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w w w o o k v ille b e a v e r.c o m cuawnuphoto M a k e rso ffin eu p h o k ie ie dfu rn itu re 2 3 3 3W re c re AR e a d . lint7 VY1 NOTi between Btm eA T h i j Line) O L I mM O l For the finest in CUSTOM UPHOLSTERING call Baier's. Loyola earns date at Ivor Wynne S ports lie Gallery T he arts M ercedes-B enz AMetrd&nd Publication Vel,38No,131 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 8,2000 Special Ed. stu d e n ts losing o u t By H erb G arbutt SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER BRIDGING THE GENERATIONS: Remembrance Day ceremonies from the Bronte Legion took place on the weekend, concluding with wreath-laying ceremonies at the Bronte Cenotaph. That's Alan Brierley and his grandson Colin Bassindale sharing a hug after the ceremonies. Various groups and organizations took part in the ser vices including (top) John Harden and Alan Brierley who represented Hopedale Presbyterian Church The Oakville Legion will hold its Remembrance Day ceremonies on Sat. Nov. 11th at 11 a.m. at Georges Square on Trafalgar Road. Photos by Julie Fairrie T he province's system for distributing special educa tion funding should be scrapped, says Halton District School Board (HDSB) Chair Ethel Gardiner. Sale of Petro-Canada artwork will benefit Oakville United Way By Carol Baldwin OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF The United Way of Oakville has been selected to receive 13 works of art by 10 dif ferent Canadian artists, valued at $14,000, which it, in turn, must donate to children's charities. This contribution of art came from PetroCanada after the company decided to donate 800 of its collection's 1,000 works of art to Canadian cultural institutes and selected char ities either in the form of direct donations or through auction proceeds. The remaining 200 pieces will remain in the company's facilities across the country. Darryl Hall, fund-raising manager for the United Way of Oakville (UWO) said the details are still being worked out on how the donated paintings will be converted to cash for the UW O's partners. "Because it's been such a surprise for us, we haven't even really done a lot of brain storming around it yet...R ight now the plan is to have an art auction.. .(either) included in our Touch Down celebration o r...a separate auc tion. They (Petro-Canada) would like all of the decided to downsize its collection to a more manageable number. "It's a pretty large col lection, and as we had acquired companies over the years and mergers, we had picked up more art. So, the collection grew. And there's a corresponding maintenance cost in that," she explained. "Once that decision was money raised to go to children's charities." Hall said Petro-Canada is a big supporter of made, it created a tremendous opportunity United Way campaigns across the country, for us to then unlock the value of the collec which are, in turn, supporters and often initia tion and get it out into the community. I tors of a variety of children's programs. Some think, by having these artists, now, out in the of the recipients of funding from the Oakville community where people can enjoy their chapter include Big Brothers of Halton, the work, it inspires more interest around them." She also explained that a national Big Sisters Association, the Children's A ssessm ent and Treatment Centre, em ployee online art auction generated Community Youth Programs, Nelson Youth $160,000 in sales last month. "I think a lot of Centres, and the Oakville Parent-Child Centre. the paintings that were purchased through "The funding they would get from us are that auction - the people, now might think for services that they deliver in Oakville," said about purchasing another painting by that Hall, acknowledging that some of those recip artist. I think it really inspired an interest in ients are physically located in other Halton art." The Alberta College of Art and Design communities. "The money will be divvied up amongst the children-based charities in will be the recipient of the proceeds from the online auction, which will be used to support Oakville." Hazel Gillespie, national community a scholarship program to be launched during investment manager for Petro-Canada, said the the college's 75th anniversary in 2001. However, approximately 230 of the paint paintings became available once the company ings have been donated to United Way offices in Oakville, Calgary and Montreal because, said Gillespie, Petro-Canada want ed the money to go to a national organization day. Dr. Meyer is also asking for feedback from all that supported children's programs, particu those who receive adjustments to share how they larly ones aimed at "children in their forma chose to help. She's hoping a pay it forward day tive years." And the United Way fit the bill. "We wanted to pick a theme that would for the whole community can be inspired. carry us across the country and that was it," Dr. Meyer is located at 275 Trafalgar Rd. Call she said. 845-2335. Company has donated 13 pieces of its art collection to agency "We have to jump through hoops to serve the neediest kids," Gardiner said. "The funding formula should meet the needs of the children rather than the children hav ing to meet the needs of the funding formula" Gardiner is writing a letter on behalf of the board to the Ministry of Education and Training to express concerns about the special education claim process. However, Halton Halton Board's Ethel Progressive Conservative Gardiner: funding formula MPP Ted Chudleigh said the hurts special ed. current system is working and provides accountability to tax students payers. "If (school boards) claimed 10 kids when only eight do (require funding), it would be easy money," Chudleigh said. "We're just asking them to justify what they claim." Under the current system, school boards must evaluate all children they feel should qualify for special education funding. The evaluation process consists of psychological, speech and behavioral assessments. The province then evaluates claims and sets funding according to the number of students and level of need of those students. The province guaranteed funding levels through this year, but next year the claims will be used to determine how much funding the board receives. The Halton District School Board recently announced it spent an estimated $575,644 processing 745 claims. Chudleigh said that figure seemed a little high but Brenda Kearney, HDSB superintendent of student services, said other boards spent roughly the same. She said that money comes out of the special education budget, rather than being spent on the children it is intended for. Kearney said the short timeframe boards are given to process claims also create problems. Once school boards receive the criteria from the province they have about five weeks to submit the claims. Kearney said a lot of that work has to be completed by special education teachers, which takes them out of the classroom. "There's a huge amount of paper work," she said. "It liter ally cripples the system for five to six weeks." Kearney and special education supervisory officers from boards across the province assembled a discussion paper offer ing solutions to problems in the process and sent it to the min istry. She said it was favourably received and she's waiting to hear if a working group will be established. One of the suggestions is that students be re-evaluated every three years instead of every year. "Why should we have to submit the claim year after year if it has been approved?' Kearney asked. Both Kearney and Gardiner see the need for a verification process. The HDSB had 76.2% of its claims accepted, just above the provincial average. But under the claims process, the board expects its funding to be cut by $1 million next year. It has received $10 million in special education funding the last two years. However, Gardiner said the onus for assessment should be on the province. "The school boards could still identify children that require special education services," she said. "If (the province) wants to have a monitoring service, they're welcome to come to the class any time." M e e t W ard 1 &2 c a n d id a t e s The West Oak Ratepayers Association and the Oakville South Central Residents' Association are hosting an all can didates meeting for Ward 1 & 2 on Nov. 9th. The meeting is at the Oakville Christian School, 112 Third Line, at 7:15 p.m. The meeting is open to all Ward 1 &2 local and regional council, school trustees and regional chair candidates. Edtoriais ____A6 Chiropractor spreading `pay it forward' idea Oakville chiropractor Dr. Diane Meyer is hosting a special "Pay It Forward" Day on Wed. Nov. 15th. Inspired by the new movie of the same name now in theatres, Dr. Meyer is offering free adjustments on the provision that patients will "pay it forward" by helping three strangers that R 1 ___ B8 n rx .............. m ___ OS Soedal wvwHiwfiivuvvi Suitwtementv winniw Homertetay: National Sport, Sears Partial Petrerr. Uteris Carpetog, TheBay GuardianDrugs, Hmfs, Hobni Park, Lansing £MfeI, Dflle Caesar's. 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