PAGE 4, WEDNESDAY. MAY 2, 1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS whi*tbyPu r Pu Voice of the County Town Michael lan Burgess, Publisher - Managing Editor blished every Wednesday by M.B.M. Publishing and Photography Inc. Phone 668-6111 The Free Press Building, 131 Brock Street North, P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. MICHAEL KNELL Communlty Editor CONWAY DOBBS Advertlsing Manager Second class Mail Registration No. 5351 The only Whitby newspaper independently owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. Miii rate error doesn't answer our questions on board's fiscal policies To err is human. Let's face it, none of us are per- fect. From time-to-time we ail make mistakes, ex- cept that when the 1984 mill rates were incorrectly calculated, this newspaper used that information to disavow the recent activities of Whitby's two representatives on the , Durham - Board of Education - lan Brown and John Buchanan. Although we are not responsible for the false information upon which was based last-week's page one story and editorial, we believe we had a role to play in finding the error. It seems that the treasurer decided to review the worksheets used to calculate the mill rate after reading our com- ments. This publication is pleased that our efforts ended up saving Whitby taxpayers a few dollars. Last Friday, Mayor Bob Attersley wrote the following letter to Trustee Ruth Lafarga, Chairman of the Durham Board of Education. It is quoted here with his consent and encouragement: "Dear Madam Chairman: "In reviewing our calculation made on the board's levy requirements, our staff has indicated that an error has occured. This error by our staff had the unfortunate effect of overstating the amount of dollars required from public school supporters for elementary school purposes. "Enclosed is a memorandum from the treasurer, the substance of which i understand has been discussed by our staff and a member of your staff. Please be assured that ail matters relating to the rate are confirmed as presented. "Enclosed is a memorandum from the treasurer, the substance of which I understand has been discussed by our staff and a member of your staff, Please be assured that ail matters relating to the rate are confirmed as presented. "On behalf of the council, may i express our regret for any difficulty this inadvertence may have caused you and members of your board and, in particular, the trustees representing the Town of Whitby. We have cherised the good rapport that has been maintained between this council and the trustees of the Durham Board of Education in our mutuai respect of each other's jurisdiction as elected representatives of the people. We look forward to continuing this same relationship. "With kindest personal regards, i remain on behalf of the council, "Sincerely yours, 'Signed' "R.A. Attersiey "Mayor." This is a most embrassing situation for ail con- cerned but this newspaper does not believe that our concerns about the board of education's fiscal policies are necessarily negated by this new in- formation. It still strikes us ridiculous that the Durham Board of Education's 1984 tax increase should be more than twice that of the Town of Whitby and the Region of Durham combined. This increase is even harder to Iustify when it is realized that ail three 0f these levels of local government are living off the same property tax resource base. This newspaper must still question the board's intention ta hire a mifhimum of 112 new staff members this year. We are mystifled at this decision because almost every local educator Will tell you that on average enrolment in Durham is dropping. In effect, we are hiring more people and spending more money to deal with fewer studen- ts. No sane businessman would ever hire more people when sales are declining, it would drive him into bankruptcy. Perhaps that board should start telling itself that It is in the business of education. Trustees should take the attitude that "we must provide this service to this required standard and to remain competitive we must provide it at this price." The board could take a lesson from the other two levels of local government. If the town and the region bring in increases of only five per cent, then that should be the board's alm as well. The board must stop thinking of the local taxpayer as a bottomless well from which it can draw at will. At some point, the board has to take stock of itself before angry taxpayers do it for them. This newspaper is going to stay on its soapbox until the board, and more specifically, its in- News item: Ma Bell wants Once upon as toli dividual members, start acting in a responsible fashion and take a leadership role in the planning and implementing of educational policy for our community. We would also like to take this opportunity to give Town of Whitby treasurer AI Claringbold and his staff our vote of confidence. During the many years of our association, we have always found Claringbold to be forthright, honest, approachable and knowledgable - a professional in every sense of the word. His conduct since finding the error in the mill rate calculations has only re-inforced our opinion of hlm. Public servants such as him are few and far between. This has been a most unfortunate incident, but has served to make us more aware of the problems facing every taxpayer when it comes to funding the education of our children. We still have to find.a way to do this without indenturing ourselves for generations yet to come. That is still the most Important issue facing the education system today. 6% more a time there was such a thing free long distance dialing 1