WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 25, 1985, PAGE 3 Durham 's brief cails for universal access for students.... Board wants royal comissiofn on school funding By JAN DODGE Free Press Staff The Durham Board of Education will recom- mend the provincial government withdraw Bill 30 for the extension of funding to separate schools, and establish a Royal Commission for the purpose of education and consultation. On Oct. 1, Chairman Ruth Lafarga is scheduled to present this recommendation as well as objections to the bill before legislative hearings. In the prepared sub- mission the board details its concerns about displacement of staff, the possible ex- tension of funding to other private groups and the costs and sour- ces of funding. It argues for universal access to students and open access of infor- mation for parents and students in both systems. The board is concer- ned about staff displacement -- not so much with hiring, but Three more people charged in trailer fraud investigation Three more represen- owners that the vehicles tatives of North Brock were not marketable at Motor Sales Ltd. have the agreed-upon prices. been arrested in connec- Police say the <om- tion with the fraudulent panys records indi.aw sales believed to have that trailers had often been conducted by the been sold prior to the company in the last company informing the year. owners that they needed The company, and to lower their asking four of its employees price were charged last mon- Sixty-two year old th with several counts of Lorne Haight, and is fraud and one count of son Donald Haight, 28 theft over $200 as a have both been charged result of a police in- witb 2 counts of fraud vestigation prompted by over $200. customer complaints. Norman Waller, 29, of The company, which Kingston, bas been has branches in Whitby, cbarged with 3 counts of Orono and Port Perry, fraud over $200. sold trailers on con- The charges were laid signment. after media reports of According to a the North Brock Motors' spokesman for the arrests led to furtber Durham Regional complaints from former Police, the company customers. sold vehicles at prices The accused will ap- above those set by the pear in provincial court original owner while Oct. 25 at which time a falsely claiming to the date for trial will be set. with promotion, and predicts women teachers will be more adversely affected because there is a higher percentage of women with five years or less experience and they are thus more sub- ject to being classified as redundant. If funding proceeds the board asks will the government not be sub- ject to pressure from other private groups for the same consideration. In its submission the board pleads for a public system saying there is a "Need for a shared education ex- perience in order to foster a common culture strengthened by diver- sity within unity -- not a single sectarian view." The submission states, "two parallel systems must cost much more, especially for low enrolment programs such as Special Education and those requiring expensive equipment." The brief points out that extension of funding is happening at a time when the provincial share of education is dropping. ("In Durham, the provincial share has dropped from 64 per cent in 1973 to 48 per cent in 1985.") The brief says that the only two likely sources for additional funds are: increased taxation or further reducation in grants to the public system. The brief protests that capital grants for building are already inadequate. The board predicts the need for 14 -Whitby's newest, most unique boutique -We strive to satisfy our customers -For daytime, evening or casual wear our large variety includes fine apparel for the homemaker as well as the career women. Our selection includes designers such as: * Alfred Sung * Linda Lundstrom * Regina Porter * Amillo Rossi * Maggie London * White Stag - PLUS- Finally bringing to, Whitby an exciting collection of * :MARYROSE* EONE SIZE To complete you HAND PAINTED t Drop in today and browse at 210 Brock St. Centre 668-0053 ur outfit we carry SILK SCARVES by 9:30 am - 5:30 p.m Tues. 9:30 a.m 9:00 p.m Fri 9:30 a.m. -5:00 p.m. Sat. to Th urs4 more elementary schools in the next five years, and it reports that the coterminous separate board is asking for three new high schools in the next three years as well as in- creased elementary needs. The brief asks, where the money will come from. The board argues that any publicly funded school system must provide universal ac- cess to students. It protests it is not accep- table to deny access on the basis of accom- modation, and suggests separate boards might avoid offering high cost programs by enrolling their students part time in the public system. In its brief the board argues for "complete and open access of in- formation for students and parents in both systems." The board reports that there were some in- stances last spring where public secondary personnel were not welcome in separate elementary schools where they sought to in- form students about programs available at the public high schools (e.g. technical education). The board asks that if the separate system is fully funded it must provide the full range of programs so that the public system "not be allowed to become the repository of the hard- to serve." If that is not possible (e.g. to provide technical education due to lack of facilities) that the separate board pay fees which would "ac- curately and fully reflect the high costs of such programs." The submission protests the "dangerous degree of discretionary power" given the plan- ning and implemen- tation committee, and it questions the com- mission's ability to act as arbiter of disputes where it has already been fact finder and mediator. The board in its'sub- mission states since Bill 30 is currently being challenged in the courts, and since it has not become law there is no legal authority for government to begin funding this fall. At the public board meeeting, Monday night, chairman Lafarga assured Pickering Trustee Lin- da Carder that she would also include con- cerns about the impact of assessment in the submission. Carder later said that every time a family opts to change assessment to the separate system, the public system would lose not only the grant on any students in the family, but would lose the land assessment as well. Carder said 52 per cent of the board's funds come from local assessment (Sean Con- way, Minister of Education, has said that if Bill 30 passes in early 1986, property tax will transfer on Jan. 1, 1987). During discussion Larry Corrigan, separate school representative from Oshawa on the board, questioned value judgements and meanings of words in the brief, and said he was concerned by a lack of internal beliefs. - Lafarga asked that Corrigan withdraw from the discussion saying, "I think you have a conflict of in- terest." Corrigan replied that he was elected to represent the Catholic community of Oshawa, and was trying to add perspective. Ajax Trustee David French said had Corrigan attended the meetings at which the submission was drawn up he could have incor- porated his point of view, but he had not. Whitby Trustee John Buchanan said if Bill 30 does go forward all schools would get fun- ding. He asked how the government would be able to afford to fund all the private schools and all the other sçhools when it can't afford to fund the system it has right now. Leis see For the best in CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING Cali 668-6111 1 -À m