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ms weekender saturday iune 20 1998 p 11 programs left intact in catholic board budget patrick casey staff reporter york regions catholic school board wont be cutting primary french or any other program in the next year at a budget meeting tuesday treasurer john sabp said the board wont make any major program changes until at least the second year of its threeyear plan to implement the provinces new funding model in a memo to all catholic teach- ers last week education director susan larosa said no teacher would receive a layoff notice for september and the special educa tion reading recovery and prima ry french programs will remain the same for the next school year the only cutback forecast is rc strike vote next week patrick casey staff reporter york regions catholic teachers union has called a strike vote for june 22 meaning 2700 teachers could be on the picket lines as soon as september wednesdays decision to seek a strike mandate came one day after the union filed for conciliation with the ministry of labour fol lowing two meetings vith the boards negotiating team monday and tuesday a conciliator who will act as a thirdparty mediator is to bring the board and the teachers who are seeking a 75percent raise over two years back to the bar gaining table before the end of june ihor baczynsky district presi dent of the ontario english catholic teachers association said last weeks rapid action was necessary because the boards con tract proposal included significant changes in staffing levels for english as a second language and core resource teachers the offer also called for timetable and staffing changes as well as a review of school librari ans responsibilities in september we are hoping that the board gets a wakeup call and thinks of what they are doing said baczynsky we are prepared to live with the current collective agreement and work at trying to establish another one we are pre pared to work into the school year under that situation but if they change the terms of the agree ment in september there could be major problems in the system the regions catholic elemen- tary and secondary teachers signed a new twoyear agreement in november following a 14day strike but after 18 months of negotiations the contract was retroactive to september 1996 and now expires on aug 31 separate board vicechairperson elizabeth crowesaid the board has guaranteed no layoff notices would be issued to teachers for the 199899 school year the pro posed staffing changes which are intended to reduce the number of new teachers the board needs to hire would be reviewed in september crowe said the teachers are asking for a 4- percent raise this year and anoth er 35 per cent in the second year plus the cost of living raising the salary of the highest paid teacher from 66673 to 71 767 while the pay for entrylevel instructors would jump from 27959 to 30095 inventory must be reduced drastically 5829 highway 7 east markham 4725525 south side of hwy 7 just west of kwy 48 fewer teachers for english as a second language although if funds become avail able the service level will increase from a pure financial perspective we could make all kinds of adjustments to free up money but also create all kinds of disruptions said sabo this budget puts more money in the classroom while not playing the game of cutting major programs and then giving some back we wanted stability for september in fact the board is planning to spend 4 million on new initiatives a technology program worth 175 million will support the existing comput er foundation project and another 12 million will be spent on new elementary textbooks and resource materials for the new math science arts and technology courses another 600000 will be spent on wages for academic and support staff to assist new programs and special educa tion needs ah additional 230500 will spent to train staff in religious education mathe matics high school reform peer coach ing and leadership training 150000 will go to assist school council programs and 1 00000 to pay for new school furniture thats just over 1000 a school for furniture pointed out associate director jack cronin but the budget process isnt easy con sidering nearly 80 per cent of the 2627 million operating budget is already claimed by employee salaries and bene fits the board is spending 11 million more on wages this year as a result of the teachers contract signed in november which restored salary grids frozen for three years under the ndps social con tract the board meets again at 7 pm next tuesday to finetune the budget before its final approval on june 29 clulxin hvmomo i i ilml gamble wjthyqtirlifel get around the clock protection against carbon monoxide itjcmy v iwk premium plus plugin flexible installation as a direct wall mounted or table top unit battery backup 9v battery included for protection in the event of a power failure digital display peak level memory loud alarm instant testreset button five year limited warranty hu 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