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------ v" Can Ta vo 8 - PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, March 16, 1993 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" Letters to the editor Board of Education responds From Page 6 diseases are taught. It is neces- sary to offer a balanced pro- gram in order to reach both groups of young people. Teaching of a Family Life pro- gram is mandated by the Minis- try of Education. To call the mandatory abstinence portion of the board's Family Life pro- gram an "honorable mention" does great disservice both to the excellence of the program and the dedication of the teachers who deliver it throughout our system. Of the fewer than half dozen students who recently have attended our board meet- ings to comment on the content of the Family Life program, some have stated the need for a more 'progressive program while others have stated the need for less information. This only underlines the need for the board to offer a balanced pro- gram to meet the needs of its wide range of students. The Northumberland- Newcastle Board of Education has not made abstinence a man- datory part of their curriculum other than a film which has been piloted in only two of their schools for Grades 7 and 8. Ac- cording to the Northumber- land-Newcastle Board of Edu- cation, the most useful resource they have used is material bor- rowed from the Durham Board of Education's Abstinence docu- ment. : C. Switzer also mentioned the Health Fair offered Feb. 25 to Grade 7 and 8 students at Lake Vista Senior P.S,, Oshawa. Again, a balanced pro- gram was offered. The five dis- plays by Durham's Public Health Unit gave information on abstinence, self-esteem (strategies for saying "no"), self- examination for diseases such as cancer, birth control, and sexually transmitted diseases. I must clarify that pamphlets on topics like those illustrated at the Lake Vista Health Fair do not endorse or encourage being sexually active; rather, they may provide valuable informa- tion to students at a time when they most need it in order to 45 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 11, 1948 Cartwright Township has completed the canvass for the Canadian Appeal for Children by collecting $524. One of Ontario County's longest established Holstein herds will sell when W. W. Holtby disperses his 40-head herd on Saturday. Port Perry Midgets returned to Cannington last week and make decisions that could dras- tically affect the direction of their lives. Choosing to withdraw a child from any portion of the Family Life program always has been and will continue to be an op- tion for all parents of students in our system. They, not other members of the public trying to determine direction for all stu- dents, will make the final choice about the suitability of pro- grams for their own children. It was other members of the pub- lic, not parents of students at Lake Vista, who chose to dem- onstrate outside the school the morning of the Health Fair. The parents who took the time to visit the Health Fair were over- whelmingly supportive of both the content and delivery of the program. C. Switzer tells us "children deserve a chance." We agree. To deny them information upon which to base critical decisions about their lives and health would be both unfair and irre- sponsible. The Durham Board of Education will continue to make its Family Life program available to appropriate age groups of its students. This cur- riculum contains the mandato- ry teaching of abstinence. Staff of the Durham Board are always available to give or clarify information about the content of our programs. Please do not hesitate to call them at 576-4600. Louise Farr, Chairperson, The Durham Board of Education Open letter to MPP Open Letter to Durham East MPP Gord Mills We the staff of Cartwright High School wish to address an area of grave concern with your government. At a meeting of the Durham Board of Education in Port Perry on Thursday, Dec. 3 to discuss proposed budget cuts, it was revealed by the head of the finance committee that in Sep- tember 1994 all Ontario boards are mandated by the province to initiate junior kindergarten. How can we as taxpayers and educators support the imple- mentation of program which is going to put an additional 3,000 students into the system with limited additional funding, at a time when the board is desper- ately trying to maintain present programs? The Durham Board at present has over 400 portables on site. Where are we going to put an additional 3,000 stu- dents? Junior kindergartens will not be housed in a portable for these classes require regular kindergarten facilities. Present classrooms in the school must be altered and portables or- dered for those classes moved out. Our busing and staffing costs will be only increased by the ad- dition of this program. Where is the money going to come from for these aspects of JK? Even with the announced funding from the Ontario government, this program will still cost addi- tional millions to implement. These costs will carry on for years well beyond the imple- mentation. How high will our taxes go? At Cartwright High School we are fighting to maintain a school which is short of many fa- cilities and funds. Our budget, along with every other school in Durham, is being cut by five per cent. We are not alone in that there are many schools throughout the region which are lacking vital areas for the ef- fective delivery of programs. How is this board as well as eve- ry other growing board ever to address these problems if JK is forced upon them? The idea of JK may be lauda- ble, but in a time of diminishing budgets and cost to programs, it 'makes no sense whatsoever to carry on with this policy. Dras- tic cuts in programs now in place are being considered by the Durham Board including Family Studies, Design Tech- nology, and Instrumental Mu- gic at the Intermediate levels. How can we on the one hand cut programs which have proven valuable over a number of years and then initiate a brand new, costly one such as JK. Our pro- vincial deficit is estimated at $13,000,000,000. Where is the logic? We as taxpayers and educa- tors agree with our board's posi- tion that it isshighly inappropri- ate to implement JK at this time. The government is al- ready committed to one costly and controversial educational reform, the Transition Years. Why push ahead with a more costly reform which will severe- ly strain an already overbur- dened system? Is the government listening to the people? We look forward to your reply. Readers should call Gord Mills' office at 1-800-661-2433 defeated the Cannington Midgets 11-4 after suffering an 8-7 defeat the week prior. Ron Wallace scored four goals, Coulter three and Rider and Heard scored one each for Port. 35 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 13, 1958 Port Perry High School basketball team won the COSSA Senior B Championship in Barrie by ousting Albert College in the final game. Under the capable direction of Mrs. Elsie Dobson, the Junior Farmers' Choir gave two performances of a musical program in Brooklin and Uxbridge. The varied songs and dances were enlivened by the change of costumes to fit the arrangement of songs, etc. 30 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 14, 1963 An early morning fire claimed one of the oldest homes on Scugog Island. Mr. Richard Wilson was about to leave for work when he discovered the fire had started in the wood shed. The home was originally built for Mr. John Foy, the township' first clerk in 1856. Dave Thompson's rink consisting of Harold McCowan, skip; Mrs. Helen Thompson, vice-skip; Mrs. J. McCowan, lead; and Dave Thompson, second; scored three wins and chalked up a total of 44 points to capture the Weiser trophy. About 90 per cent of Uxbridge's electorate voted Monday on three liquor questions. Of that number, 62.5 per cent approved the sale of beer and liquor through government stores, but turned down cocktail bars and dining lounges. 25 YEARS AGO Thursday, March 14, 1968 Four major building projects are under construction at the present with a cost estimate of $1,150,000. They are the Community Hospital, Roman Catholic Church, Christian Education Centre and the new plant of Flamingo Pastries Ltd. The Yellow School was sold by public auction to Mr. Ron Deeth of Windcrest Farms for a price of $7,900. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Taylor spent the weekend in London, Ontario as guests of Supertest Petroleum Corporation. Mr. Taylor was presented with the company's 20-year long association award. 20 YEARS AGO Wednesday, March 14, 1973 Holtbyholme Bessie B, in the herd of M. P. Holtby, Port Perry, has been awarded a Gold Seal production certificate by the Holstein-Friesian Association of Canada. At an information meeting regarding the establishment of regional government for the area, Dr. Dymond told the meeting "I believe it is in the best interests of the people I represent." The change to regional government has been coming since 1969 and has not been foisted on us, he stated. Joy Panabaker received first place in the Legion Public Speaking competition held in Bowmanville and will compete at the district level in Peterborough. Port Perry Fire Department was called to the reserve home of Jess Marsden but arrived too late to save the house. 10 YEARSAGO Tuesday, March 15, 1983 The ice was gone from Lake Scugog on March 11 setting an all- time record. The earliest previous date was March 20, 1878. Blackstock curlers Kathleen Petrie, skip; Carol Gray, vice-skip; Ann Powell, second; and Sharon Wilson, lead; curled a perfect eight-ender in the final game of regular league play. It was only the second time an eight-ender had ever been recorded at the Blackstock club. Firefighter Don Steele suffered a broken hand when a piece of ceiling fell during a house fire on Carnegie Beach. to note your objection. ¢ ' The Staffof Cartwright High School Eastern Ontario Championships are unfair Letter to the Editor: I am writing this letter so all Minor Hockey fans can be in- formed of the total unfairness by the person(s) who arranged the finals for the Eastern Onta- rio Championship. My son plays hockey for Pearce Auction Novice Rep team. This is an excellent team of young talented players, good coaching, and managed to per- fection. They won the semi- finals after being down two games and came back to win the final three against Cobourg. Our boys felt proud and opti- mistic. Unfortunately it was short lived. Saturday, March 6, 1993 our team Players travelled to Belle- ville for the first game in the Eastern Ontario finals. One might think Port Perry being a "BB" centre would be playing the Belleville Novice "A" team since their population is 37,000. Regrettably the Auctioneers never had that chance. Their opponent is the Belleville Nov- ice "AA" team. I feel this is an injustice on part of the Ontario Minor Hock- ey Association. Our boys put forth an excellent effort and showed much determination even though the scores didn't match. I also feel this is totally unfair not only to my son's team but also Belleville "AA" team who should be challenging an- other "AA" team with their great hockey. BUCK, BUCK BUCK... BUCKET! 15 pieces of tender, golden $ fried chicken. Plenty for a family of 5-7 our reg. price $15.59 DINNER SPECIAL 3 PIECE CHICKEN 3 DINNER ri 3pc. Chicken, Dinner Roll, Salad, Fries These specials expire March 28, 1993. 136 Water St., Port Perry 985-9009 Cathy Skerratt, Port Perry