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6 - "WEEKEND STAR" FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2001 E-MAIL: editorial@portperrystar.com advertising@portperrystar.com PUBLISHER, GEN.MGR. .. Don Macleod : OIE LEI 3 _ BUSINESS OFFICE: Judy Ashby, eA hal lL LE Chris Ha oCha AY, TL TT S A TD ember Kathy Dudley, Janet Rankin, Lesley West OFFICE MANAGER .. Gayle Stapley V EEK JONED, WO 1AR Sandan Ww CNA yy ADVERTISING MANAGER ... Deb McEachern ay Ee Yom y ADVERTISING: Ginni Todd, Cindy Jobin, REPORTER... ... .. . .Rik Davie Member Ontario Community EC -- : si ANS aps) Gail Morse, Janet Archer, Tracy Souch, Freelance : Heather McCrae, John 8. McClelland Newspaper Assoc. Suzanne Sutherland PHONS 305 9032383 Published every Friday by the Port Perry Star Company Limited, 188 Mary Street - Port Perry, Ontario - LIL 1B7 PRODUCTION MANAGER: Pamela Hickey Distributed free in the following communities: Port Perry - Uxbridge - Sunderland - Little Britain - RR Lindsay Janetville Oakwood - Manilla - Seagrave - Greenbank - Brooklin - Ashburn - Columbus - RR Oshawa Zephyr - Udora - Leaskdale - Sandford - Caesarea - Blackstock - Raglan - Nestleton - Yelverton - Prince Albert Production Staff: Trudy Empringham, Daryle Wright, Arlene Cheel Plan B The battle to save the tiny school in Epsom from the financial execu- tioner's axe took a turn Tuesday night after a strong-willed and well thought out presentation by Epsom parents before members of senior Durham District School Board staff and seven of the | | trustees for the board. Scugog Trustee Martin Demmers and his colleague Pickering Trustee Paul Crawford told parents that they will ask staffers for a "Plan B" for the Student Accommodation Plan that requires the closing of eight schools to finance the building of additional facilities for the cash-strapped board. It could be the signs of a major victory for the tiny school that has dodged the executioners twice before. But it will only be a victory for the school if the trustees intent on pandering to the crowd look beyond the three years of the current accom- modation plan. Small schools are at risk across the region... and the province, in fact. If trustees Demmers and Crawford put a band-aid on Epsom and then walk off into the sunset patting themselves on the backs for a job well done they will have cheated the students and parents of Epsom now and the ones to come. If Epsom is to be saved then a long-term strategy for recog- nizing the uniqueness of small rural schools and a plan to force funding changes to recognize the vital part small rural schools play in their community is needed. The trustees of this board, if they are going to strip the accommodation plan of any real teeth and simply keep open schools that create a funding imbalance, have left the bull's eye on the roof of Epsom Public School and unless they are willing to sit down and work out funding plans and lobby the province for changes to a funding policy that forces boards to chop small schools then they will leave the mark on the roof and the next board, the next set of senior staffers and the next generation of Epsom students and parents will sit across a table glaring at each other as the school becomes a target yet again. If the Epsom problem isn't fixed for good, it won't be fixed at all. "N lf. OKAY. TELL ME AGAIN HOW YOU GOT THE FRUIT LOOPS WEDGED 'N YouR NOSE? * POO 0 i OE NNN Rh adel s nN RRR nN tet IN VA NN) Last AN an See more at: Raddicaltoons.com By Walt Radda Eagerly anticipating the release of the new Harry Potter film, two-and-a-half-year-old Austin Schneider got into character on Halloween as seen in this photo submitted by his grandmother, Mary Schneider. We're looking for more good photos for this space, so if you have an interesting picture we could use for Photo of the Week, please drop it by The Star office, or give us a call at 985-7383. LETTERS We're paying a premium for homes and no parkland To the Editor: Open letter to Canterbury Common Inc., Allan Warren - President: We are happy to live in a beautiful part of Port Perry - Canterbury Common. The residents have taken pride in their homes. In fact, the municipality recog- nizes the value as our taxes have risen significantly. You are planning to have the commu- nity finished by the end of 2001. There are sections of this area that you have overlooked - the park lands. We live on the largest 'common' and are so disap- pointed by the lack of planning to finish these areas acceptably and complimen- tary to the rest of the community and the quaint town of Port Perry. There is no sodding, just weeds and minimal seeding, no proper drainage, just erosion, no maintenance beyond weekly cutting, just untended walkways and deteriorating grass, no aesthetics, just barrenness. We paid a premium to have this "park view." In spite of the pre- mium, we have had to maintain the public walkway ourselves in order to prevent the spread of weeds, erosion and an unsightly view. Please listen to your buyers who only want these areas to reflect the pride of workmanship. Please complete with excellence what was planned from the beginning and leave Port Perry with a reputation of good will. We want to be able to speak proudly of all that you have accomplished here. Thank you for listening and hopefully acting on our behalf - and yours. Dianne Nolson Port Perry Check us out: www.portperrystar.com IGA I CORTE HURT a ARS CER VS TR RRNA ah ARAN