The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

i write to santa glaus at the tribune santa gets his tribune every week and if you dont want to send your letter all the way to the north pole drop them into the tribune office and well try to get your letter in the paper so santa can read it those we dont get in well send to the jolly elf at the north pole in tirhe for christmassend your wish list by dec 6 1993 to the tribune 6244 main st stouffville i4a 1 e2 or fax them to 6405477 econo airport service 6405466 lhe iribune taxi mm vol 105 no 46 a metroland community newspaper wednesday november 17 1995 24 pages 50 cents education get more out of teachers york board told julie caspersen staff reporter committee charged with setting topped the list of most of the tions staffing was researched the york region board of edu- residents and groups having by thornhill students who get more work out of teach- cation budget their say at the meeting claim teachers they polled ers was the message to the hiking the pupil teacher ratio reserved for public presenta- agreed that an extra student or two in most classes would not an unreasonable burden said gabor koltai the youth political action committee recommended to the budget committee that qualified teachers who have nonteaching duties be placed back in the classroom the teens estimate that more staff teaching more students would result in a 5 million savings unionville resident john paloc told the trustees his ratepayer group has started watchdog duty at the boards having learned that more than 75 per cent of their municipal taxes pays for education he urged other residents and ratepayers groups to get involved in how the bulk of their tax dollars are spent and gave advice from an accoun tants point of view to the com mittee start doing business the way business should be done he said one parent of three children lobbied for nofrills schools as well as user pay transporta tion jackie cousins also advo- cated a hike in the ptr as well as the maximum walking dis tance and backed the board on its holdout against junior kindergarten the 1993 budget of 485 mil- lion was approved with a 69 per cent tax increase the board is aiming for a 1994 tax hike of no more than three per cent and hopes to freeze expenses at this years level the next budget meeting set aside for public comments is jan 19 town must do more to promote rural commercial potential in order to create commercial potential for the towns surrounding rural hamlets officials should con sider promoting farmers markets bed and breakfasts fishing and a host of other initiatives said the eco nomic development advisory committee edac this week the committee which was formed in conjunc tion with the town and which has two council members on its roster advises politicians on the best ways to fos ter economic revival to the town and to its businesses edac chairman jury konga was expected to dis cuss the issue of rural promotion at last nights council meeting in which the group recommended a list of ini tiatives geared to stimulate the rural economy among its lengthy list of suggestions edac is urg ing politicians to avidly promote recreation tourism agriculture and businesses and to amend its land use planning to accommodate the initiatives edac suggests the town make a commitment of resources in order to implement the ideas council was expected to discuss the matter last night public school gives clothing line bums rush tracy kibble staff reporter its an expensive line of denim and casual clothing that emblazons the let ters bum and the accompanying word equipment across its cotton exte rior and one local principal has decided the clothing no matter how expensive is inappropriate for elementary school children to wear while attending class es in fact ballantrae public school principal dean bodkin has told at least one student that the bum clothing line which stands for british union made is not to be worn during school hours if you take out the periods you are left with a word i dont think is appro priate bodkin said colin giles assistant manager at randy river in the markville shopping centre said the line is his numberone selling product its huge absolutely huge i sell bum sweats and jeans to kids and adults of all ages giles said he added the clothing runs about 50 for a pair of jeans and about 40 for sweatshirts and carries the big baggy look so sought after today bodkin said he didnt realize the bum line was so expensive but admitted he doesnt care about the manufacturing aspect of the matter it was a personal decision i made because i dont believe that word should be in the school bodkin said this week any shirt which has those letters on it should be worn on the weekends he said bodkin said he asked one student to please see page 3