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PAGE> 4, WEDNESDAY, JUNE 13, 1979, WHYrBY FREE PRESS i I Whit y(' blished viWeesa F X EZI F~~xby M.B.M. Publishlng. iA ~and Photography Ic. Ian urgse, analngThe Free Press Building, Volce of the County Town Michael lnBres Publisher - Mngn Editor 131 Brock Street North, The oniy Whitby newspaper independentiy owned and operated by Whitby residents for Whitby residents. P.O. Box 206, Whitby, On Where are the- Block,,Parents? it's that tirne of year again when chiidren are getting out of school and getting into the strèets. A normal warning for motorists to watch out for children at this'time shouid be suff iclent, but in Whitby we have a far greater probiem'than just a few children walklng down'the street or riding their bicycles. in certainparts of WhitlSy, West Lynde and the Blair *Park 'area particulariy, the children are using the ,.streets as a playground. When we deliver our papers ln these areas in the summe r months-, we find the streets littered with chiidren'stoys and young chlldren under the age of five, actu ally sitting in the roadways with no supervision by parents. We brought this matter to our readers' attention in the Free Press of June 29, 1977 after nearly running over some small children in West Lynde, but'now we feel we have to bring it -up again. Two weeks ago in the Blair Park area, our delivery * truck hadi to drive on the wrong side of the road to miss two littie boys, one of whom iwas sitting on the.curb and the other was sitting about thee feet out into the * roadway. We cal led to them to move, for their own safety, and there was -no response. We then approched them and' warned them for the second time to get off the. road. * Stili no respanse. À third warning resulted in one of the boys Iust shaking .his head and refusing to listen or move. Whether this cornes from Ignorance or Insolence, is difficuit to determine, but if this is the way our children respo'nd to caring_ citizens who are concerned about thei1r safety, we won der what their. pa rents a re, tea chi1n g * them. -" Withno response from these children, we had to' boclily Ilift thern off the road onto the boulevard, 50 we * couid turn the truck around without running over them. It was. oniy after we had started'to driv e off that, their mother came out ta see what was going on. Every home ln West Lynde and the Blair Park area is provided wlth a yard, which is usuaiiy fenced, sothere Is utterly no defensibl ereason why these children *should ýbe- playing in the street. The parents, who leave therh there' unsupervised would be the flrst to scream or sue If their precious darlings were run over by a car or truck. And the courts wouid blame the driver, not the parent.ý We can only assume the child wouid be considered too Young and ignorant of the dangers of the road,- ta receive any blame. The ciassic remark of ai l time, which we quote from aur editorial of June 29, 1977, is that made by a mother we spoke to in West Lynde. "Weil, they are flot my kids anyway," she said. * We cansider that ail parents should be responsible for keeping all Young chiidren off the roads. The town has spent a considerabie amnount of taxpayers' dollars in providing public parks, the subdividers have provided yards around the homes in subdivisions, and the owners have usualiy paid to have these yards fenced or hedged.. There is pienty of roomn for children ta play in safety and contentment in this community without risking their rives on the town's streets. We have a Block Parent organization in Whitby which was formed ta ensure the safety of our children. Where -~are these Block Parents, when dozens of youngchildren are ieft unattended to play in the streets? it seems ta us -that the Block Parents, instead of piacing 50 much emphasis on the dangers of being nt. CommvNJty Edltoi -Brian WinteT Contrlbuting Editor -JIM Quail Production Manager -Marj Burgess. Print,& Promnotionat1 -Robin Lyon Manager ClassÎtied Ad -Carole Bertin Mailing Permit No, 460 Member cnt the: Better Business Bureau of Toronto Whitby Chamber of Commerce Briefexplains whyllparents protest the moe oftheir Grade 6 students to. Whtby Senior school A Submission to The Durham Region Board 0f Education' by Citizens of' Towýn 0f Whitby in support 0f main'taining a Grade 6 at E.A. Fairman Public Sehool This deputation is being made by some of the ratepayers whose children will be affected by the prôposed removal of grade 6 at E.A. Fairman Public Sehool ta Whitby Senior Public School. They are ail opposed ta thé proposed change and have 50 indicated by signing the supporting petition filed with this submission. The Eflect on E.A. Fairman School: These citizen of Whitby have for years supported with their tax dollars, time and personal effort the development of E.A. Fairman Public School. They now see a reduced role for it in the community as exemplified by the lass of an excellent teacher in Kim McCarl and the demoralizing impact on the remaining teaching staff who will be allocated positions teaching lower grades. The suitability of Whitby Senior Public'School vis a vis E.A. Fairman Public School: The children being asked to move out of their home area will be 10 and il years oid. The school where they will be expected ta spend the full day is flot suitable for the purposes in several ways. There is no cafeteria and for the major, portion of the more than the one hour allocated for lunch periods they will be expected ta be outside the building whatever the weather conditions. These are children prepared by the system, from kindergarden, ta expect ta complete grade 6 at E.A. Fairman Public School. They will naw lose the benefits and maturation process of accepting the responsibiiity and pri vileges that normally accompany the final year at E.A. Fairman Public School, including special duties in the classes, school office and Safety Patrol. The Safety Patrol programme has depended upon the participation of the grades 5 and' 6 and would now be forced to operated with children in grade 4 who are too young to accept such'responsibility especially with the increased traffic a widened Walnut Street will create. They will miss the experience of beinig the senior students in relatiôfrto*the-zjest of the school grades. They are too im'mÎture and have flot been prepared ta be rnoved in among the aider chiidren of grades 7 and 8. The fearof the-parçnts is that the * mfivnce0fthe aIder children cannot- be bthr.,-than detrm'etaLitithe disproportionate ratio of students beiiig-3 grades 6, 6. ,grades I,$and -ý6 grades &. Moreover, the open, concept of' classes'at Whitby Se"nior, Puûbhe,ýchooI is more 'sutabe-for the aider -children. Adverse effect on children being moved There are special cases where additional help in mathenia- tics and reading is given ta children in grade 6 who are carrying some grade, 5 work at E.A. Fairman Public School and this would not be as easiiy'accomplished at Whitby Senior Public School, if at ail; These are children requiring 2 years ta develop, preferably with a senior peer group at E.A. Fairman Public. School whose progress wouid be impaired by another position junior to the grades 7 and 8. The system of busing children out of their home areas ties the children ta bus schedules denying them after school activities, sports and discipline. The buses are already over crowded with samé chiidren prefering ta cover the distance on foot. The proposed shift of student population would create a precedent of schools with grades from kindergarden ta grade 5 while their exists schools in the same are 'a of the system that carry from kindergarden ta grade 8, the mast desirable arrangement. Some school areas should not be expected ta subsidize the others in this* respect and if busing is ta occur then it should be equalized with each school bearing its proportionate share of dislocation. Older children better able ta make the transition would then be carried ta school on the buses. Proposais: There is general agreement amoung aur graup that the praposed remaval of grade 6 from E.A. Fairman Public School is unsatisfactory and represents a case of taking the children ta the space instead of the space ta the children. Each public school should include grades kindergarden ta 8. The problem is created by the existence of available space at Whitby Senior Public School, and it could be resolved by the sale of the Whitby Senior Public Schaol property and fie use of the proceeds ta eventually acquire smaller sites nearer ta the centres of population. The probleni seems ta, be exacerbated by aur shifting and expanding population area, one of the few in Ontario. As long as this S'iiuation exists, then there should be extensive use of portables such as those uiseàat.,West Lynde Public" School. and not more and expensive buîsàs lIhe, portables could bé nu>ve'd 'as required within the system and should be available at reasortabl è.tfrom tose areas in The Proyi>ce of Ontario which are losing stu eiftt ýpUIa ,-p.riis would bhoë"Çily pe rmit the existence of schools-càiryh ,,g - grades_ kindergardéen'té B1throughout our ares and brinig the demise of the undesirable s ystem-of-busing. w