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Page THE HERALD Wednesday March 1 1989 Staffing biggest cost Board grapples with budget By DONNA KELL Herald Staff Helton Board of Education if in the process of reviewing a million budget that consists mainly of ongoing costs to pay for staff and programs The board described by Acton and area trustee Arlene Bruce as labor intensive will suggest an per cent increase over last years actual budget Most of our costs are staff so theyre ongoing said Trustee Bruce Almost per cent of the 1969 budget Increase will go toward staff costs And 71 per cent of the total million budget will pay Halton Board of Education staff The total for salaries and wages suggested in the budget is bas ed on current contracts and is million Supplies services and fees new initiatives and transporta contracts are the next largest budget increase at a combined total of 29 per cent of the budget in crease or almost million This years total increase may seem high at million but it is less than last years 10percent in crease said Mrs Bruce It was the same with surroun ding boards last year We were all at the something mark for increases Trustee Bruce said giving neighboring Peel and Hamilton school boards as ex amples Cutting corners where staff salaries are concerned Isnt We said Mrs Bruce We have to be competitive and reasonable she said Our staff salaries are not at the upper end of tbe scale Weve maintained a very moderate increase But staff salaries aside the boards remaining chunk of a possible 223 million budget will go to programs New Initiatives as the board refers to programs approved over will get almost million Supplies services and fee ex penses will increase almost million this year bringing the an total foe the budget to million And these costs continue said Mrs Bruce Each year new in are added they must be paid for with initial costs and with fees for continuation Although there is some provft cial funding to offset costs for new services provincial government grants have dropped In percentage of tbe last few years says Mrs Bruce who added tbe province Is not keeping up with cost of living increases Grants for the years board of education budget will not be ap proved until early March school board budget itself will not be approved until it reaches board trustees at the end of the same month Presently the budget goes before review at a board finance committee meeting where new costs and increases are discussed The budget process first begins In the schools where recommends tions are made then goes through the administrative staff and they go through several budget cutting Bruce The finance committee is recom mending a final 1989 budget of 223 2 million if costs can be reduc ed bringing the increase down to an 8 4percent mark from the proposed 8 OUR new civic centre Town Councillor Cook was at George Kennedy School recently to help launch a flag fund for the new civic centre In Hills Here a student explains to Mr Cook his of the new town hall Herald photo But after the budget is approved by finance commitee members it goes before board of education trustees for their vote by a March 31 deadline Former teacher dies Jr kindergarten registration Separate board overwhelmed By DONNA KELL Herald Staff The Halton Roman Catholic School Boards Junior Kindergarten program Isnt scheduled to begin until September but already the board has surpassed its original enrol ment projection After an early registration drive in February the board went over the top to per cent of their pro for the Junior Kindergarten program to be in troduced Region wide in September of this year Both enrol and staffing are already well underway We were very pleased and prised at the numbers Director of Curriculum Services Lou Piovesan We have as of to day junior kindergarten registrations and 900 senior kindergarten registrations Mr said there is usual a higher registration for senior kindergarten students than for junior kindergarten students but figures for February show an op posite trend And figures for February reflect only 80 per cent of the projected enrolment for September he said We can expect probably at the senior kindergarten level and at the junior kindergarten level The Catholic board will have junior kindergarten available at its 27 elementary schools in cluding the new Ecole Sacre Coeur in Halton Hills But public school board sup porters cannot register for the Catholic junior kindergarten classes These are all children of separate school supporters said Mr Piovesan Bill 30 passed in which gave provincial government fun ding to separate school boards across Ontario open ac cess only to the secondary level in separate boards Four separate schools in Halton Hills will have junior kindergarten in September At Holy Cross School in Georgetown there were early registrations Nine students registered for junior kindergarten at Sacre Coeur School on Guelph Street St Fran cis of registered 16 junior kindergarten students in February and St Josephs School in Acton had 25 registrations Mr said these numbers could increase by per cent at September registration The popularity of the junior kindergarten program Is shown by the number of registrations said Mr Thats reflective of the demand and the need throughout the Region and In Halton Hills he said A woman considered by some to be a legend at Georgetown District High School who spent hours a day in class died in Guelph last week Rose Piercey teacher at the high school from to 1966 died of natural causes 20 years after retiring as physical education Latin and English teacher in Georgetown Shes sort of a legend here said Head of Special Education John Todd She was just totally devoted to the kids Mr Todd said Rose Piercey would spend from 7am to 7 m at the school to help students who had problems And while she ap parently lived frugally at home with her sister Miss never married she was generous with students If a kid couldnt afford a year book Rose bought It for them said Mr Todd Miss Piercey paid for the levell and sodding required to build the high schools first tennis courts and paid for decorations for school dances which she always attended said Mr Todd She also helped struggling students in any way she could with then university tuition Miss lived in Georgetown then Acton and final ly Guelph with her sister where she would commute by bus to the high school every day She taught school at a time when the student population numbered students Now there are over 1500 Donations in Miss Pierceys honor can be directed to the Guelph General Hospital Fund For more information call Kathy Bowman at Georgetown District High School at Trustees hold the PEACE Board of Education trustees are not sure how badly they want PEACE in the Region PEACE Police Ethnic And Cultural Information is a pilot project of the Halton Regiona Police in conjunction with the On tario government and Halton Region On Feb 14 the Halton Regional Police Chief James Harding sent a letter to the board of education asking for funds to pay for a writ ten report on the PEACE pro grams planned for this summer Chief Harding said In the letter that the report and a video tape of program were an important component of the project Other funding for PEACE will come from the Ministry of the Solicitor General and from the Regional Municipality of he said But some trustees said no funds were available for the PEACE pro ject I support PEACE but I don think we should give them any money said Burlington Trustee Han Bullock Oakville Trustee Jams Millman said she wondered if the board would have funds for such a pro ject Although it was suggested that a public information meeting be held before trustees voted on a funding decision Director of Education Bob Williams said there would not be a meeting And as a board we have every right to decide if we want to go that route of informing the public said Milton Trustee Bob Clarke PEACE would Involve one from every secondary school in the system said Mr Williams He added that each student would complete a report after he or she attended tbe program Participants would be students of both visible and cultural minority groups Halton police have not determin ed tbe locations of tbe PEACE pro gram but should know sometime In March Meanwhile the board of educa tion will not vote on funding until regular board meetings resume after the March Break and Easter holiday art ime University that comes to you SPRINGINTERSESSION 1989 May 1 August 11 including exams Join the growing number of adults starting or continuing their studies partf at Launer You may qualify for any number of our classroom or televideo courses available in Brampton Area For your convenience classes are held weeknights at Brampton Centennial Secondary School Ave For those who prefer not to attend formal classroom lectures Telecollege can be your alternative At Launer there is a course to suit your interests career lifestyle and location Choose from an array of Arts Science Business and Economics courses Help orient yourself to university credit programs admission and registration procedures find out about available student services and meet with other new parttime students Join us at our Information Session Monday March 6 Brampton Public Library Queen Street 730 900 pm BRING A FRIEND For a complimentary copy ofthe SpringSummer PartTime Studies Course Calendar or for personal assistance lust call us well be pleased to help you 519 8841970 or tollfree 18002658866 Ext 4447 OFFICE OF PARTTIME STUDIES AND CONTINUING EDUCATION YOU CAN DO IT WILFRID UNIVERSITY UNIVERSITY AVE WATERLOO ONTARIO 3C5