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mmm psfii ïlls^Ëfel ItC n.ûS «Ùuâ".3:i-j -Education ' Fine Finish for Pines Students in Problem Solving Competition The Canadian Statesman, Bowmanville, Wednesday, April 21,1993. Happenings at Bowmanville H.S These students from The Pines Senior Public School placed fust and third in a recent problem-solving competition held in Bowmanville. The contest, which is called the "Think Bowl," requires students to examine a problem develop a list of solutions and then present the best of these solutions. As a St of their placing at the local competition, these students will advance to a Board-wide contest for all win- mng schools in Northumberland and Newcastle. Shown above, with their coach, Vice-Principal Carol Front rnm b f Ck fr ° m . ^ft) Jenny Ellis, Amanda Rogers. Georgina Katsiapis, and Scott MacDonald. o t row, from left, includes: Deepak Angl, Jeff Finlay, Grant Esler and Jennica Femstrom Think Bowl teams from The Pines were selected at random from among the 14 students who had been practising practising their problem-solving skills for several weeks before the local competition. School Board Mill Rate Up 5.3% ■ The public school board announced announced on Thursday, April 15, that this year's mill rate increase could be 5.32 per cent or less. - The board's budget committee shaved a number of items from the budget. The committee decided to tike money from the board's reserve funds and from a special one-time gy courses. Trustees endorsed a plan to continue continue a new hiring practice which sees teachers with less experience generally being hired at a lesser salary. salary. The trustees also decided to take $800,000 from retirement gratuities and will be using $700,000 (almost crease is about two per cent, representing representing one of the lowest increases in the past decade, said Gord Sav- The condition of the driveways and parking areas at Bowmanville High School has long been a problem but two weeks ago things reached an all time low. It has always been hard to get a parking spot upon arrival at the school, but last week it was even harder to leave. The exit driveway was ,a disaster. The perpetual potholes potholes are bad enough but that pavement pavement was reminiscent of the after- math of an earthquake. People were bottoming out their cars; vehicles of all sorts were being thrown from side to side; small children were being lost in the cracks! Well, maybe the story has been exaggerated slightly, but things were definitely bad. No matter who I asked about it, I received received an abundance of comments - and none of them was good. Everybody believed that both the parking conditions and the pavement problem need to be fixed, and soon. Staff and students alike felt that the situation is not only inconvenient but dangerous too. Most people who drive to the school were concerned about their vehicles - even people, driving 4 x 4s were worried! But those who walk had concerns too. With no sidewalk __and the usual heavy traffic when school lets out, they are taking a risk every time they walk on that driveway. Although some people felt more violently about the problem than others, all agreed that the temporary repairs that are constantly being done are not good enough. Since that worst day, the driveway has undergone extensive extensive repairs. But now, only two weeks later, it's almost as bad again. Although they are not happy, people are beginning to accept the fact that there is no easy solution. Everybody is aware that the complete repairs required required would cost a lot of money that is not available. But the problem is even more expensive than some may think. To fully understand B.H.S.'s re- LA ■ A . ■ *""7 uuuwouuiu u.n.o. s re- age, the Assistant Superintendent of surfacing problem you have to go be- Business. low the surface. That's where you'll find the real problem as well as the real expense. It is improper water drainage that is causing the pavement , to heave and crack and in order to solve the problem a whole new drainage drainage system has to be put into place. And, according to the school's administration, administration, the pavement and the parking problems go hand in hand. If they are going to fix the pavement, it would make sense to add better parking parking at the same time. That, of course, will cost even more. Although those at the Plant Department of our school board who are responsible for the maintenance of the pavement were -unavailable for comment, the head custodian at B.H.S. stated that estimates estimates have been in the~500,000 dollar dollar range. Mr. Essex, a vice-principal of B.H.S., is well,aware of the problem. He agrees that something needs to be done but reminds us that our school has received lots- of repairs recently. Within the past couple of years, B.H.S. has had its roof fixed, its air and heating system completely redone, redone, and, just this fall, all its lights have been replaced with more energy efficient and eye-friendly bulbs. Mr. Essex has lots of good ideas to make the parking safer and more' - convenient convenient but we just need to wait for the money. How long can we wait though? It's obvious that this situation needs to be a top priority/ Over parking leads to constant ; fire hazards during school hours and,,' when there are functions. If a fire'truck were needed urgently, it would have great difficulty difficulty getting through. The poor outdoor lighting also adds to the danger after dark. The parking and pavement conditions conditions do not affect only a small number of people. With the school and the Newcastle Fitness Centre sharing the grounds, those areas arc in constant use. Both the auditorium and the gymnasium of the school arc used at least four evenings a week as well, as on the weekend and the Newcastle Newcastle Fitness Centre is open seven days a week. The community is using these facilities all the time. The heavy use, of course, contributes to the problem and maybe it could contribute contribute to the solution as well. Some people have suggested a toll system or paid parking. Although some people people say they would be willing to pay to improve the conditions, one staff member • put it best by saying "They're not taking any more out of my salary." And most people agree. And the setting up of such a system would in itself cost a lot. Other suggestions suggestions to solve the problem range from organizing fundraisers to urging those who do not have to drive to walk instead. Others suggest parking on the tennis courts. Needless to say, the Physical Education department doesn't like that idea too much and neither would the hundreds of students students who use thoscfacililies regularly- regularly- Some staff at .the school say that these problems have existed since 1978. Let's hope it isn't another 15 years before something permanent is done. Written by Lisa Bryn Rundle Occasional Teachers Have New Agreement With School Board Trustees approved a two-year agreement with its occasional teachers (District 49, Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation) which sees no increase in the first year, a two per cent increase in January 1993, and a one per cent increase in November 1993. Trustees also approved a motion which will see salaries for elementary summer school teachers fixed at the 1992-93 level. Also, remaining at the 1992-93 level are night school administrators' administrators' salaries. Elementary summer school principals' salaries will be set at "$3,000 to correct the current inequity." inequity." f - , , * M,lu Trail uv UJlllg w IVA/jWU ^(UlMUoL only provincial government grant to one half) from the one-time only hp.ln mnvp. ihp. tnv inrrpucp from wzMiinoini ». • help move the tax increase from 9.87 per cent to 5.32 per cent. The proposed 1993 budget does include some new projects or proposals, proposals, but these are only those which are either going to result in cost- savings to the board or which are required required by legislation, said Ron Sudds, Superintendent of Business. Two of the items dropped from the 1993 budget were: •$618,000 slated for the plant de- . „ - casuc runcss icntrc is open seven uity. YOUR CHEVROLET and PONTIAC DEALERS PRESENT THE provincial government restructuring grant. At next Wednesday's meeting of the budget committee, trustees will continue cutting away at the approximately approximately $28 million budget that does not represent fixed costs such as salaries, salaries, benefits or capital costs. More cuts have been asked of the administration by the trustees. They would like to see cuts in supplies and services and other areas at the partment to allow it to catch up on office and the schools to bring the necessary maintenance and repairs 'tax increase to4.99 percent at schools; and 11 • $192,000 that had been requested requested by board principals for curriculum curriculum materials for transition years, for music instrument repairs, new textbooks and resources along with kits for elementary school technolo- At next week's meeting, to be held on Wednesday, April 21, "trustees "trustees will still have the opportunity to adjust this scenario," said David Gray the Chair of the Operations and Finance Committee. The board's budget-to-budget in- Two School Boards Meet to i Representatives from the P.jV.N.N. Roman Catholic Separate School Board and the Northumberland Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education Education met recently to discuss cooperative cooperative planning and sharing resources resources between the two Boards. P.V.N.N. Separate School Board Chairperson, Jim Lynch said, "The open and frank discussions that we have had with the Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education have solidified the vision of cooperative cooperative planning and shared scrvic- csj We will continue to pursue these Board Approves Anti-Racist Policy Trustees approved an ethnocultural and anti-racist policy on Thursday night, April 15 at the regular meeting of the public school board. "It is the intent of The Northumberland Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education Education to make a clear commitment to recognize and value diversity in race, color, creed and ethnicity through a public statement of policy," it stales. ;Thc aim of the policy is to ensure "ait anti-racist learning environment for! our students and an anti-racist workplace for our employees and trustees.' trustees.' The policy addresses curriculum materials, workplace attitudes, and biais free employment practices, Superintendent Superintendent responsible for staff development development Mary Ellen Beamish told trustees the intent of the policy is not to Iset hiring quotas but instead to crcjtlc "a level playing field," She said a companion handbook is in the process of being developed, It will outline "protocols should there lie a contravention in policy," Ms Beamish said. paths to enhance the educational enterprise enterprise in an efficient and cost effective effective manner." Board members, Directors of Education Education and Superintendents from both boards participated in the meeting April 6, 1993. The discussions focused focused on shared services in the area of transportation, outdoor education, computer repair and records management. management. Judi Armstrong, Chairperson of the Northumberland and Newcastle Board of Education stated, "Our two boards have been co-operating since the mid-seventies, sharing resources for teachers through our Learning Resource Resource Centre. I'm very enthusiastic about these meetings because we arc expanding on those co-operative efforts efforts to meet the needs of our students students and to reduce costs." Both Boards provided updates on the status of their budget for 1993. As well, the Northumberland and Newcastle Board provided a report on the progress of the Town of Newcastle Newcastle to change its name to Glaring- ton. Don Folz, Director of Education noted that "Administrative staff and local trustees have worked cooperatively cooperatively to find meaningful and effective ways to share resources and ' reduce costs wherever possible. 1 am very pleased to sec the progress that we have made toward this goal. The students will be the beneficiaries of our co-operative efforts." pick Malowncy, Director of Education Education for the public school board acknowledged acknowledged the "achievements made to date since our last meeting a year ago. In an era when it is clear that we must of necessity do more with less, the co-ordination and integration of all community services is not only an expectation but a requirement." ASTRO AND SAFARI GIVE YOU ALL THIS... 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