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The Acton Free Press Wednesday May 3 1978 Twinning controversy Limehouse Speyside Town needs month notice of parades Groups which hold parades prove closure of that street suggested time could be Continued from page recommendations so twinning won t be viewed as the death Knell of a school Boich told the board the principal will be expected to divide his lime in both schools and parents will have access to both the principal and vice- principal He warned parents can expect Instantaneous response to their calls since the principal will be teaching per cent of the time and the viceprincipal 75 per cent of the time This was fine Trustee Florence Mearea said since the board wants its staff teaching and not answering telephone calls unless it s an emergency Hinton noted the Director of Education decides where the viceprincipal goes and could place both the principal and viceprincipal in the bigger school and leave a senior teacher in charge of the smaller school He said the policy was loo openended leaving everything to the director to decide He urged a definite policy be set According to Trustee Ivan Armstrong Campbellvillc school which is twinned has never worked so well and It t have a viceprincipal in the school The board needs to decide if it wants to set policies or regulations Director of Education Em Lavender said Policy means there is flexibility for the but regulation means there are only rules to be followed he explained If you want regulations you dan t need us because you don I need the Judgment factor Just order takers Lavender declared You should put some kind of trust in the people you hire If enrolment dropped a I Limehouse and to the level where they should be closed that was one thing but twinning is entirely different Shepherd said Twinning Isn t attractive financially because you need a vice- principal and secretary A lowest paid principal is the only way to go Shepherd stated and erect banners over for events such as down streets advertising events towns Pioneer Days and annually will be contacted by sidewalk soles the Town to see if red tape Councillor George Maltby and delays surrounding suggested since the regional approvals can be cut engineer can approve road Last month the Town closures regional council contacted the Region to see if should be asked to give Halton Hills could give Halloa Hills authority for banners parades handle such Items and street closures on Engineer Robert Austin regional roads rather than said he doubted regional have organizations going council would agree and both Town and Region for suggested they would be approvals fools to do it He said Regional works director regional council has legal Bob Moore wrote Halton Hills authority over regional roads works committee stating he such as Main Maple and doesn have the authority to Mountalnvlew in George- approve the parade routes town and since they won t road closings or erection of give their own staff legal banners He suggested since authority over them they it Is a delicate legal matter won give Hills possibly the town solicitor authority could contact the Region Councillor Mike Armstrong solicitor Moore also suggested the town might consider taking ill over regional road on Main The Women for Women Street between Highway group is planning a special and Maple Ave in seminar on women and the Georgetown so it could op- law saved works committee recommended street closings banner erections and parade routes involving regional roads directly to the gels approval before Region without going through Hills council He noted the same groups make requests every year but requests come in late all the time bolh to the town and region Austin suggested the groups need lobe educated to send In requests early to both the town and region so approval will be quicker Many groups come to the Hills council before being town a few weeks ahead of an sent lo Region event and then a Halton Hills Councillor Peter councillor must take the item said all groups should be to regional council and hope it contacted and advised to give both the town and region a ment If they give a month notice to Hills and works committee makes recommendations directly to the Region department will event takes place If the Town months notice be asked to contact groups recommends approval to the Armstrong thought the who regularly want to put up Region it sits around for two people wouldnt need to banners close roads and hold weeks before even going to contact bolh levels of govern parades the region because com Limehouse parents vow battle with trustees trustees could be in for a battle with North Halton parents the likes of which been since they closed school in Thursday following Halton Board of Educations decision to twin and Gibbons schools parents or children attending the school bet wee Acton and Georgetown vowed to haunt the board Spokesman David said parents about of whom were at the meetings were disgusted with the boards action but not too surprised He said parents couldn t quite believe the way trustees acted noted board members are supposed to represent the public and yet despite a clear Indication from parents that they dldn want twinning the board went ahead and Ignored their wishes Parents repeatedly vowed followingthemeeting to keep after the board to reverse its decision Two actions already being considered flre taking their case to the Mini ster of Education Tom Wells and 2 Ontario Ombudsman Arthur Maloney Despite administration claims to the contrary parents firmly believe twinning is the first step towards closing of school noted parents throughout the region have received questionnaires from the board asking how they feel about middle schools grades six seven and eight He predicted the majority will say they are happy with middle schools and that will be a signal to the board to remove grade six from Lime and put pupils in a middle school This would further reduce Limehouse enrolment Parents also fear removal of Kindergarten won be far behind theloss of grade six These actions would leave the school with no new inflow of students and as the pupils progressed through to the end of grade five the enrolment will shrink The school will parents felt the board didn want to give the twinning issue a fair hearing pointing out trustees ignored Acton member Bert Hinton plea to give the subject more thought They have no concern for our community he declared Just costs Parents note when the board closes their school they will have much higher costs than now because busing will have to be increased tjally said you can bet your life they will fight the board lust like Norval parents did The group has sought the advice of Burlington MPP Julian Reed who led the fight to keep Norval school open before he entered provincial politics parents fought long and vigorously Many ob servers believe considering changes In the board over the past few years that If the Norval question came up today the community would likely win with the same type of campaign they ran in 1974 Besides hounding the board parents also took their cause to Queen Park said parents will keep fighting because it would be stupid to let the board move closer to closing the school We will haunt these people We won t let them forget us he announced Parents praised the support they received from Hinton and Georgetown Trustee Barry Shepherd but believe many southern trustees had their minds made up before they debated the Issue Half of them had closed minds The cost saving with twinning very much they noted stating they are being nickeled and dimed by a board that sits in plush expensive chambers Many parents fear twinning and possible closing because their children will be tied In and possibly end up going to Joseph Gibbons school which is operated under the open concept system They like apprehensive of open con cept Some say they will never allow Ihelr children lo be placed In an open concept school Speyside parents accept twinning Unlike Limehouse parents those in have decided to adopt a wait and see stance following Halton Board of Education decision Thursday to twin their rural school with Robert Utile in Acton Limehouse parents says they will keep fighting the board decision but Speyside parents are going to give the new system of school ad ministration a chance Under twinning the pal of school will be the principal of Robert Little will have a vice- principal teaching per cent of the time and beefed up secretarial service Spokesman for the parents who tried to persuade trustees not to twin their school Janet Armstrong said she wasn surprised board members backed the administration twinning plan She said parents accept the board decision She admitted they went Into Ihe meeting confident they might win because of the case they had made for not twin ning a rural school with a town school Mrs Armstrong said parents had canvassed all trustees and thought we had a good chance to win One trustee supported their cite she said but voted against them for the simple reason be voted for one twin ning three years ago Schools which have been twinned in the past have been smaller than she Mrs Armstrong said it seems unfair to expect a principal to handle two schools Robert Little and Speyside which will have an enrolment of over 600 next fall especially considering the distance between the two schools Parents want to see If their viceprincipal can teach Just per cent of the time Instead of per cent of the time She noted there are schools in south with pupils who have a principal and a half time viceprinci pal She said a half time teach viceprincipal would be able to deal with parents concerns and school problems We will do our best to get the teaching load of our vice- principal reduced Mrs Armstrong declared She said parents under stand and accept the ad ministration position on the issue and are willing to give twinning a chance Maybe our fears won be realized We aren angry with the administration or trustees In fact the adminis tration was quite helpful while we were preparing our Trustees Bert Hinton and Barry Shepherd were fantastic to us ABE OF MAJORITY PHOTOS you wait ENTRE Georgetown Market 8770411 mittee recommendations need council approval Armstrong thought com mittee recommendations on road closures and anners over regional roads t have to go to DOUBLE HAPIMNKSS r- ri RESTAUR PRESTIGE BUSINESS CARDS Satin Metallic 3 Dimensional Many Colours Available Fasi Service Free Pick up Delivery Minimum Order Cards Phone 8785280 Fish Chips Chinese Cuisine HOURS Monday to Thursday a toSprr Sunday noon p m Telephone 8532060 J EAVER Presents the 2nd Annual Bigger and Better Home Improveme Exhibition BOOTHS FREE CLASSES DEMONSTRATIONS MONEYSAVING COUPONS CHANCE WIN 0RJEMHANWSE FREE ADMISSION PARKING Show Me How is the exhibition that no doityourselfer should miss There is everything to learn and nothing to buy Speak with the experts Have your questions answered by 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