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THE CANADIAN STATESMAN, JUNE 20,2001 PAGE 3 Catholic school board announces educational assistant layoffs BY JENNIFER STONE Staff Writer CLARINGTON - Many kindergarten and special- ,necds students will be without without the help of educational assistants assistants in the classroom next (fall, as the local Catholic ^school board attempts to slash •costs by issuing lay-off notices notices to 202 employees., !• And according to Cheryl ;Wildnian, the local head of •the union representing the affected affected staff, students will "no- Itice (the educational assistants' assistants' absence) quite a bit." *" The Peterborough Victoria (Northumberland and Claring- (ton Catholic District School •Board decided last week to •discontinue a practice of having having an educational assistant !(EA) in junior kindergarten ; classrooms with 23 students • and senior kindergarten class- rooms with 25 students - a ; practice not funded by the •Ministry of Education. Starting Starting in September, EAs will be (assigned to kindergarten 'classes that exceed 25 stu- • dents when deemed necessary necessary by board administration. 'As well, a number of EAs •.who work with special-needs (students and some lunchtime (monitors will be laid off. ;i. "We had always provided (jin EA automatically in certain certain circumstances, and we 'just don't have the dollars to Police are watching motorists k next week DURHAM - Durham Regional Regional Police officers involved involved in the jj, Safety Partnership Partnership program HF laid 231 traf- ; )}> fic-related ' / charges, pri- % marily for ' speeding, during during the week , ^ of June 4-8 ! ■" and another 333 for the | week of June | 11-15 in Os- \ i hawa. Total for i the two weeks ; is 564 tickets. | The RSVP i program, a ! partnership be- ( tween the.Min- ' istry of Trans- < portatiori and ! the Durham J Regional Po- i lice Service, is ( aimed at get- A ( ting drivers to \ slow dc/wn, * pay attention 4 and change at- ^ titudes towards 1 safer driving. i | The RSVP (j officers have * also been in the Ajax, Pick- (( bring and 1 Township of \ VU x b r i d g e - areas, laying « an average of Î 60 charges per j * 'outing with a ( : + total of 1,043 k d bharges filed ' 1 " jso far. < j The next 1 d enforcement ; d (week is June ! « 25-29 in the 1 l je 1 a r i n g t o n d area. Drivers ; Should be ad- « vised that the d RSVP officers d have zero tol- d erance for ag- « gressive bc- d haviour behind d the wheel. do that at this point," Claring- ton tmslec Joe Neal explains. However, he notes, classrooms classrooms and special-needs students students "will get an EA when circumstances warrant." "We arc probably one of the few boards" still offering EAs to kindergarten classes with 23 to 25 students, says Director of Education Mike Langlois. "My understanding is that many boards stopped that practice over the past three or four years." About half of the kindergarten kindergarten EAs being laid off would not have been back next year anyway, since the board has reorganized kindergarten kindergarten classrooms to keep the studcnt-to-tcachcr ratios below the 23-to-one to 25-to- one that used to warrant an EA's help, says Mr. Langlois. The cuts, being made to the 202 part-time positions, will result in the equivalent of 40 full-time jobs being lost next fall, says Mr. Langlois. The move comes on the heels of the board declaring "a state of budget exigency," says a news release from the board. PVNC has used up its $4 million reserve fund over the past few years, maintaining maintaining levels of service - such as having EAs in kindergarten classes - beyond what is funded funded by the Ministry of Education. Education. "We have no other op tion at this point in time," says Mr. Langlois. 'This is a very difficult thing because it is going to affect lives and families families of our loyal and hardworking hardworking employees, but we have to reduce personnel in light of our budget situation. We have tried to find the least hurtful way of re-organizing within the funds available and meet the needs of the system." system." The staff to be laid off were notified of their job loss last week by letter. "It's overwhelming and very sad," says Ms. Wildman, CUPE Local 1453's president. president. "It's not good for our members for sure, and for the kids either." SUPER MADONNA DEALS @ UK FABULOUS 50's FESTIVAL 3 DAYS ONLY 21-22-23 JUNE Music (CD Album) C QC Beg. S18:99 Music (Cassette) Reg $133? $10.95 Music (CD Single) (C QC Reg.56:99 GO ON A TRIP - GET IN TO 42 KING STREET EAST DOWNTOWN BOWMANVILLE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON NOTICE OF HIGHWAY CLOSING Leading the Way | A PORTION OF JOHN STREET (UNOPENED) IN THE FORMER VILLAGE OF NEWCASTLE TAKE NOTICE THAT the Council of the Corporation of the Municipality of Clarington, at the meeting to be held, in the Council Chambers, 40 Temperance Street, Bowmanville, Ontario, on Monday, June 25, 2001, at 7:00 p.m. proposes to pass a by-law to stop up and close a portion of John Street (unopened), shown as Parts 5, 6 and 7 on the unregistered plan, in the former Village of Newcastle, now in the Municipality of Clarington. AND FURTHER TAKE NOTICE THAT before passing the said by-law, Council or a 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. This meeting is rescheduled from the original date. Patti L. Barrie, A.M.C.T., Town Clerk Municipality of Clarington 40 Temperance Street Bowmanville, Ontario L1C 3A6 Dates to be published: May 30, June 6,13, 20, 2001 Thursday, Friday and Saturday June 21st 9-9,22nd 9-9 and 23rd 9-5 M I, / A j E I 1 D tnunua i zlb ÊËLHI BOWMANVILLE BUSINESS CENTRE FRIDAY 'Elvis" appearing live at 6- 7-8 p.m. SATURDAY 12 noon Bubblegum Blowing Contest sponsored by the Cloths Tree 1 www.bowmanville.com SATURDAY Come Enjoy The Beach Party Featuring... • Beach Volleyball Tournament • Bowmanville Museum Display • Children's Duck Pond • Rides for the Children • Darlington Blue Devils Children's Maze ests Si -- ,v)^> I A 1 ÛVÈR 40 QUALITY USED CARS ANDTRUCKS OVER 200 NEW VEHICLES IN STOCK ON SALE NOW v/NiSts îYtfi** ur •■•-:•- v ■ V - • . . . -, •SERVICE • PARTS itsti,., TllPVtyrrff V • NEW MODERN 12 BAY SERVICE DEPT, lilll IoLEjIi ) ALSO EXPANDED PARTS DEPT. 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