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AÀGE 32, W4ITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 1988 Brown: Satisfied with board's performance Ian Brown, incumbent of the publie school board, says he is quite satisfied with the board's performance over his eight years as a trustee. The budget and provincial funding are the key to the pro- blems both the past and new board have faced and will face in the future, according to Brown. "Unless the funding formula is changed portables will be needed. *e will have to intensify lobbying efforts, and already have a good rapport with MPPs and the Minister of Education," said Brown, who is employed as a resource person with the Scar- borough sch ool board. He has two children. The lobbying efforts of parents will play a large role in getting the ministry to allocate more funds, he added. Brown said. that the board established a list of capital expenditures for the next few years, and prioritized them according to greatest need. "We have a list of capital expenditures, and our next pro- gram in Whitb is an addition to Pringle Creek (public school),"he said. However if the ministry does not raise-tke level of funding to Durham and does not change class size guidelines for that funding, Brown said that drastic measures, such as shifts, may be necessary at some chronically overcrowded schools. Of the teacher shortage Brown said that the board had1 been recruiting actively in tea- chers' faculties across the pro- vince, especially for French, French immersion, science, maths and tech teachers. "We are involved in a consor- tium with Dufferin and Peel boards at the U of T, teaming student teachers with teachers here,» Brown added, indicating that these student teachers may then have the incentive to come to Durham when they graduate. He is quite proud of the staff development opportunities offered by the board. Busing, to Brown, is not an issue. "It is equitable (busing policy), and I want a review of the whole transportation policy. I don't necessarily agree with the dis- tances," he said, adding that he thought that children are cap- able of walking longer distances than specified by the busing policY. "Te policy will be rolled into the next budget and be presented as figures. Trustees will deal with it (busing) on a whole basis." On The Lord's Prayer, Brown said, "I don't think anything can be done about it and the minis- try has indicated that it will not appeal the decision." "It is regrettable, because five individuals in Sudbury have affected hundreds of thousands of students, parents and tea- chers." Brown noted that students are still permitted to have Bible readings, sing God Save the Queen and O Canada - all with biblical references. Communication with the Town has been good, and is a "lot better now. But better coop- eration is needed in plannin of walkways, laying out of us routes, rather than busing (by the board of education)." He would like to see develo- pers donate land in new develop- ments for school construction. "When we purchase land for a school, we are paying top dollar, while the Town gets five acres free for a park »Brown said. "In terms o accomplishments, I am pleased to have been a major player in board, commit-. tees. Our curriculum develop- ment plan is widely sought after, and winners (of student subject contests) are coming out of our ears. "I am proud of our financial management, of our non-deben- ture or projects. We are the lowest spenders in the province, we are proactive in pa equity, on energy conservation. Buchanan: Concern over Province's tax plan An incumbent trustee of the public board, John Buchanan is quite concerned with the Province's suggestion that it collect all property taxes, residential, commercial and industrial, and redistribute them to the boards of education. Property taxes are collected by the municipality currently, and distributed to various areas, such as the board of education. "Now we (the municipality) collect the taxes, and invest them until we need them. We're picking up several thousands in investments, to help alleviate the tax burden of taxpayers," said Buchanan, a 23-year policeman in Metro Toronto. He has three children, age 23, 19 and 12. He is concerned that the taxes will be collected by the Province and that the money will not be redistributed according to the board's needs. Asserting that the board has not gotten any clear answers as to how the Province will distribute the money equitably to all municipalities and school boards, Buchanan feels "The Province should stay right out of it."1 "Where does it stop? The next thing is that they take all of it, with our autonomy." The Province, Buchanan said, is now funding only 45 per cent of education costs in Durham, from a previous level of 60 per cent. What the ministry does give to the boards is usually with restrictions, or mandates for use in designated programs, he said. "I think the person paying better than 51 per cent (of the education bill) has the right to say what happens with the money. The ministry has lost its right to mandate," Buchanan said. Another bone Buchanan has to pick with the ministry is that the mandated programs are funded only to the point of establishment, then the public is left to fund the programs. Often the programs are not appropriate for the board, he said. Buchanan would like to see the board accept mandates for programs only on a trial basis, or until the Province discontinued funding, to ensure that such programs do not become the burden of the already overbur- dened taxpayer. Buchanan is a supporter of the French immersion program , and is pleased that the new busing policy passed by the board last year will implement busing for these students (in next year's budget). In response to the overall French teacher shortage across Ontario, (especially in growth boards), Buchanan said, 'We have petitioned the provincial govern- ment, heads of universities and colleges to increase enrolment in French language programs." He added that some boards have requested that the ministry accept the qualifications of teachers from Quebec. The Durham Board of Education has no problem with this,-he added. Buchanan said overcrowding is caused by two main factors _ the provincial Ministry of Education and the poor planning of the municivality. «We have made comments on subdivisions, saying that it was inappropriate to build in various places." Buchanan added that these comments are largely ignored by the Town. "We're reluctant to go to the OMB (on these matters), as it costs thousands of dollars and we (usually) end up losing the deci- sion. We need more power to enforce things," Buchanan said. He said he would like the board to be able to deny a school if a subdivision is built without board approval. The Ministry of Education's class size guidelines are another source of trouble, as the ministry has indicated that 35 students per class is optimum class size and funding is based on this figure. The Durham board has an average class size of 25, Buchanan said, and this is why school construction and additions are so chronically underfunded. "For the program half (of fund- ing), the (ministry) ratio is 20 students to one teacher. The housing half is for 35 students to one teacher," Buchanan said. As for removal of The Lord's Prayer from school morning exercises, Buchanan has both a "board opinion" and a personal view. "It's been removed by provin- cial mandate, based on a court decision on the Charter of Rights. "In my personal view, I can't see anything in the prayer that relates to any specific religion. The separate system can still use it, how can it be constitutional for them and not for us?" Buchanan said he will support the board should it decide to take legal action opposing the deci- sion, and will further investigate the situation by reading the deci- sion. Butson: Don't rule out debenturing by board Candidate for Whitby public school trustee, Joe Butson feels that he brings a wealth of pertinent experience, including his occupation as an account manager with the Royal Bank in Markham. Butson feels debenturing is a solution to the board's critical underfunding situation. The current board will not debenture, or go into debt, to fund any of its programs, yet is faced with chronic funding difficulties as the Province has cut funding, he notes. "While this approach is prudent and ensures that debt servicing does not place a strain on me buaget (cash flow), ruhng out debenturing places a limitation on the options the board has in managing the growth in Durham Region," Butson said. The debt created could be eliminated without difficulty, he added, as the board has successfully done so in the past. The loss of The Lord's Prayer saddens Butson personally, but "as a public official, he believes that the trustee has an obligation to respect the decision of the Supreme Court of Ontario. "Personally, I feel that The Lord's Prayer has a place in our schools so long as those farmilies who do not wish to have their children participate are given, the right to opt out of reciting The Lord's Prayer. The French immersion program should be expanded, Butson said, and made available to more students. "Equitable, safe access to this program should be a priority. I favor expansion of this program, provided that funds are available and other programs do. not suffer." On capital projects, Butson said, "Funding of new schools or renovations or additions to existing schools - remains a priority for the Durham Region." Butson is concerned that the public board is not getting its fair share of provincial funding. "Since the ratio of funding to the public school board vis-a-vis the separate board has eroded to the point tht allocations from the Province to the Region are two-thirds to the separate versus one-third to the public, I favor a more balanced allocation, at least 50-50." Lobbying by the board and by parents would rectify the situation, Butson believes. Butson's priorities for Durham public education are the development of junior kinder- garten, expansion of day care facilities, busing for French immersion students, new school construction and improving the classroom programs. As the father of one in the system, a Sunday school teacher and former member of the advisory committee for Durham Youth Employment Services, Butson feels that he has a "vested interest" in the future of public education in Durham. Flewweiling: Eliminating portables is one objective Eliminating portables, intro- ducing junior kindergarten and improving board-ministry com- munication are just a few of objectives Mark Flewwelling, 31, would like to work toward if elected as trustee to the -public school board. Flewwellinghas been active on the Palmerston public school F arents advisory committee, the ormer Education Action Com- mittee, and has three children in the public system. He is a branch manager with the Bank of Nova Scotia. Overcrowding in schools Flewwelling said, is partially caused by a lack of communica- tion and cooperation between the Town and the board in planning new subdivisions. The ministry and the board's differing criteria for class/teacher ratio is another problem. "With the 30 to 1 ministry ratio and Durham having 20 to 1 on average, any new schools are automatically filled to capacity. It's time the board gets together with the ministry and asks them to bring their average down , and pressure the ministry for financ- in," Flewwelling said. lewwelling feels that his 13 years in business administration, handling budgets and auditing, will help in creating a capital budget for the board. In the creation of a capital oudget, "obviously a major con- cern .is the overcrowding situa- tion. An individual elected to the board must possess the ability to prioritize. The school board is a usiness, with a social effect." On busing, Flewwelling made the comment that it "doesn't appear equitable." To make the busing policy equitable, he plans to study the whole issue and work to make adjustments as necessary. French immersion is an "excel-. lent idea. With today's stan- dards, it is almost essential. It is costly to expand it, and is some- thing that will require review- ilewwelhing does not feel that The Lord's Prayer should have SEE PAGE 33