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v 12 The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanvillc, Wednesday, January 29,1992 Education Around the Board-[ by Bob Willsher School Board Trustee, Ward III Northumberland Newcastle Board of Education I trust the new year has started well for each of you. It promises to be a challenging year for everyone involved in local government. This challenge challenge is not limited to elected officials. Employees of councils councils and school boards arc going going to have to make significant contributions to help deliver effective, effective, service to the public. Since my last column the board has established the various various committees of the board. I will be serving on the following following committees: Operations and Finance; Personnel; Performance Performance Review and a short term ad hoc committee on Open Government. I will also be serving as the Board's delegate delegate to the Ontario Public School Board's Association (OPSBA). At the first meeting of the Personnel Committee I was elected Chairperson of the committee. It will be a busy year. I recently received a call from a parent concerning a request request from one of our senior public schools to pay a "user "ce" for their child's participa tion in the school's music program. program. There was no specific reason given for this fee other than the cost of running the program was more than the available funds. My inquiries revealed the money was required required to help offset the cost of repairing instruments. I advised advised the parent not to pay the fee. There were several reasons for this advice. The request was made part way through the program and there was no specific specific reason given for the fee being charged. The child held the perception that if the fee was not forthcoming continued participation in the instrumental instrumental program would be denied. School administration said this was not correct. I will not support any request request from a school for monies that docs not have a defined puqjosc. I will not support any "user fee" request that implies it is for the continuation of the "program". There is nothing in Board policy or the Education Act that gives schools the authority authority to charge "user fees". I would like to make it clear Winner in Legion Contest A grade six student at S. T. Worden Public school is being congratulated by her classmates and teachers this week after earning second place in a region-wide essay contest. Tia Thomas submitted her Remembrance Day entry to the Royal Canadian Legion's annual Poetry, Essay, Essay, and Poster Contest last year. Her work placed first in local judging (junior division), and second in the region. region. Vice-principal Jon Leith presented the plaques and trophy. that I support this particular teacher's concern. It is unreasonable unreasonable to expect a teacher to deliver a music program if we, the Board, do not provide the tools to facilitate the delivery. If the situation is so critical as to jeopardize the continuation of the program, then the Principal Principal has a responsibility, through Senior Administration, to bring it to the Board's attention. attention. To place the burden to raise funds from parents on the music teacher is not acceptable, acceptable, There is a danger the "user fee" concept could spread to other areas of the curriculum. Equality of opportunity in public public education must be protected. protected. A final comment on this topic. Schools, students, parents parents and parent associations have historically been involved in fund raising efforts. I support support these activities as a means of community support for special special activities in the school. They allow community support and participation for enhanced learning experiences. Parents should participate in deciding how these monies arc spent. Fees charged for consumables in certain programs are well established established and generally accepted accepted by parents. A clear definition definition between a fee for consum-, ables and "program user fees" is critical. The Board has iden- " lifted this type of hidden cost of education as an area for review. review. A report is expected by December 1992. In the meantime meantime if you are asked for fees from the school, please question question the principal if it is not clear how they are to be used. The Provincial Government has issued a white paper on Open Government. There has been a concern for many years that councils, school boards, and local boards have not been conducting the people's business business in an open manner. In addition, addition, the public has been concerned concerned about elected officials making decisions on matters in which they have a vested interest. interest. The proposed legislation will do mùch to change the way elected officials conduct your business. New rules will require more meetings to be open to the public. This aspect 1 will not impact school boards as much as it will local councils. councils. For a number of years school boards have been restricted restricted by the Education Act with respect to what matters can be discussed in closed meetings. The conflict of interest interest areas of the proposed legislation legislation will, in my opinion, need further changes. It is absolutely essential that the public have die right to access access any meeting of their government government except in very limited situations involving matters affecting affecting negotiations with employees, employees, the purchase of property property or personnel issues that arc personal and confidential. The public also needs to be assured assured that decisions made arc in the interest of the public and not the elected officials. I promised last month that I would talk a little about what a trustee docs and explain some of the committees of the board. First, you should know that the board, the 15 elected trustees, meets on the second and fourth Thursday of each month at 7:30 p.m. at the board's office in Cobourg. The board meetings meetings have two components, the open section and the Committee Committee of the Whole in-camera. During the open section the board may hear any delegation, review and approve committee reports, and any correspondence. correspondence. The public can attend the open section but not the incarnera incarnera portion. In-camcra items are those covered by the Education Act that I mentioned above. One of the major committees committees of the board is the Operations Operations and Finance committee. Generally, this committee is responsible responsible for all matters related to the Board's finances. They develop and recommend to the board the annual budget. They oversee all issues related to school buildings, expansions of existing schools, building new ones and the repair and maintenance maintenance of all board property. All tendered purchases come through the committee for review review and approval. The committee committee is also responsible for all bus transportation matters. Any changes to bus routes and the selection of bus companies to transport our children are reviewed reviewed and approved by this committee. This committee has 7 trustee members and the Superintendent Superintendent of Business is the staff advisor. The committee meets once a month, at 7:30 p.m., in the board's offices in Cobourg. The committee soon will start the budget process. During During this period all members of the board can sit on the committee. committee. During the budget process process the frequency of meetings is significantly increased. Members of the public are invited invited to attend these meetings as well. In closing out this month's column I would invite you to call me if you have any issue you would like to discuss. I am particularly interested in your input concerning the budget and the areas that you believe should be reviewed. RL. Willsher, 987-4845 Home 644-3297 Office B.H.S. News From Start to Finish ... WE DO IT ALL! YES ... we do it all! • Design and layout • Typesetting and composing • Graphic designs • Printing • Delivery right to the door * based on minimum ten thousand, black on white, 8 1/2 x 11 printed one side only James Publishing 62 King St. W. Bowmanville 623-3303 BHS is in the middle of its annual January exam break right now, so there aren't many interesting events to talk about. I would, however, like to take a moment to discuss something that can be found in every aspect aspect of society. It is something that the Students Council and myself have to deal with every single day. I'm talking about apathy. Apathy, for those not familiar familiar with term, is a social dis- -, case that causes people simply not to care about things that don't affect them directly. Sometimes it can be fairly harmless but when it comes to things like voting in federal elections, if only a handful of people come out to have their say, then democracy isn't working. As Prime Minister for the Student's Council, I have spent many hours pondering why people don't take part in school activities. Let me give you some examples. Last year there was an election for the job of Prime Minister of the Student's Council and 1200 Report from Vincent Massey Public School That is the beginning verse of one of Patrick Douglas Poems, Friend. We were very pleased to have him- visit our school on January 17. He takes his poems and stories beyond the printed page to the performance performance level. He was entertaining entertaining and educational. He showed the junior students the different stages of his work from first draft to the completed completed and performed version. Many of the students were enthralled with his storytelling ability. Caitie Guest really liked the story about the best soup because one of the characters characters decided it needed some of this in it and he brought out a container of THIS and added it to the soup. - Matthew Hossak thought his stories were very good with many details in them. Trevor Darling liked the story of the dragon because it'was funny. The hot dragon bars helped make the little dragon feel better better and get his fire back. Leah Novak had a special space dog made out of balloons for her to share with her class. Melissa van London enjoyed the poem in which the boy wanted to be a dinosaur when lie grew up. The junior students really liked the poem about the two year old answering the phone and winning incredible prizes. We can still share his work lie- cause three of his books arc now in our library. Our Grade six students arc presently involved in the Values, Values, Influences and Peers program. program. It is called VIP for short and includes small group discussions, discussions, films, videos, trips and guest speakers, The students have reacted very favourably to this program. program. Tasha liked the session on Peer Pressure because it teaches teaches you how to cope with it and how to say no. Cameron slated tiiat it's interesting to be able to listen to peers talk about their problems. Jessica liked being able to talk without raising her hand, Kim noted that other kids could listen to her and help her with her problems. students were called down to the auditorium to listen to the speeches of the two candidates. They were all given ballots and all anyone had to do was check the box beside the candidate that they preferred. When that tabulating was done, the total votes of the two candidates combined was just over 600. That means that 600 people didn't bother to vote. Sure, a few people were sick or at coop coop but that's still a lot of people. people. And what about our recent CFNY dance. It was the talk of the school for weeks beforehand, beforehand, don't gel me wrong, we had an incredible turnout. But there was still only 600 people there, 200 of whom were guests from other schools. That means that approximately 800 students from BHS didn't come. Now, I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea. BHS is a great school and people who decide not to take part in school activities have every right to do so. I would just like people to give it a chance, when something is going on, come out and give it a try. If for some reason you don't like the way something is done, then say so. At BHS there is a Student's Council suggestion box in the main office. And you can always write to me directly. directly. If you have any questions questions or comments for me please address all letters to: Jeremy Rosenberg c/o Student's Council Bowmanville High School 40 Liberty St. N. Bowmanville, Ontario L1C2L8, Thanks for your time. Jeremy Rosenberg Volleyball by Clara Ong This year, for the second year, we have volleyball! Many interested people in Grades 4 to 6 have signed up. The coaches are Mrs. Van- hoof and Mrs. Stere. There will be 12 girls and 12 boys on the team. Some children are not really skilled in volleyball but they still play. Many students in Grade 5 thought the Grade 6s would make it because they are good at sports. On Jan. 10, the list for the team came out. Here are the people who made the team: Stephanie H„ Aidian V., Carrie K„ Tonya S„ Michelle G., Natasha R., Leanna D., Meghan S., Carrie O., Diana T., Elaine W„ Victoria Victoria C., Justin C., Adam P„ Ryan M., Iain R, Paul P„ Chris S., Shawn R, Jason S., Mark W., Dean S., Grant S., and Christopher B. Here are some opinions from students: "It helps to build muscles, it's fun, it's easy to play and you get to be on a team if you make it. You get to go to other other schools.", Student Leanna Duncan said she joined volleyball because because it's good exercise., "I was embarrassed when I served the ball." Miss Duncan said her friend convinced her join up. M J. Hobbs Happenings December was a busy month with team house league volleyball participation at lundi hours. Recently, we held a Christmas Christmas poetry contest. Proud winners winners are Dianne Bowman 1st E lece, Genny Ordog and leather Shulga 2nd place, and Jennifer McKay 3rd place. Congratulations! December 19 from 7:00 to 10:30 our Christmas Dance was held. All students had a great time. Prizes were awarded awarded for dance competitions. Also this month the band and choir had a Christmas concert. The students showed great talent talent thanks to their instructors Mrs. Coles, Mrs. Amesbury and Mr. Hanson. December 20th was the last day before the Christmas holidays. holidays. In the morning we had an assembly in the gym where Mr. Webster's class and the band and choir entertained us. Some students enjoyed an afternoon afternoon of skating. Some watched the movie, "The Last Starfighter." We ended the day with a sock hop. We're now back from an enjoyable holiday. The basketball basketball season is starting and the teams are off to a good start. This year the M.J. Hobbs musical is Clowns. Recently, tryouts have been taking place. The play will be held the evenings evenings of March 5th and 6th. It's been a busy but exciting two months at M.J. Hobbs. by Trudy Bennett and Misty Kwiatkowski. Thank-you Mrs. Vanhoof and Mrs. Stere for being our coaches! New Books by Marlacna Harvey This week at Dr.. Emily Stowe many new books have been pul on the shelves. The library helpers worked very hard at lunch time in December December to label and card the books. Mrs. Hyde, a parent volunteer, volunteer, spent an afternoon typing typing information into the computer computer to make the labels. The new books came from the Book Fair and from Mr. Withcridge's, the librarian, budget. They included books for all die different parts of the library. library. We have gotten nonfiction nonfiction books, and two kinds of fiction books.Thcy arc paperback paperback books and everyone books. Everyone books arc books with mostly pictures in them The non-fiction books arc about things like pets, sports, . and poetry. There were also a lot of social books which arc about fairy talcs, beliefs and books that help us get along with each other belter. Now Dr. Emily Stowe's library library is full of good new books to read. Enjoy students! Mind Magic by Meghan Suddard Elaine Wiltshire was chosen chosen to represent Dr. Emily Stowe Public School at the Creative Thinking Workshop. She went there to learn about magic and a new look at problem solving. Her mom, Lesley Wiltshire Wiltshire and Mr. Wilheridgc, the school's librarian, went with her on Dec. 5, 1991 to Grant Sine Public School in Cobourg. Cobourg. There were about 50 to 55 people there. First, there was an introduction introduction and a magic show by Special Education Consultant Gary Robinson. He demonstrated demonstrated two kinds of magic. One kind of magic was close-up magic. The second was far away magic where you had to be' farther away or the audience would catch on. They got an cyc-to-mind contact trick sheet, and rules for magicians. Some of the rules arc: 1) Practice each trick many limes over before showing it to anyone. If you try showing it before you've really learned it you'll just give it away or have it fail. 2) If something goes wrong don't give up or be loo apologetic. Just laugh it off, and get on with the next trick. Elaine said she really liked the trip. Then they got to cat lunch. In the afternoon they got in groups and tried science tricks on each other. After that they got an envelope with different shapes in it and they had to make a square. Elaine made a new friend. "Her name was Katie Richardson from Balilmorc," said Elaine. "The day could not have gone better," she said. A James Insurance 1;) s'- Broker Limited 26 King St. E., Bowmanville, Ont., L1C 1N2 416-623-4406 Eleanor Damant CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF NEWCASTLE NOTICE OF HIGHWAY CLOSING TAKE NOTICE. THAT the Council of the Corporation of the Town of Newcastle, at the meeting to be held in the-Council Chambers, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, Onta : rio, on Monday, February 10,1992, at the hour of 7:00 p.m., propose to pass a by-law;to stop up and close and authorize the conveyance of Part of the unopened road allowance between Lots 26 and 27, Concession 1, former Clarke Township, now in the Town of Newcastle, Newcastle, more particularly described as Part 1, Plan 10R-4074, and described as follows: Part of the unopened road allowance between Lots 26 and 27, Concession 1, Village of Newcastle, Township of Clarke, now the Town of Newcastle, in the Regional Municipality of Durham. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE THAT before passing the said by-law, Council or a Committee Committee of Council shall hear in person, or by his Counsel, Solicitor or Agent, any person who claims that his land will be prejudicially affected by this by-law, and who applies to be heard. \ IHElOWMOf Newcastle ONÏARIO Dates to be published: January 15,1992 January 22,1992 January 29,' 1992 February 5, 1992 Patti L. Barrie, A.M.C.T. Town Clerk 40 Temperance Street Bowmanville, Ontario L1C3A6 183 QUEEN ST. PORT PERRY ONTARIO (416) 985-8234 Settlement House OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK EXCEPT HOLIDAY MONDAYS SHOPS SIX BEAUTIFUL SHOPS UNDER ONE ROOF TAN. 11 - FEB. 15 ANNUAL FURNITURE PAINT & WALLPAPER SALE 10% OFF CUSTOM ORDER FURNITURE ¥ SSk V UP TO 50% OFF FLOOR MODELS ; EeHn 7 20% OFF ALL wallpaper Settlement House & old village paints A Leader In Country Decor Ladies Country Classics £ -li* 183 Queen Sti PortPerry 1 ANNUAL WINTER CLOTHING CLEARANCE Begins Jan. 12th T.G. Mitchell's Men's Casual Clothing