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The Clarington/Courticc Independent, Bowmanvillc, Saturday, November 7, 1998 Page 11 Thoughts on School Accommodation Last week, I had the privilege privilege of attending the opening of Lydia Trull Public School in Courticc. This is a beautiful beautiful new school complete with the latest technology. The principal, Ms. Pat Adams and her staff have worked tirelessly tirelessly to organize this new school in a relatively new neighborhood. neighborhood. As in any new school, there arc boundary issues and students are expected to make new friends and adjust to the changes. Congratulations and best wishes to the students, parents parents and staff. It seems ironic that last week, the Toronto media was buzzing with the province's new accommodations policy. Recently, we announced over $80 million dollars for new schools and school upgrades. This formula allows school boards to plan and organize their facilities efficiently. efficiently. Space is allocated at approximately 100 square feet for each elementary student student and about 130 square feet for secondary students. The Pupil Accommodations Review Committee made up of Ministry and School Board officials reported in 1996. Boards are asked to identify schools to be consolidated by December 1998 to determine the accommodation grants for 1999/2000. Report from Queen's Park by John O'Toole Portables, day-care centres, centres, gymnasiums and libraries were not included in a board's total square footage capacity. If boards have excess capacity, they can keep it, sell it or return it to the province and get additional capacity funding. The province is funding Pupil Accommodations at $5.20 per square foot to run, maintain and construct school buildings. This amounts to $1.8 billion for 1998/99 and we have guaranteed stable funding for the next three years. In the past few years, there have been some 225 schools closed while in the same period there were some 375 new schools built. One common concern over the past decade has been the growth in the number of portables. We are committing up to $140 million dollars over the next two years to provide permanent facilities for some 120,000 students. As I have said in previous columns, I recognize Durham is a growth area and there Can Post Offices Replace Banks? Parliamentary Report by Alex Shepherd "Will that be stamps, mail pick-up or cash?" This could be what the person at your local post office says to you sometime in the future as government tries to deal with the problem of bank closures in rural areas, The issue of bank mergers has heightened rural concerns about losing financial services. Even without mergers there will be a continuing restructuring restructuring of the financial services network. Some of our rural communities may find themselves not plugged into the world of financial services. Few people know the post office was originally mandated, as part of its duties, to provide limited financial services such as maintaining deposit accounts, along with the purchase of money orders, as well as providing other financial services. Over time these services have gradually been curtailed but -this was before the restructuring of the financial services sector. sector. The ability of Mrs. Smith to cash her old age pension cheque, or Mr. Jones to deposit money he just received, are elementary elementary transactions that could quite easily be brought back. I have met with Canada Post chair Andre Ouellette and some of his officials and was told Canada Post has 2,770 outlets outlets in communities where banks do not exit. So you can see why legislators think this may well be an answer to some of the problems being expressed by rural Canadians. Oh I know we will have our naysayers who will say things like, "if they can lose your mail what can they do with your bank account?" But 1 should point out that I think service would be very limited and basic. It would not involve financial advice or the selling of financial instruments. However in some countries of the world post offices provide provide full blown banking services and appear to do quite well. Even though more and more Canadians turn to electronic banking (it is now used by almost 20 per cent of the people in Durham) not everyone, rural or urban dwellers, will have access to it. Some out of misunderstanding of the system, some because they do not have, or can't afford a computer and others, who like personal contact when doing financial transactions, will be out of the electronic banking loop, so to speak. For seniors who now have to travel half way across town because of bank closures an alternative like the post office will be very attractive. Obviously this service has to be priced as affordable to the consumer as well as being efficient and cost recoverable to Canada Post. But I think operating the post offices in this fashion in the future is a viable alternative to the loss of banks in our communities. communities. How to make it affordable and efficient are some of the issues I will be speaking to when I sit down with Canada Post officials in Ottawa this week. "Coffee Break" Raises $7,200 The Alzheimer Society of Durham Region would like to thank all of those who participated in the Third Annual Coffee Break event held on Thursday, September 24, 1998. There were over 100 host sites across Durham Region that helped the Society raise approximately $7,200. And The Winner Is ... Tan Bridgcman, of Orono, was the big winner in third annual Clarington Country Cookbook con- ,Thc cookbook was published last week in the •ington/Courliee Independent. For submitting her pes for use in the cookbook, Bridgeman's name entered in a draw, As winner of the draw, she ives a $500 gift certificate from Landmark Home fishings at 77 King Street Fast in Bowmanvillc. ivc, Landmark owner / manager George Khottri eats the winner with her prize. may need to be consideration for the new Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board #14 (formerly the Northumberland and Clarington, as well as the Peterborough School Boards). This new board has excess capacity in the Peterborough area, while we have too many portables in Clarington. I liavc spoken to the Minister of Education on this issues. Special education funding was the topic of a school community meeting I had the privilege of attending last week at the new St. Stephen's Secondary School in Bowmanvillc. The topic was special education funding. The Special Education Per Pupil Amount (SEPPA) grant is funding for every child. The Intensive Support Amount (ISA) is directed to every child identified with special needs. The ISA amount is for special equipment, equipment, teaching assistants and modified curriculum for identified identified high needs children. I was very pleased on Friday to be advised that there will be additional funding for these children. Our Minister of Education has allocated an additional $127 million for high needs children. This special special education funding is now $1.18 billion dollars and it cannot be spent in other budget budget areas. The previous cap (4% mitigation factor) should not apply to special education. education. 1 might add that ISA funding moves with the child from board to board so the parents do not have to continue continue to fight for their child's special needs support. I thank the many parents and teachers for bringing this item to my attention. This weekend (November 6th and 7th) will bring busloads busloads of tourists to Durham. The "Durham Trillium Quilters' Guild" will feature displays of hundreds of quality quality hand crafted quilts. Camp Samac, Scugog and Bowmanvillc will each feature feature tours. Church luncheons and Ocala Orchard and Winery, as well as Archibalds Orchard and Winery, will have displays displays and tours. My constituency office at 75 King Street East in Bowmanvillc will feature a wall hanging quilt decorated with the 10 provincial flowers of Canada. I thank the many volunteer organizers of this "Quilt Extravaganza". Broadway Comes to Tyrone Singer/guitarist Peter Rea performs a medley of tunes as part of the Tyrone United Church Broadway Cabaret held October 30th. In the chorus are Terena Rea, Lacey Carter, Melissa Carter, Victoria Grabowski and Krystal Roth. The featured entertainer was Jeannie Wyse, a talented singer, pianist, organist, vocal coach, teacher and all-round entertainer. Former Teachers' Federation President Addresses Women's Club The October meeting of the Bowmanvillc Business and Professional Women's Club took place at Silk's Café on October 15. Debbie Eves, chair of the BPW Awards Committee, was pleased to present present the Education Award to Norma Kennedy, an outstanding graduate of C.I.S. Norma returned to school in 1995 to complete her grade 12 and OAC courses in order to go on to University. She is currently enrolled at Trent University and is taking biology and psy chology at the Durham campus. Norma received high praise for the excellent contributions that she has made to her school and her community from Debbie and from Gail Rickard, Dean of the C.I.S. Norma is a woman of many talents including being a professional clown named Rosie, a chef, a wife, a mother and a grandmother. The guest speaker was Maret Sadam- Thompson, former President of the Federation of Women Teachers' Association in Ontario. Maret brought members an inspiring message, which was based on her faith in women's leadership, her passion for excellence in education and her enthusiasm enthusiasm for volunteerism. Maret has held a variety of leadership posts in her teaching teaching career and may go on to a further role in the Canadian Federation of Teachers which means that she will be a spokesperson for 242,000 teachers nationwide. Maret left us with much to think about and proved to be an excellent speaker for Women's History Month. Everlasting Spruce Wreath Natural appearance 20" diameter, Rekker aitien Ë -8 ff IIWY 11 g ■ nEKKER'S y 3 1 Ï a 1 VIUUR U, Î HWY.401 2258 HWY.#2 RRJ6 BOWMANVILLE Open Year round 6 days a week TEL. 623-2300 FAX. 623-6130' Store Hours Mon, Tues. Wed 9am-6pm Thurs. Frl 9am-9pm Sat 9nnv6jmi Sun dosed