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PAGE 10 THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, APRIL 5, 2000 Special-ed programs go board-wide following Clarington pilot project BY LOIS TUFFIN Special to The Statesman Imagine watching television while your mother vacuums and your brother continually walks hack and forth in front of the screen. That's how some students view the school day, distracted by classmates classmates and drowned out by their own confusion. At the other end of the scale, picture youiself facing a shelf of 'Dr. Scuss' library library books when you're reading at a Grade 7 level. i Special education programs try to keep children from losing interest in their studies no matter at what pace they learn. Educators try to find ways lo hold their interest while judging shrinking budgets and following provincial rules. 'lhe Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board staff say they've found a new way to reach everyone on the spectrum spectrum without breaking the bank. They tested new special education programs in Clarington this year and will bring the same approach to Peterborough and Northumberland counties in September. The new model focuses more on moving children back to schools in their neighbourhoods, rather than converging a group in one classroom in the city, says Sherry Summcrsidcs, the board's principal principal of special education. Less needy students remain in their regular classrooms with extra help available available through a variety of options, depending depending on what works, she adds. Teachers match a range of options (from low to a higher intensity) with the child's needs. Those choices range from letting a child write tests in a separate room to sending them to a tutor for half a day to enrolling them in special, smaller classes. classes. Clarington area staff rushed to roll out the new program last autumn and learned lessons to share with other teachers, Ms. Summcrsidcs says. Principals Principals conferred so they wouldn't duplicate duplicate each other's work and administrators administrators learned to include transportation staff early, she adds. Teachers started a monthly program for gifted elementary school students, meeting at M.J. Hobbs Senior Public School in Hampton and taking occasional occasional field trips, says trustee Nancy Coffin, chairman of the special education review review committee. In a recent survey, four out of five of those students said they developed developed skills there that they used later. "'flic programs have been well-received well-received by parents," she adds. As staff fine-tune the new rules, they still don't know how much they can promise other areas until the school board finalizes its budget for June, says board chairman Catharine Tozcr. Last year, the board cut other parts of its budget budget to accommodate going overboard $3.9 million for special education. "It looks like we've robbed Peter to pay Paul until Peter's pocket is empty," Ms. Tozcr says. "This change is not driven driven by student needs but by the funding formula coming out of Queen's Park." School boards' $100,000 club Three employees of the local Catholic school board earned more than .$100,000 last year. According to information from the Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Catholic District School Board, now- retired Director of Education Don Folz. lopped the list with a total salary of $130,792.61, and taxable benefits totalling $1,708.76. Superintendent of business and finance finance Ray Rigby was next with a salary of $115,844.54 and taxable benefits of $1,804.95. Michel Langlois, Langlois, superintendent of schools, look home $110,715.03, with $608.56 in taxable benefits. At the Kawartha Pine Ridge District District School Board, director of education education Dick Malowney topped the list, with earnings of $148,747.30. Next was Superintendent of Educational Services Trudy Lum with $120,303.48. Bryan Fisher, superintendent superintendent of administrative services, posted earnings of $119,342,49. School superintendents Natalie Bohnen and Elizabeth Selby were next, bringing in $105,140.17 and $103,478.45 respectively. The Public Sector Salary Disclosure Disclosure Act requires organizations that receive public funding to disclose annually annually the names, positions, salaries and taxable benefits of employees paitl more than $100,000 in a year. Courtice students moving on New boundaries set for separate schools BY JENNIFER STONE Sni ff Writer Courtice Catholic elementary elementary students now know where they'll be going to school next fall. And, in spile of concerns from parents from the Centre- field Drive - George Reynolds Drive area who want their children to remain in their current current school community, a large number of students from Mon- signor Cleary Elementary School will he setting up in new digs.come September. The Peterborough, Victoria, Northumberland and Clarington Clarington Catholic District School Board approved a plan Thursday Thursday night which will sec about 240 students move from Monsignor Monsignor Cleary to a new school, expected lo open in September at Farmington Drive and Ficldcresl Crescent in the south end of Courtice. Leaving all of the children from the neighbourhood at Monsignor Cleary simply couldn't be done because of space constraints at the north- end school, said Superintendent Superintendent of Schools Dcirdre Thomas. And, a decision had to be made soon, she told trustees. "There is a necessity ... to proceed. The families and students students in Courtice arc waiting for a decision," she noted to trustees Tuesday, adding there had been a great deal of public .consultation on the matter. The decision comes after two public meetings, one in December and one in February, February, during which parent input was solicited by board officials, officials, and months of wrangling over where boundaries should be set. "We feel we've provided provided a comprehensive consultation consultation process," said Ms. Thomas. Students attending the new sehool will be drawn from the Courtice urban area north of Hwy. 2 and west of Courtice Road, as well as the area south of Hwy. 2 and east of Prcstonvalc Road. Monsignor Cleary parent council vice-chairman Kathy Pratt lobbied the board before it made its final decision Tuesday. Tuesday. She told trustees parents in the Centreficld Drive - George Reynolds Drive area would only be content with having their children change schools under a number of conditions. She asked trustees to look at building the next new school in north Courtice, even though the board has indicated indicated the next new facility for Courtice would be in the southwest. "The thought that the next new school would go to the south, to our minds, is ludicrous," ludicrous," said Ms. Pratt. She also asked the board to look at bumping up the building of the next new school in the area to September, 2001. But according to board planning manager Joel Sloggett, "the fact is, there is a large amount of growth projected" projected" for southwest Cour- ticc. Bumping up the building of another new school is also unlikely, lie said. "What has to happen in order to justify a new school in Courtice ... is we would have to wait to a certain extent until the growth occurs to access the capital dollars" required to build the school from the Province, he noted. Ann Saunders, a Monsignor Monsignor Cleary parent, said though she wanted her children to stay at the north-end school, they will attend the new school when it opens in September. But she also noted she hopes trustees took note of the concerns raised by Ms. Pratt. "I hope the trustees listened to (Ms. Pratt's) presentation and heard our concerns about a school in the north. I still have concerns," she said. But Courtice trustee Joe . Neal said he thinks all will be well in September. "I think a lot of the misgivings will evaporate the first week (the new school) opens," he said. Catholic board's funding not enough: trustee BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer Announcements from the Province of an increase in education education funding don't necessarily tell the whole financial story for the local public school board, says the head of the board's budget committee. Clarington trustee Bob Wili- slier of the Kawartha Pine Ridge District School Board, says the new funding, an nounced in early March, doesn't doesn't provide a "connection lo costs." For example, "there's nothing in the budget to help address address the high cost of fuel" bus drivers arc currently facing, Mr. Willsher said.- The board look a look at its funding grants from the Province recently, and initial estimates estimates show KPR will receive a half a per cent more this year, said Bob Allison, board super intendent of business services and treasurer. In his report lo the board, Mr. Allison told trustees KPR will receive about $246.5 million million in Provincial grants for 2000-2001, compared with just less than $245.3 million last year. The funding is separated into 29 different envelopes, which represent areas of spending. spending. "It's typical of this govern ment. They've done their smoke and mirrors again. 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