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A 4 - The Oakville Beaver, W ednesday S ep tem ber 25, 2002 Public school board officials plead case to Rozanski task force By Tim Whitnell SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Two high-ranking Halton District School Board officials had only about 15 minutes to touch on a similar number of issues affecting the board, but both feel they made their points known to the Rozanski task force on education. Education director Dusty Papke and school board chair Ethel Gardiner were invited to speak to the Education Equity Task Force headed by Mordechai Rozanski last week at the Sheraton Hotel in Toronto. Accompanying the pair were Halton public school trustees Debbie Downs, David Abbott and Erica Andrew and new stu dent trustee David Waugh of Burlington's Nelson High School. The Rozanski commission is travelling across Ontario to hear from board trustees and adminis trators about their concerns with underfunding of programs and services. "The funding formula is hav ing a profound effect on the qual ity of education being delivered in Halton," Gardiner said in part O PEN H O U S E You are warmly invited to visit the u c a tio n C e n tr e o f J e h o v a h 's W itn e s , ocated at 1287 Lakeshore Road West Oakville, Ontario y, September 27th, 2002 4 p.m. - 8 p.m Saturday, September 28th, 2002 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Each week hundreds of people travel past the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witnesses located on Lakeshore Road West in Oakville. Many have expressed a desire to visit this building in a non-religious context. We are pleased to inform you that an Open House has been organized to provide our neighbours with an opportunity to tour our educational centre. Please feel free to visit at your leisure with no obligation on your part. There is no charge and parking is free. Refreshments will be served. ^eA o o o A s c ((fa s/e sse s of her presentation to the task force. "The Halton board has been dealing with critical funding shortfalls for the past five years, and we welcomed this opportuni ty to illustrate the shortcomings of the funding formula to the task force," she added. Speaking to trustees and the public at last w eek's regular school board meeting, Papke said, "We highlighted key areas of concern for the board employee compensation, trans portation, building maintenance and special education." The result has been the need to divert funds from other pro grams or services or doing with out adequate levels of services, something Papke said is not new and not isolated to Halton. In terms of other remunera tion issues, the Halton board's delegation addressed the pend ing issues of funding pressures locally caused by pay equity legislation and retirement gratu ities. The main money issue hang ing over the province's head though is the salaries and bene fits of board employees, which makes up about 80 per cent of the operating budget of most boards. Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation provincial president Earl M anners has warned the government that high school teachers are prepared to strike early in 2003 if sufficient compensation isn't forthcoming in contract talks. The collective bargaining agreements of most teaching and non-teaching unions at school boards across Ontario expired at the end of August. The Rozanski task force is expected to submit its findings from public hearings to Education M inister Elizabeth Witmer in November. The results should be used in developing board funding deci sions for the 2003-04 school year. The text of the Halton public board's submission to the Rozanski task force can be viewed at www.haltondsb.on.ca. Town hosts workshop on screening volunteers The Town of Oakville Parks and Recreation Department, with Parks and Recreation Ontario and Volunteer Canada are holding a workshop on developing a volunteer screen ing program. The workshop is on Wednesday Oct. 2, from 1-4 p.m. at Town Hall, 1225 Trafalgar Road. Cost is $15 per person, which includes the Safe Steps Manual and refreshments. The workshop is of interest to any representative (paid or vol unteer) of a club, group, organi zation or department that pro vides services to children, youth, older adults, disabled persons or vulnerable individuals. Participants will learn about screening volunteers, how to start a volunteer screening pro gram, and how to make the pro grams as safe as possible. Seating is limited. Register today by calling Louise Veres at (905) 845 6601 ext. 3154 or via e-mail: lveres@ town.oakville.on.ca B ro n te R o a d in w o r k 2 0 0 4 REDUCING THE COST OF D O IN G BUSINESS! 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While councillors unani mously endorsed the region al plan, C ouncillor Jeff Knoll expressed concern with the provisions being made to replace Palermo Park. The plan calls for the region to purchase the exist ing park from the town at a fair m arket value, which would allow the town to buy new parkland. The region will also pay replacement costs for existing park equipment. "I 'm concerned that w e're talking about lands that are increasing in value," said Knoll. "I'm concerned that the (replacement) land cost will be much higher than anticipated and we will end up with half a park." Town staff said negotia tions with the region would be undertaken to protect Oakville's interests. Edward Soldo, a Halton Region public works man ager, added that a confiden tial per acre value for the parkland has been estab lished through an independ ent appraisal. Some councillors also expressed concern over the fact that the regional plan calls for a w idening o f Dundas Street to six lanes through Palermo. A land-use study for the area considered by council in October 2001 had called for both Bronte Road and Dundas Street to be realigned around the village, to allow for a variety of new residential and commercial uses in the area. The Region is suggesting maintaining Dundas Street along its present course dur ing a widening to six lanes. C hristopher Gauer, a consultant working on the project for the Region, said realignm ent possibilities were rejected because they had too many environmental and business impacts. Peter Cheatley, director of planning services for the town, told councillors the Region's Dundas Street plan shouldn't jeopardize the vision of mixed-use devel opment for the area. However, the Town will have to update its land use study for the area based on the new road configuration. But a lawyer hired by one of the area's larger landown ers argued that the Town has abandoned its concept for the Palermo area and that the regional plan is full of inconsistencies. Russell Cheeseman, who spoke on behalf of Rickmar Holdings Ltd., said there was little point to the Palerm o plan without a realignm ent of Dundas Street. "If you're not moving Dundas Street to the north, why is anyone thinking about m oving Hwy. 25 (Bronte Road)?" he asked. He added that the town must determ ine what is going to happen with lands north o f Dundas Street through the ongoing OPA 198 process before it can make any decisions about the creation of a node at Dundas Street and Bronte Road. The regional plan will be considered at a halton public works committee m eeting on Oct. 2, and confirmed at an Oct. 9 Regional Council meeting. If approved, a mandatory 30-day public review period will begin, for the collection of public input. 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