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Vic Hadfield's still a Ranger S ports Passage to gourmet Indian cuisine A rtscene www.oakvillebeaver.com N £ M M A Metroland Publication Vol. 40 No. 60 A W A R D ED 1 LLE B EA V ER C O M M U N IT Y N E W S P A P E R WEDNESDAY, M AY 21. 2003 56 Pages 51.00 (plus G ST) "U S I N G C O M M U N I C A T I O N T O B U I L D B E T T E R C O M M U N I T I E S " Board brings balanced day to classroom New timetable set to start BY Tim Whitnell SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER T he H alton D istrict S chool B oard is g o in g ah ead w ith its b alan ced day tim e ta b le in m o st elem e n ta ry schools this fall, d esp ite the co n c e rn s o f so m e trustees an d paren ts. Board staff inform ed trustees at last w eek's public com m ittee meeting that, after review ing the results and feedback from a pilot project, it had decided to go with the new school schedule. The balanced day, as it is called, pro vides three 100-m inute blocks o f instructional time daily divided by two nutrition breaks o f 40 and 50 m inutes each, one o f which is to be deem ed a T he current, traditional school tim etable consists o f the m andated 300 minutes o f instruc tional lime with two recess breaks o f 15 m inutes and a lunch break o f up to one hour. Those exem pt from the new schedule w ill be youngsters in half-day. every day junior and senior kindergarten classes and Grades 7 and 8 students who are taught at Central and Aldershot high schools in Burlington. Education Director Dusty Papke noted at the board m eet ing that high schools, by their nature, cannot em ploy a bal anced day schedule. (See 'C ritics' page A5) Dusty Papke lunch P°nod' Harrison Smith · Special to the O akville Beaver Down home on the farm K y la H ig g in s, a b o v e , rid e s an a n tiq u e tr a c t o r d u r in g V ic to ria n D ay s a t B ro n te C r e e k P ro v in c ia l P a r k , w hile .lad e F ilte a u a n d T re v o r R y n al play a t th e ev e n t, h eld o n th e M ay long w eek en d . T h e festivities k ick ed o ff w ith a tw ist - v isito rs to th e p a r k on M o n d a y w ere in fo rm ed t h a t th e c ro w n je w e ls h a d b een sto len fro m S p ru c e L an e farm h o u se ! All th e n p itc h ed in to help p a r k sta ff d isc o v er th e c u lp rit, w h ile a t th e sam e tim e ta k in g in a fu n h isto ry les son a b o u t Q u ee n V ic to ria . T h o se w ho like h a n d s-o n e d u c a tio n w ere tre a te d to o n -site h isto ric a l sheepsh e a rin g d e m o n s tra tio n s , alo n g w ith o th e r o ld -fa sh io n e d skills, su c h as sp in n in g . A n d fo r th o se itc h in g to ex ercise th e ir g ree n th u m b o v e r the su m m er, B ro n te C re e k also o ffe rs u p 15 by 30 ft. g a rd e n p lo ts by th e p a r k office. F o r m o re in fo rm a tio n , call th i p a r k a t 9 0 5 -8 2 7 -6 9 1 1 o r visit th i W eb site w w w .O n ta rio P a rk s .c o m . Schools on chopping block? Tnistees to consider closure studies Up to 12 Halton public board elementary schools. 11 o f them in Oakville, one in Burlington, may be included in the next round o f closure studies. Trustees will be asked at tonight's (Wednesday) Halton District School Board meeting to decide which schools should be part o f the studies. There arc several factors that can trigger a school closure study. If a school's enrolment is expected to be below 60 per cent, a study is automatic. Studies can be commis sioned. however, even between the 60-80 per cent o f capacity level, depending on other circumstances that have to be addressed by the board. Schools to be considered for possible closure in June 2004 and 2005 in one part o f the town would be Oakwood. Gladys Speers. Pinegrove, Brookdale and W.H. Morden. Schools that would be studied for closure in another part of O ak\ lie in June 2005 include Lome Skuce. Falgarwood. M inn's. Montclair. Sheridan and Sunningdale. Smart growth is about making communities livable Creative, long-term planning is key to success o f developing town in years to come By Kim Arnott SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Sm art growth isn't just about putting m ore people in less space. It's about making that space more pedestrian-friendly, more transit-friendly and sim ply more livable, says M ayor Ann M ulvale. In fact, she notes, some o f the most desirable neighbourhoods in Oakville today show case how higher densities and m ixed uses can create enviable sm art-grow th com m unities. Take O a k v ille 's dow ntow n, for example. T he core offers prosperous com m er cial and professional space, surrounded and supported by high and mediumdensity living spaces, as well as single family homes. The proxim ity o f com m ercial estab lishments, as w ell its the green space offered along the lakefront, encourages people to get out o f their cars and walk. T he density o f the area population allow s for successful transit routes. In short, the dow ntow n is exactly "We've been a growing community since Ford came here 50 years ago. We've got to get back to the 20 and 30-year vision." · A n n M id v a le O a k v ille M a y o r w hat many advocates o f smart grow th believe urban design should look like. And. as its high property values dem onstrate, the area is incredibly pop ular and desirable. T he developing U ptow n Core has built in many o f the sm art grow th fea tures that characterize dow ntow n in an attem pt to duplicate its success, while the Bronte area has also grown into a successful, inhabitable mixed-use com munity. "O akville has many neighbourhoods that speak to sm art g ro w th ," said M ulvale. w ho has spent the last 15 m onths serving on a p rovinciallyappointed sm art growth panel. That panel has recently presented its final recom m endations to the province on how to best encourage the develop ment o f sm art grow th com m unities. T h at's in contrast to the urban sprawl that has typified developm ent in much o f the GTA over the last 20 years. Having a long-term plan for dealing with growth is essential, says the mayor, because the growth will inevitably come. 'W e'v e been a growing com m unity since Ford cam e here 50 years ago," she notes. "W e've got to get back to the 20and 30-year vision." Along with a plan, one with bold vision, M ulvale notes that dealing with growth also requires money. The central O ntario smart growth panel she served on is calling on the province to m ake money for key infra structure investm ents, like public tran sit. available ahead o f grow th. To successfully build a smart growth com m unity, M ulvale said, public transit must be in place when people m ove in. H igh-density hom es should be built first, to avoid the backlash that som e tim es occurs when developers build single-fam ily hom es and leave the more com pact developm ent to the end. And com m unities m ust be designed with w alkw ays that provide easy access to transit routes. "You design transit first, not as an afterthought." explained the mayor. She said the province m ust fund the in frastru ctu re investm ents that will allow m unicipalities to ensure public (See Sm art' page A4) Editorials..................A6 Business.................... 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