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A4 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER Wednesday June 7, 2000 P r e - s c h o o le r s l e f t o u t in c o ld B y Sandra Om and SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Oakwood Public School's gain is West Oakville Preschool Centre's loss. In recent years, Bartos Drive school has twice been threatened with closure due to dwindling enrollments. But with the surrounding community experiencing a revitaliza tion and more children being bussed in from north Oakville, Oakwood's once empty classrooms are expected to be filled next year. Which is bad news for the West Oakville Preschool Centre which has operated out of Oakwood for 16 years, and currently rents three classrooms on a month-to-month lease. The non-profit daycare centre has been asked to find new accom modation and must be out within two months. Since receiving their eviction notice, the daycare centre and par ents have been scrambling to find an alternative site. Both feel let down by the school they fought so hard to keep open. "It is disappointing to us and our parents," said Lynn Stevenson, the supervisor of the West Oakville Preschool Centre. "We are dis appointed the school is not doing more to keep us here." Ellen Richards' family moved from River Oaks area because there was no local school and because they liked the daycare/school combination offered at Oakwood. Both her children, aged three and four, attend the daycare. A physiotherapist with her own practice, Richards is worried she will have to take a leave of absence in September if a new space is not found. "I've phoned other daycares and they all have waiting lists," said Richards. "So if the daycare closes we'll be without" A1 Greyson, Superintendent of Education for the Halton District School Board, said the board does value the daycare program, but says their hands are tied. "Wherever possible we would like to see these programs in the school when we have space, but we also have an accommodation and cash crunch issue we are facing. We're not in a position where we can support everyone as we would like to," said Greyson. Adding a portable to accommodate the additional students, some thing the board is loath to do, would cost $60,000. Wendy Bell, a parent who worked hard to save both Oakwood and the daycare centre two years ago, expressed frustration at the short time given to find another location. "We could really use a little extra time to find something that would be suitable for our needs," said Bell, whose seven year-old daughter attended the daycare for three years and whose son is cur rently enrolled. Bell questions whether the school is maximizing all its available space. She wonders if it was reorganized more efficiently if there would be room for the daycare in the short term. Meanwhile, finding a new site is proving difficult. Stevenson said the strict criteria set out by the Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services (their licensing body) eliminates many possibilities in the immediate area. The centre needs 3,400 to 6,000 sq. ft. with a kitchen, bathrooms and space outdoors for a fenced playground. According to Stevenson, the biggest stumbling block is the play ground requirement Oakwood's Vice-Principal Chris Alexiou said he did not want to lose the daycare centre. "Our dilemma is, although we want to maintain that community feeling for Oakwood, we have to accommodate the students who are enrolled here and to do that we have to have the space to provide them with the programs they deserve," said Alexiou. Photo by Peter C. McCusker Halton Region Police Chief Ean Algar gets a chuckle from Sheldon,3 the son of newly sworn-in police constable Katy Van Niekerk who will be serving in Burlington. S oldier w ho served C anada in C ro atia am o n g new b atch of H alto n Police officers By Howard Mozel OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Twelve new constables were swom in Friday during what Deputy Chief Gary Crowell called "another great day in the his tory of the Halton Regional Police Service." Five of the new recruits who took the Oath of Office from Justice of the Peace Louise Sclisizzi - including a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces - have been assigned to Oakville. "Only the best are chosen," said Police Chief Ean Algar. These include Constables Richard Dodds - who did United Nations tours in Cypress and Croatia - Daryl Baswick, Nick Milinovich, Paul Proteau and Michael Stratford. In welcoming the officers, Algar outlined the rewards and the pitfalls of their new vocation, from the pressures of shift work to the "limelight" of public scrutiny. The bottom line, however, was that each and every officer can make a real difference in their community empowered by what their badges stand for. "If we lose the public trust, everything is lost," said Algar. "You must remember we are part of the community, not apart from it." The recruits then received their badges from the chief and Police Services Board chair Jack Brewer. Richard Dodds joined the military at age 19 and was a mem ber of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry for 13 years. During his career, he was stationed from Calgary to Germany as well as the two UN tours of Croatia and Cypress. Dodds retired from the Armed Forces in 1998 with the rank of Sergeant. Michael Stratford began his law enforcement career in 1996 with Canada Customs Border Services at Hamilton Airport then Pearson International Airport where he was the arresting officer in a number of high-quantity narcotic seizures. Paul Proteau, a Sheridan College Law and Security honours graduate, spent a few years as a security guard before becoming a Special Constable with Hamilton-Wentworth Regional Police, where he was assigned to the Court Security U nit Proteau has completed courses in everything from industrial fire prevention to American sign language and is a youth volun teer with Welcome Inn and Child Find of Hamilton. Daryl Baswick worked as the Box Office M anager for the Showboat Festival Theatre in Port Colbome before enrolling at McMaster University to complete post graduate work in History. In 1996 he received his Masters Degree. A Ph.D. student and teaching assistant at Mac for the last four years, Baswick volun teers at a Dundas retirement home and with a McMaster program called Speakeasy, which increases the proficiency o f those for whom English is not their first language. 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