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By KATHY YANCHUS Oakwville Beaver Staff At issue is whether or not the board can arbitrarily pass a resolution which denies staff the right to travel to outâ€"of town conferences and seminars. Grievances have been served to the board by both the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation of Halton and the Ontario Public School Teachers Federation of Halton citing violation of Teachers grievance over conference trip veto creates split on public school board Public school trustees have a fight on their hands. The grievances concern the recent decision by the board to veto four outâ€" ofâ€"town trips by staff to Minneapolis, Winnipeg, Rochester and Dallas. The money for staff travel comes from the professional development fund â€" guaranteeing more than $500,000 for staff training â€" and has already been negotiated under the colâ€" lective agreement. The rules by which it is administered have been already agreed to, according to teachers. "The OPSTF supports the right of our teachers to select their own profesâ€" sional development...to arbitrarily limit our right to select such professional development (outside the province) is not beneficial to the teaching profession or to the students of Halton. Philosophy by geography is not good," said Bert Radford, president of OPSTF of Halton "This is a grievance that‘s going to be fought," promised Sally Rewbotham, president of the OSSTF of Some trustees agree with the teachâ€" ers that the board table is not the place to argue the point, but rather in negotiaâ€" tions which begin early next year. Among them is board chairman, Dave Coons, who was one of 11 trustees who voted to rescind the origiâ€" nal staff travel motion at last Thursday‘s board meeting. The motion to rescind the original motion, with 11 trustees in favor and 7 against, failed to pass without a twoâ€"thirds majority. The original motion, passed in the spring of 1992, called for the developâ€" ment of a policy on staff attendance at conferences and board perusual of all outâ€"ofâ€"province travel until such time How to : * Inflationâ€"proof your retirement * Correct financial mistakes * Save income taxes in these times "I need 12 hands to agree," said LIMITED TIME OFFER â€" A $375 VALUE FREE! Reserve an appointment for both you and your spouse and receive up to three hours of personal financial consulting absolutely free. See one of our Chartered Financial Planners for the answers. We‘ll even guarantee that if we cannot show you how to save taxes, improve your investments and better secure your financial independence, we will unconditionally refund your fees. DIVERSIFIED INVESTMENTS GROUPS Tax and Financial Planners Since 1965 Oakville, Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, (905) 847â€"0029 or (416) 964â€"9506 in association with For the board to spend taxpayers money on a case that the board‘s own solicitors have deemed defenseless, is ""absolutely ludicrous," said Coons. as that policy was formulated. At the Oct. 7th board meeting, trustees Noel Cooper and Debbie Marklew tried without success to rescind the motion which turned down the four outâ€"ofâ€"town trips. "Perhaps they understood they were opening a Pandora‘s box and it would cost them far more than they would save," said Rewbotham. "The probable cost of one (grievance) is between $4,000 and $5,000 and with two of them on the go, the board is looking at a cost of between $8,000 to $10,000 Rewbotham estimated. The requests from teachers and staff for outâ€"ofâ€"province travel represents a small percentage of total PD funding allocations and to receive approval to attend, requests must pass through sevâ€" eral authority levels, said Rewbotham. She said attempts are made to deterâ€" mine if "that same clinic, seminar or conference is offered closer to home." The two trips the OSSTF is grieving cost between $180 and $200, which is "no where close to being extravagant," said Rewbotham. Trustee Cheryl Reid said she sees the grievances and the board‘s resoluâ€" tion as two separate issues and that is why she chose not to rescind the origiâ€" nal resolution. The intent of the comâ€" mittee looking into staff travel is not to prevent people from "going on these trips" but to research the availability of similar conferences within the "Technically, the federations are correct," added John Scheel. "‘Technically, the Director of Education and the chairman of the board are corâ€" rect...but there‘s a major principal here. "Sometimes, even though we have rules and regulations it‘s a very good thing for all parties to sit back and look at..does it fit with the (economic) times?" continued Scheel. The public is extremely interested in what goes on at the board these days, and Scheel felt some "moralâ€"suasion" of the administration was in order to curb what he refers to as "sensitive" trips. stop them, just deflect some of the ones (trips) that rubbed salt in the wounds of the public." Trustee Lynda Schreiber, who also voted against rescinding the original motion, says she is a firm believer in staff training "especially with things changing so rapidly." "But I don‘t think it‘s unreasonable to request that local tax dollars be spent more locally wherever possible," she said. Schreiber is also of the opinion that "it‘s far too late in the process" â€" the board has already formed a staff travel committee and the new policy for board perusal is forthcoming. | Sat., | Nnv. 181 1â€"4 p.m.! | * On display: James Lumbexs new j I print, "On the Beat I * Lumbers will be Autographing Glass 1 * Show Specials I I * Join the Collectors Club I I Art Picture Frame Warehouse | 5317 Hwy. 7, Woodbridge f _ _ (905) 856â€"2766 _ _ \NP;N\ Hpo The Environmental Advisory Committeeâ€"Petroâ€"Canada invites you to attend a public meeting * Petroâ€"Canada Odour Reduction Progress Report * Report on Halton Health Study * Your questions and comments Come and Participate TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 1993 7:30 p.m. to 10 p.m. Queen Elizabeth Park School 2301 Yolanda Drive