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RONO WEEKLY TIMES - ervn EatCaigo and e. ** e 1937 650 GSTfnluded Wednesday, April 10,1996 Clarke Students Protest Teacher Cuts Students at Clarke High School held a walkout last Thursday morning to protest the loss of five teachers that are being laid off by the Northumberland-Clarington Board of Education. The teachers are some of the 312 employees being laid off by the board in the face of the provincial government's cuts to education. Bowmanville High School also held a simi- lar protest the same day, while Courtice High School had held one earlier in the week. The protest, organized by a few students and staged against the urgings of the school administration, started at around 9:15 a.m. shortly after their homeroom period. At first, the walkout was only made up of a few students, but somewhere in the confu- sion, a fire alarn was pulled causing the entire school to empty. - M-any-moe-nstudents stayed outside with the origi- nal walkouts after that occur- rence. The students who had walked out made signs saying things like "Down With Harris," "We Need Teachers," and "Honk If You Support Education." They then pro- ceeded to circle the school and wave their signs at cars passing by on the 115/35 Highway. Durham Regional Police arrived on the scene to make sure that the students did not disrupt traffic or busi- ness at the neighbouring locations. The peaceful demonstra- tion was put on for a reason, according to the students who walked out. "We started this because we are losing the best teachers, the ones that actually treat us like humans, the ones that can better relate to us," said Dan Pereira, an unofficial spokesperson for the crowd. Many of the stu- dents had similar things to say. School authorities looked down on the strike, continued on page 7 School Board To Lose $2.5 Million From Budget of $145,9 Million Clarke Students staged a walko t to protest the loss of five teachers and other staff fromthe school. Around 100 students pa icipated in the protest. Preliminary provincial grant reductions show the local public school board will lose about $2.5 million in its 1996 budget year or about $5 million on an annualized basis, trustees with the Northumberland-Clarington Board of Education learned at their second budget meet- ing of the year on April 2. And there was more bad news. The provincial govern- ment, through a new com- bined mill rate, is increasing local taxation levels, said Gord Savage, assistant super- intendent of business. The new provincial mill rate means that if the board's 1996 budget is exactly the same as the 1995 budget, local taxation levels would increase by 5.18 percent. Savage also told trustees the board faces increases in the 1996 budget year amounting to $2.4 million. This includes a three percent salary increase for teachers, due in September, 1996. It was negotiated three years ago but was suspended dur ing the social contract. Trustees tabled a motion asking administration to pre- pare a budget portrait illus- trating the effects of no increase in the budget from 1995. While some trustees asked for that information "early in the budget process," others argued it should come after administration has had time to do a detailed analysis of the provincial govemment grants and after meetings with the federations and unions. Briglton area trustee Don Colby said, "We are faced with a public who is looking for this kind of approach. I think we should know how bad things would be (with no increase in the budget)." But trustee Bev Wakefield argued, "While I appreciate that no one wants a tax increase, we are going to have to search our souls over pro- grams because they are going to affect the lives of people. Our administration doesn't have all the facts yet. Let's find outwhat we need to know first." And Cobourg area trustee Nancy Blakely said, "I believe we have sent enough shock waves through the system," referring to provincial govern- ment cutbacks to the junior kindergarten and adult edu- cation programs along with the recently announced board lay-off notices. She too want- ed more detailed budget infor- mation from administration "before we send out any more shock waves." continued on page 3 Volume 60, Number 14