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Scare tactic?.... Vol'. 14, No. 5 Wednesday, February 1, 1984 20 Pages ;1 84tj be . ) iiQIl ob Residentiai growth in 'Nhitby could iiterally grind to a hait if the Durham Board of Education accepts ai proposai by a local trustee. Trustee John Buchanan has proposed that the board refuse to, approve any new sub- division. agreements because it may flot lx able to provide even the minimum of. éducation~ services to the childreri that wiI live in them. Buchanan toid the Free Press Monday that he has been forced to put forward the measure because the board will flot receive any funds to built new schoois or improve existing ones from the Ontario Ministry of Education until next year at the earliest. If the measure is adopted it. wiil face angry response from town and'regionai of- ficiais who have made growth their number one priority over the past few years. It wiil aiso mean sub- stantialiy larger tax in- creases because lack of growth wiil mean a shrinking in the assessment base on which taxes are based. However, Buchanan said he isn't proposing the measure for this reason. "We weren't doing it for that purpose," he maintains, "We may flot be able to handie the new kids coxning in, we may not be able to house them." Buchanan points out that most Whitby public schools already face severe overcrowding problems. Whitby Senior Public alone is at least 100 students over capacity, he pointed out. In his report to the board, Bu chanan makes referance to a letter from a senior éducation miistry officiai' that states projects originaily siated for this year may be construc- ted and financed in 1985. "This letter informed us rather abruptly that ail 1984 capital projeets would be put off until 1985 and that the 1984 projects would have to be prioritized for possible consideration ithat the ministry funds ~75 per cent of these Sprojets 50 the financial fburden that could be iplaced on the Durham iBoard is great indeed. It aiso means that itrustees wiil have to Ireneg on promises made to existing local residen- -ts about school con- struction in their sub- division. "They've left us high iand dry," Buchanan isaid. "What we've been promising local residen- tsfor the lastl10years we can't do. The funding isn't there." If this situation con- tinues the board may have great difficulty providing space for the children that are already in school and who already live here waiting to get into school. "We've got a problemn. It's like having a deniand you can't handie because the funding isn't there. " Buchanan also dlaims that the ministry has shifted the politicai responsibility for the situation to the board. "It has left our board holding the bag and we wil now have to explain to our taxpayers why they wii not be getting the new school, general purpose room, addition or* renovation that they had been promised." The delays in ap- proving these capital projects will not necessariiy.be just one year Buchanan fears. "This wil resuit in our system being hard pressed or unable to meet the needs and ex- pectation of the existing and new residents in our region. " The trustee adinits that he proposed this measure in an effort to get other local politicians to pressure the Ontario goverrnent for more education fun- ding. If the municipality cannot get the new sub- divisions approved, they would then be forced to ask the Minister of Municipal Mffairs and Housing to intervene with the Minister of Education for funding. So, the measure bas become a bit of a scare 1 i I Board ma-Yput ahaitt-o future gro wth