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10 - The Oakville Beaver, Wednesday December 13, 2006 www.oakvillebeaver.com Wrap yourself in luxury this holiday season Familiar face returns as chair of Halton Catholic school board Oakville trustee will serve as vice-chair By Melanie Cummings OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Saldarini of Italy, silk and cashmere knit wrap with brown mink trim. One size. Ivory, Brown, Black $395 2 0 9 L a k e s h o re R o a d Downtown Oakville (905)845-2031 www.barringtons.ca Monday-Thurs 9-6 · Friday 9-8 · Saturday 9-5 · Sunday 12-5 For the seventh year in a row, Burlington trustee Al Bailey is back in the chair's seat at the Halton Catholic District School Board. He heads into his 10th year as a trustee. His colleagues at the board gave him the title at the board's inaugural meeting Tuesday, Dec. 5. Alice Anne Lemay, an Oakville trustee and 26-year veteran of the board, was named the vice-chair, which is a post she has previously held. They lead nine trustees, which is one more than last term, and are joined by three newcomers: Anthony Danko, Pauline Houlahan, both Oakville trustees, and Rosanna Palmieri who represents North Halton. Growth in Oakville prompted the additional trustee. The board now has five representatives for Oakville, two for Burlington and one each for North Halton and Milton. The term of office for all trustees is now four years. In January 2007, the board faces a vote on the school uniforms pilot at a Milton and a Burlington elementary school. "There seems to be less support for (uniforms) in Oakville," said Danko. The board offered to let an Oakville school join the two-year experiment, but none volunteered. As budget planning ensues, chair Al Bailey foresees many Ontario boards, including Halton's, moving too close to a deficit. There are no reserves to take care of the increases the provincial government has imposed through negotiating teachers' contracts, he said. "We will have to do a better job of getting funding from the government because there isn't money in other areas to take from, it's all been enveloped already," said Bailey. Discussions will also get underway in the next year to either find a new home for the overflowing board headquarters, renovate it or leave it as is. The same decision must also be made for St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Oakville. "We're a growth board, which is a good problem," said Bailey. "A constant challenge over the long term for us is maintaining our Catholic identity in a secular world," added Danko. "This is the only quality that guarantees our survival as a board, so if we lose heart over that, God help us." Three student trustees were also sworn in during the ceremony: Jaclyn Peluso from St. Thomas Aquinas in Oakville, Christ the King student Heather MacKinnon is the Halton Hills representative and Assumption's Ryan Durran is the Burlington student trustee. The Halton Catholic board has 28,600 students in 46 schools.