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Halton resident fed-up with board By Oksana Buhel Russ Robertson, of Oakville, has been following the development of the Halton Board of Education closely for the past five years. He describes himself as.a strong sup- porter of high quality children’s education. “But education has dete- tiorated in the last several years,” he adds. “The price is out of line for the quality of education our children are receiving.” Robertson voiced his concems at general board meeting. He main- tained the board was in a “severe crisis situation.” Emphasizing this point, Robertson explained the enrollment has not increased as dra- matically. “So what is our (the tax- payers’) money being spent on?” he demanded. Robertson further explained that the taxpayers’ aver- age income is not growing quickly enough to accommodate this increase. Fire Calls collay Firefighters were called to a con- struction site on Argyll Rd. in Georgetown Wednesday morning. A house which was under construc- tion ‘collapsed, and workers feared that someone was trapped inside. No one was injured. 5 Furnace fire Late Wednesday evening, fire- fighters were summoned to a home on Willow Park Rd. in Norval because of a furnace fire. By the time they arrived, the fire ‘was out -Golden Music Recently, the Georgetown District High School Music Department participated in MusicFest, an annual competition held across Canada. At the Southern Ontario Band Festival, a regional subset of MusicFest, the Intermediate Band and Senior Wind Ensemble both achieved gold standings. As a result of this impressive standing, the GDHS bands received two of the nine invitations offered in Southern Ontario. Fifty Georgetown music students are now looking forward to the National competition in Edmonton in the middle of May. Bands and choirs from GDHS Music Department have been invit- ed to the baeger MusicFest ntinued on page 8 Robertson’s concerns regarded three specific areas: finance, prod- uct quality and management. He declared that more than half of the money which is going to the schools is being spent on non- teaching staff, such as consultants and superintendents. Robertson admits that, to some degree, these people are necessary, but that a larger percentage of the money should be spent on the personnel who teach the children. He also said that approximately 80% of the budget is being spent on wages and salaries. “When you consider that many businesses in the private sec- tor spend ecprosinatehy two-thirds of their budget in this area, then the board should re-evaluate the per- centage which is being spent in the schools, especially during this crisis situation. He added that teaching contracts must be re-examined so that teach- ers can become more productive. This may mean that teachers will have to expand their qualifications to cover several subjects. “We have to get hard-nosed about this,” Robertson insisted. Another necessary adjustment which would demonstrate a “hard- nosed” approach, claimed Robertson, is the study of the busi- ness capabilities of some of the trustees. “These people are dealing with a $300 million business,” he said. “They need to know how to tun it efficiently.” He compared the board to a private sector board of directors. “At a private sect meeting, you’d never find anyone at the table who does not have extensive business knowledge.” Robertson’s final concern was in regards the Task Force which the board is planning to establish, to assess the financial situation of individual schools. “Time is being wasted,” Robertson insisted. “They (the trustees) should bring the issue to the board table and discuss it there. They’re just avoiding the issue.” Why is Robertson so involved with this issue? Did he teach...was he on the board...why? “I have chil- dren,” Robertson explained, “and 1 think education is very important. I Halton Hills This Week, Saturday, April 3, 1993 — Page 5 St. George's Anglican Church 60 Guelph Street, Georgetown, 877-8044 HOLY WEEK SERVICES 4 Palm Sunday April 4 | ~—-8:00a.m. _ Holy Communion, Blessing of the Palms 9:30.a.m. — Holy Eucharist, with Procession 11:15..m. Holy Eucharist, with Procession © Wednesday April 7 6:45.a.m. Holy Communion with Breakfast 8:00p.m. Holy Eucharist with Tenebrae Maundy Thursday April 8 8:00.p.m. — Holy Communion with Footwashing Liturgy Good Friday April 9 10:00 a.m. The celebration of our Lord's Passion, Family Service 12:00 noon The celebration of our Lord's Passion Holy Saturday April 10 7:30p.m. Easter Vigil, Baptism and Holy Eucharist (bring your bells) Easter Sunday April 11 8:00.a.m. Holy Communion 9:30.a.m. — Holy Eucharist with Festal Procession 11:15..m. 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