Stephanie of Main Street in Acton disconnected from the universal Joint The came as Miss was passing a slower vehicle while headed northbound on Hlghwav Just of Spevside Her car overturned at the side of the road She was taken to the Milton District Hospital suffering from multiple fractures to her right arm and cuts and abrasions night she was to the Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital In Burlington a spokesman described her condition as being fair Two passengers In the vehicle John of Street in and suffered minor cuts and bruises were laid recovering from a recent leg amputation John Gov husband of the driver his morning il was a terrible If Ihey had skidded off the road at any I point they would have Just into a ditch But they went off where he embankment very steep and lhat was it Mr and Mrs Gov were married just over a month ago Investigating officer Con stable Don estimated damage to the vehicle at and said the vehicle look out five guide posts un its collision route Surviving Mrs besides her daughter Janet and husband is an ll year old son Bobby He is being cared for at his sister home in Ac ton Police said no charges were laid in connection with the incident NEWS IN BRIEF TJIb Department responded to four calls the past week Last Wednesday a Victoria Avenue exhaust fan overheated and firemen cleared the home of smoke Monday a washing machine motor burned out on Irwin Crescent No damage reported A report of a mattress fire came in during the supper hour Monday and firemen went to Crescent where they qu ckly extinguished the small blaze ning the damage to the mattress RS ARE St traffic lights for the Intersection of Highway and Street in A petition seeking the lights and bearing names was received by Esquesing council at its last meeting No action will be taken by council but the petition will be forwarded to provincial authorities WORKERS IN ONTARIO are back at work this week following ratification Friday of a tentative agreement between United Auto Workers and the company Although workers did display some discontent the agreement received a majority of favorable votes BLOOD DONOR clinic of Georgetown Red Cross got off lo a slow start Monday but picked up sharply In the evening to conclude with packs of blood donated There were persons attending the clinic with rejects Last years Christmas clinic drew only persons but had fewer rejects 14 for donors Seasonal illness is blamed for higher number of rejects at Ihis clinic OF COUNTY Road third line west in the urban section through Cheltenham could be started In 1974 according lo a report at a public meeting Thursday by Peel County Robert Knight Total cost will be Tilt go TRANSIT expected to be In service by February between Georgetown and Toronto with stops at Brampton Bramalca and Ma lion will carry a total of 2000 passengers each way each day Initial scheduling will see three trains and INSIDE MRS wedding held just over a left is pictured with her monlh ago daughter Janet al her This Week We Saw ii II Smith discussing football Roy Booth eating Jim Snow shuffling notes Mrs Daisy Willis culling ribbon Tom Hill declining to dance Floyd Schwann carrying laundry Dan Ion discussing politics Morrow at a concert Joanne ptaving the clown Duke Wltson playing bridge Doug Tatu getting goal and penalty the Stone brothers receiving certificates Barry giving blood Ken In jazzy red suit several hundred gallons of fuel oil In the basement of hnll IN THIS Is a busy little factory em ploying people who can t get a Job elsewhere See story and plctres on the front page of the second section FIRST Local News Swirls Classified SECTION Editorials County Report Women 710 pg pga