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The Acton Free Press Wednesday November Singleton warns Boards to face ceilings or financial constraints of some kind trill be a factor boards of Education will have to face for the foreseeable future County Board of Education was told last week in a report from Director of Ed ucation Jim Singleton Singleton was reporting on the priorities and expenditures committee report He indicated the ceilings were forced on boards as a result of public demand over the rapidly rising cost of education Other demands The past three year period of financial ceilings was Imposed on the province by public demand Other demands and other priorities are beginning to rise as the public looks with special Interest at pollution control health and welfare etc Tor this reason we can expect financial constraints upon boards to continue for some time Some refinement weighing factors will be developed but board members must be prepared to accept ceilings or some similar device on a long range basis he warned The ceilings have not been an entirely adverse Innovation Aside from some minor loss of board autonomy and some conflict over the rate at which programs can be developed the constraints have forced boards and administrations to examine their operations and to evaluate their priorities Some boards were already doing this but many more have now been forced Into this activity Collision coarse He noted that in both elementary and secondary panels the Board had managed to stay within the ceilings but felt that by the board would be under consid erable strain to stay within the ceilings Suggesting that administration cutbacks was the cause of the Halton Board being able to withstand the pressures of the ceilings Singleton noted the number of assistant super intendents were being cut back from 13 to nine Since tbe county board was formed the number of consultants primarily French and music have been cut back substantially The third area where Singleton suggests cuts made la in attaching small schools to larger schools and having one principal do the work of what two did in the past In a press release Tom president of District Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation disputed Singletons claim that administrative cuts were key factors in staying within guidelines Overload He argued the board saved money by having teachers work with one of highest teacher- pupil ratios in the province Adding the board saved an estimated by boosting the ratio above what some boards have he indicated the savings there were at the teachers expense and amounted to six and a naif times the total savings In administration The president expressed a fear teachers in Halton may be replaced to a certain degree b paraprofesslonals In the future and he argued should be used In a supportive role only Six new members of figure skate board Six new membera were elected to the board of the Acton Figure Skating Club at the annual meeting recently Edward McGilloway Harold Townsley Mario Baainaki Mrs Smith Shirley Rosenbersky and Marilyn were elected to the board and Pat Streets was appointed as assistant to the chairman one of the demanding Jobs of the club Arrangements were made for three national figure skating test nights the first to be held on a Saturday December 16 A skating party for club members is set for Friday December Plans for a St Valentine Day dance are well underway tickets arc to go on sale in January Low education cost rapped by president The low cost of education In county is alarming ac cording to Tom president of the Halton District 9 of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation The cost of education in Is low because of the high pupil teacher ratio for any Board our size in the province IB and ranks as one of the highest in the province he states Toronto has a pupil teacher ratio of In Halton we have 224 classes with 36 or more students per class as reported by assistant super Intendent Kemp for District maintains that the quality of education Is high in Halton and this is due to the high sense of responsibility and dedication shown by the over worked teachers claimed Mr Ramautarslngh We find it alarming that In the board takes pride In stating that has the lowest cost per pupil in comparison with 17 other boards of education as far as the actual ordinary ex penditure is concerned We cannot afford to be penny- wise and pound foolish when other boards are utilizing to the limit funds allocated for tion and does not Mr says In a statement prepared for the press Board dines The annual fair board banquet Is tomorrow night Thursday Slight damage farm fire Less than barn damage resulted from a late Thursday afternoon fire at Turkey Farms on the town line Just south of 22 The fire Is believed to have started In a chick brooder on the third floor of the four store barn There were no birds In the barn at the time but a new shipment of chicks had arrived by truck shortly before and were ready to be transferred to the barn The fire was first noticed by a Mr Curtis who attempted to extinguish it with a garden house lie Informed a neighbor who called Acton Firefighters Firefighters spent most of their time clearing smoke from the bam Chief Mick Holmes ordered two trucks to the as a precautionary measure to ensure a good supply of water Fowl to have open water Concluding It la in fact In the bird business and responsible for tufry like waterfowl population Acton parks board has decided to keep a portion of water near the waterfowl area open this winter At night meeting parks manager Harold Townsley was authorized to purchase an aerator at a cost not to exceed to keep water open Besides the group of swans and ducks that normally inhabit the park area Mr reported he has counted between and 100 mallard ducks which have taken up at least temporary residence at the lake the board swans and geese spent lost winter at the Beard- more sanctuary New routes for trucks Umehouse residents will have to wait until before gravel trucks stop rolling through the village Hilton County Council has approved the Improvement of the Fourth and Fifth Lines north of Sideroad to In an attempt to deter gravel truck operators from using to reach High way 7 Council has also approved turning over Sideroad to Esquesing Township so the municipality will have control over Its use by trucks going through Residents of the area claim quarry trucks from Ltd and J C I td race through the village on their way to and from the two quarries Residents have threatened to blockade the road At a meeting in earlier this month between residents and members of County Council roads committee a firm of consultants presented 14 different routes which might be built to keep the gravel trucks out of the village Council decided to approve the reconstruction of the Fourth and Fifth lines at a regular meeting last week However councillors learned the work start until 1976 Chairman of the County roads committee Deputy Reeve Don McMillan said the delay was due to a lack of money There s nothing in the budget for the work until then McMillan told Council Flans to improve the Fourth and ifth Lines In 1975 had been pushed back for a year in order to fit in new bridges needed ACTON FIREFIGHTERS clear smoke from a building at Farms on the Esquesing town line where a small fire Thursday afternoon caused minor damage No turkeys were destroyed Gibbons CONCERNED PROVE IT VOTE DEC h Wright December 4th Vote MALTBY GEORGE ESQUESING COUNCIL Strong Local Government Improved Communications BUS TOUR Take a Winter Break 14 DAY ESCORTED BUS TOUR FLORIDA Depart February from Milton St Petersburg John Kennedy Space Centre Per Person Double For Further Information Phone 8782886