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Page 28, Whitby Free Press, Wednesday, March 8, 1995 Ministry, plan doesn't sit too weIl wth sch 0l board trustees Straw structure ORMISTON PUBLIC Sohool students (from lefi) Waseen Kahan, Michelle Wilder, Ashley Scott and Aexander Carswell puz- Chesea Balzan HENRY ST. H.S. Now th;àJ we're inte the March break, Pm sure everyone is uming this free time te, work bard on upcoming independent studies. With two weeks, there is plenty of time te work on projects or study for niid-term exanis wbich are fast approacbing -- unless you are one of those extremely lucky people who go te far-off and exotic places. S)pealing of far-off places, Henry's wind ensemble wlll travel te England on March 15. Our band, consisting of 15 lucky students, will visit both Whitby (after which our town is namned) and Blackpool as well as many other sites. The excbange took formn when Henry Street H-igh Sehool was visited last year by a band from Montgomery High School in Blackpool. Many friendships flourished and the band from Henry was invited te q~visit Blackpool. The dlegates froni Henry wil leave on March 15 and visit Whitby for five days, then Blackpool for five more days. The rest of their time wil be spent sightseeing, concentrating on the countryside and the Lake District. The students will be accompanied by four staff meînbers. As for the last week at Henry before tbe break, it was a busy *zle over the construiCton ot their 'drinking andtPhoo yyrny DrsarWhltby Free Press Akers, Sarah Mitchell, Erin Smith, Jackie MeIntyre, Robin Raid and Natalie Everest) for a great evening of music. Congratulations also go out te all the members of the badminton team. At a tournament held last Friday, John Haze, Mike Town, Tyer Derks and Tanya Lue placed firet, Corey Broad plaoed second and Dallas Gielbrecht and Ryan Newport placed third. Watch out for the midget girls' volleyball team who seem totally prepared te carry the torch for the next few years. The girls earned 'a silver medal in the LOSSA finals, entirely appropriate after an one. Spirit Week kept our spirited Hawks busy with cross dressing day, purple and gold day, a pancake breakfast, pjania/bed- head day, hat day, cotton candy, a get out, movie night and teacher-student blind volleyball. Way te, go, all Spirit Week participants. Our musically incined Henry students performed their winter concert last Tuesdav. Congratulations te all the members of the Wind Ensemble, Senior Stage Band, Senior Concert Band and ail soloists (Mary Beth Garafalo, Christine Sturgess, Becky Palmer, Andrea Optimists ai "Youth aged 8 te 15 are invited te compete for a $1.,500 scholarship in Optimist Internationals annual oratorical contest. The contest is sponsored locally by the Optimist Club of Whitby. Contestants sbould prepare and deliver a four- te five-minute speech on tbe tepic «Listen To ' during an Optimist Club meeting to be held on Tuesday, Marcb 21. The boy and girl winners of the. By Mark Reesor Durham Board of Education trustees don't think much of Ontario Education Minister Dave Cooke's plan to reduce school boards and cut administrative costs. Cooke recently announced the overnment will reduce the num- ber of scbool boards in Ontario by 40 te, 50 per cent; limit what boards can spend on administ- ration; cap trustees' pay at $20,000 a year and redefine their role; require boards to share ser- vices and report savings annually to, the public; develop a new formula for trustee repre- sentation and distribution. "This is a move that certainly does not save money and in fact may incur more costs.» argued Ajax trustee Colleen Jordan at a recent board session. "The larger we get, the further we get away from our communi- ties... to thînk that by making the umbrella bigger that it suits aIl purposes, it doesn~t because some people want to go in dif- ferent directions and some are going to qýet bit by the ramn... "can t understand the pur- pose of doing this.» Board chair and Whitby trus- tee Patti Bowman d ubbed C ooke's initiative "the cookie cut- undefeated league season. Good job! As for new activities at Henry, there are two new additions. Last wyeek both the Fabulous Foods Club and the cycling and biking clubs got off te, a good start. Because we are in the midet of a little breakc, it would- seem that there wouldn~t be any news te rpr.Neyer fear, keep your eyes peldnext week for an in-depth look at Henry's production of'1 The Leader of the Pack,' and the week 1after for information about the Henry Fun Fair/garage sale/flea market. gain hold speech contest Whitby contest will go on te, compete in the zone competition and, if successful, te the regional level. Winners from the regional level will be finalists in the Optimist' International Central Ontario district contest te be held in Mississauga on April 29. Winners of the will each receive a scholarship from district final $1,600 college Canada. Entrants need not be accomplisbed speakers. The competition provides young people witb an opportunity te build their speaking abililty and gain confidence in expressing their thougbts before a group of 1or furtber information contact Patricia Airey'at 668-2167 or Diane Livie at 432-0906. ter apptoach» that appears meant to carry an election «rather than qua]l>ity education; it' spolitici not economies.» ccf rga ity is the order of the day, at what point is this gove rn- ment going to address the cost of government in regional and municipal areas?» wondered Osh- awa trustee Audrey Macean. «We (school boards) get hit al the time... and we are indeed frugal on this board... our tax- payers are asking this. They're sayrngyu know, you people may be earning $13,600 a yeaýr, but look at your counterparts ini munic . al and regional govern- nient.2 Macean said trustees "have a responsibility to talk to our pub- lic about the political reality of the cost of governments in this province. » The average Ontario trustee is paid $7,500 a year, said Picker- ing trustee Ruth Unn Schedlic., Quoting Ontario Public SchoS1 Board Association figures, she said that adds up -to about $9 million a year. Ontario spent about $14 billion last year on educa3tion,ý she said, which means public school trus- tees' salaries work out to 0.00064 per cent of that total. Separate board hires for support position Walter Yewchyn has been appointed superintendent of education - support services, effective March 20, for the Durhami separate school board. The position became available when Grant Andrews, current associate director in charge of business affairs, acoepted the pitio of director of education for the board upon the retirement of Dr. Earl Lagroix. Yewchyn now holds a senior management postion i administration services with the York Region separate school board, and has over 22 years of experience in the planning, development, transportation, assessinent and information services field. Among the challenges faced by YewchYn will be growth and capital expenditure projects 1 hleduled for completion. Yewchyn, who lives with bis faniily in Etobicoke, is active in bis community as a Cub leader and member of the Knights of