PAGE 6, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 25,1987 Published every Wednesday DOUG ANDERSON By 677209 Ontario Inc. Publisher Phone: 668-6111 • à MAURICE PIFHER f2m Editor rhe Free Press Building KEN HATHAWAY 131 Brock Street NorthATMaWaY VOICE OF THE COUNTY TOWN P.O. Box 206, Whitby, Ont. Advertising Manager "e nly W i nespaper independntllI on ied and p %era 1Nd b hii b resiien i for iii b% re.iietiis Meeting the need Within any school, teachers, administrators and guidance counsellors can predict with astonishing accuracy those students who are unlikely to succeed within our educational system. What is needed is corrective intervention! The above statement of problem and cry for action is included in the report "Student Reten- tion in Our Secondary School" by the Durham Board of Education's Supervised Alternative Learning for Excused Pupils (SALEP) commit- tee. The report mentions, and somewhat departs from, a report by Ken Dryden, Ontario's former youth commissioner, on the problem of youth unemployment and high dropout rates among youth in schools. The Ontario government has commissioned a special study to be carried out on school dropouts. On Monday night, the Durham board approved its own study. A committee will look at the cause for the dropout rate and recom- mend how to keep students in high schools. Mr. Dryden's figures showed that 60 per cent of students don't graduate from Gr. 12 while 76 per cent don't graduate from Gr. 13. The SALEP committee says the Durham board has statistics "well below" those provincial average figures. But 1,000 Durham secondary school students still drop out before graduation, and the number is increasing each year, says Lorna Murphy, who chairs the Durham board's program and personnel committee and is a member of the SALEP committee. "We're concerned about "Why?" she says of the dropout rate. The SALEP committee says two government -legislations, the Famlly and Children's Services Act and the Young Offenders' Act, are causing problems for education since neither address student absence from school. Meanwhile potential dropouts are not being identified through special education - contrary to Bill 82's aim to meet student needs. Attendance 'counsellors for the , Durham board say more could be done within the schools to help a student deal with social problems - problems which interfere with the student's intellectual growth. Eight Southern Ontario school boards already employ social workers to deal with those problems, and trustee Murphy says the- new committee will also look at the improvement of communication in different social agencies dealing with education. Moreover, psychological services in schools handle immediate emergencies but the non- emergency cases are on a waiting list, says SALEP. The study by the Durham board comes none too soon. The problem is perhaps not as pronounced in this region as in other areas of the province but it deserves local study. Education ·is a prime consideration in job prospects for youth, as the committee notes, since Gr. 12 is a requirement for a job at General Motors, Canada Post or minicipalities, to name a few a employers. The facts and explanations behind the dropout rate and the methods of cure promised by the study could form the basis of .an im- proved system which meets the needs of all students. Businglis needed To the editor: Re: the boundary change with respect to schools in the Town of Whitby affecting several schools. Along with the change has come the announcement that certain areas previously receiving busing, will no longer be bused as we are now a built-up area. I am concerned since my children attended Palmerston Ave. School and will now be attending Whitby Senior which is to become a K-8 School. My children will walk approximately 1.4 kilometres although the furthest distance for children will be approximately 2 kilometres. In addition, it is an indirect route to the school and there are several streets to be crossed as well as the railway tracks. I am particularly concerned about the kindergarten students who are expected to travel this distance and the number of streets to be crossed. While I am concerned about all primary students, I find it impossible to believe . that the kindergarten students should be expected to travel this distance and cross the streets and railway tracks in- volved. Many children starting kin- dergarten are only four years old, not turning five until later in the year. While they may be able to travel with older children in te morning or at dismissal time in the afternoon, what about dismissal time at 11:30 a.m. and afternoon starting at 1 p.m.? I telephoned the Durham Board of Education and was advised that, in fact, their policy was to be no busing for these students. I was ad- vised that I should discuss the situation with my trustee. I telephoned my trustee who advised that many students all over Ontario walked this distance every day without difficulty. The question is an interpretation of safety and what I think is safe and what the Durham board thinks is safe. To my thinking we must face that the following factors are not safe: Indirect route-confusing to smaller children. Distance where the route is over 1.4 km. Increased traffic due to car- pooling by French immersion students who now will be going to F.M. Heard Narrow sidewalks along Garden St. Railway tracks. Morning in the winter when the students would be walking to school in the dark. My trustee advised that the SEE PAGE 12 I"At these prices, it better be good to the last drop." Blair St. has become obstacle course To the Editor: Re: Letters on Sidewalks being Hazardous. These letters complain about snow removal and ice. On our sidewalks in the Blair Park area snow and ice are nothing. Our sidewalks are used for parking lots, car, van and truck repairs. Af- terall, some people in our area don't want to use their driveway as it only holds two cars and they have four or five vehicles. When the plow comes along on either the road or the sidewalk it is like an obstacle course to get by cars and trucks that just refuse to move day in, week out and sometimes monthly. Now in the summertime you may have to veer out on to the Boulevard or bend over, because if you don't you climb through overhanging limbs of trees or hedges, you may have to.pick up your glasses or hat or when you get home you find another tear in your coat or pants. But don't you dare complain to these people as you have to put up with some very abusive language. (Some you wouldn't print). And don't coimplain to the people-. responsible for upholding the bylaw or laws as they have n~o tine. They're too busy. Yours in running the obstacle courses in Blair Park. Gord Kerr Whitby Help is wanted to locate Crouch family To the editor: I am doing genealogical research on my Crouch family who lived in Whitby many years ago. I would like anyone who knew the Thomas (died 1930) and Feniah (Forsythe, died 1951) Crouch family or knows the whereabouts of their daughter Mrs. Herman (Frances) Taylor or her family to write me. Sincerely, Margaret C. Pritchard 9029 Passons Blvd. Downey, California 90240, U.S.A. LETTERS The Whitby Free Press welcomes letters to the Editor on any subject of concern to our readers. Letters should be brief and to the point - rarely more than 300 words. Al letters must be accompanied by the name, address and phone.number of the writer; however, on request, your name may be withheld from publication if we agree that there is a valid reason. The paper reserves the right to reject or edit ail letters. Send to: The Editor, Whitby Free Press, Box 206, Whitby, Ontario LiN 551 or drop through our mailslot at 131 Brock St. N. LETTERS FROM OUR -R'EADERS