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The Acton Freo Press Wednesday Sept 24 Parents regain lower PTR for 8s Parents of Grade got what they wanted from Board of Ed ucation another teacher There is however a price to pay Fifty or so parents learned Monday at a meeting at the school that the ratio or pupils of teachers at the senior level would again be about 281 Its acceptable this year parent group spokesman Ed Norton said after the meeting Parents pressured the board for another tea cher because the ratio swelled to because the board lifted a teacher to another school after classes started Other arrangements have been made with the staff of the middle school however principal John Simpson predicted par ents would see changes no sooner than next Mon day because he has to hire the new teacher Also some timetable problems have yet to be solved The changes mean McKenzieSmith Middle School will again have four Grade a classes When the teacher Derek Humphreys was plucked from the school the principal put students from class into the remaining classes The new class will be called The time for the new teacher was cleared from other peoples time table a quarter teacher for counselling from the collective agreement a quarter teacher from ad ministration plus half the librarian Area Superintendent Don Gentleman detailed the cost of the new tea cher He said principals were spending a quarter of their time on counsel ling children There are a lot of social problems around There will be no counselling he The schools library while It will be open all the time according to Simpson will be manned only half time by a libr arian While you think youre winning I think youre losing Gen tleman told parents Some parents in the audience expressed willingness to volunteer time to help in the libr ary Simpson said that high school students have been used in the library A suggestion to have parents help drill stud ents though seemed to be taken Ill be glad to take anyone coming in said Simpson One of the conditions set by parents at the previous meeting was that whatever the ad ministration did to help the Grade would not be detrimental to the Grades or Simpson said Monday there would be no disruptions in program or class at those grades Would all the children receive an adequate education asked Simpson described the question as being biased because even with the larger pupil to tea cher ratio lie believed students would get a good education Gentlemen revealed to parents that the admin istration considered shifting a Grade tea cher to another school as long ago as February The shift took place alter classes started because according to the ad ministration there were too few students to warrant the four teachers There are three classes of Grades 7 and in north which have less than students according to Simpson Weve now eight classes that have less than students he said We arc more than fairly treated Youre getting more than a fair share Simpson said Were getting what we paid for replied Norton You have smaller classes You cant expect that every year said Gentleman The were high but not more than other schools About parents not all the some faces at Mondays meeting presented the school and board with the problem of high pupil teacher ratio during a meeting a week ago Trustee Betty Fisher told parents then that she agreed with them the ratio was too high She succeeded in getting parents to give the ad ministration a few days to come up with a sol- Three solutions pro posed last week by princ ipal Simpson would mean among other things the elimination of special programs split classes or no library ser vices Parents showed signs of being upset because they do not believe their children will receive the same attention the same quality education with three teachers instead of four All Im concerned about is my child said one mother She said her youngster came home saying she cant do her work at school because there Is too much con fusion The kids havent a clue what they are do ing More than one parent was annoyed that the tea cher was transferred af ter their children started class work Its the first time the child has gotten Into something then the gone That in Itself I consider Is a very bad thing to hap pen said Tony Bain It was noted by some parents that during the week teachers would have more than 100 forty minute spare periods Somo parents voiced the opinion that the time Is wasted One parent who is also a teacher elsewhere poi nted out that the spare periods are used by tea chers for work other than instructing in the class room Principal Simpson likened the spare periods in school to the coffee breaks In private ind ustry Parents had little sym pathy for area superint endent Gentleman He detailed parts of his Job that do with spreading teachers over the North elementary schools Allocations said Gentleman are based on a guess of the enrolment for September Were not mailable and we make mistakes he said Later he defied anyone to determine the number of children who would at tend the middle school seven months from now are problems In other schools that would take eight to ten teachers to solve said Gentle man to the gathering You speak of other areas replied Norton We want to make it known the Issue is In Ac ton I hope Georgetown and Milton parents are banning together like this Here Is where the problem will bo solved by Acton parents Hinton after trustee post Regional staff is under microscope A consulting firm has been hired to look Into the management of Halton Region and It will mean replacement of staff dead wood Regional Chairman Jack Raftis said Johnson Management Con sultants of Toronto will be required to Identify those people who arent high performance The regional management study will take 16 to IB weeks to complete how ever Mr Raftis said the first section on the Treasury Department will bo ready in about 12 weeks Hlckllng Johnson pegged the cost of the study at but Regional Council this to Mr Raftis said the extra would bo used If a more detailed study of one of the bigger departments Is necessary He said that bigger department could be public works and or Health and Social Services Councillor BUI Johnson said he wants to make butc the consultants Include a chapter on how to simply fire a person if ho is found not able to meet his or her Job description The Toronto consulting firm was one of five interviewed by the Regional Management Study Team Committee The Interviews were conducted over a six hour period Sept Veteran Acton politician Bert will try and recapture a seat on ton Board of Education in the November municipal election Hinton defeated in cumbent Tom Watson in 1076 and held the Acton- scat for one term before losing nar rowly to Betty Fisher In the last election Fisher has opted to run In Georgetown now that Acton and will each have their own seats on the board says he can devote his full efforts to improving education In Acton because since he last sat at the board he has retired He Is concerned about looking after the school interests of Acton and feels proper and viable education is needed Career oriented and work experience courses are needed and these program should be backed- up with strong student counselling Hin ton says Is a former Acton councillor reeve county Warden and chairman of the Sheridan College board of governors Hearing adjourned The preliminary hear ing for three Acton men on a charge of second de gree murder will resume October 23 after it was adjourned last week The men Coslmo Michael McCristall and Leonard Cripps were charged in con nection with the death of Dominion Hotel resident Howard Gibbons last year The hotel was gutted In the blaze Secret session on sewer rates Halton councillors slipped into secret session on Monday to discuss the state of the sewer surcharge system despite protests by Councillor Ron the should not bo held WJ Matthews Manager of Price Associates the firm which Is doing the Sewer Sur charge Study told council his firm has a policy of not releasing anything to the public or media until a final report Is published He said a draft which Is the next thing to a final report will be available only to councillors so that It not have a wide distribution However the rates committee headed by Joan had left the impression that the Monday meeting would be open Councillor brought up the point noting he wants the public to have adequate time to have Input The final plan Is to be ready by he end of this month for council discussion and possible approval on he regular regional meeting Oct 15 Mr said the decision to go in camera was a very subtle delaying tactic so there will be no discussion before the election Mr Matthews said his firm would not put the company name on the interim report if the meeting were open because the firm has a policy that everything leading up to and including the final document must be checked and rechecked for ac curacy Halton refers United Way to committee Regional Council has agreed to set up a Family Counselling Advisory Committee but it has sent sug gestions the Region form a Hal ton- wide United Way organization back to staff fora further report Family Counselling had suggested to Re gional Health and Social Services Committee that a new family counselling group be set up to cover nil of and that it be done from a centralized point In short the group had suggested it take over all family counselling for all persons living in the Region The Oakville group had also suggested the Region fund the committee at a start up cost of in which would rise to In 1984 This would be done through a purchase of service agreement