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4 - The Canadien Champion, Tuead ,oember 25,1997 Harris is in Milton for dinner Premier Mike Harrs will be in the vil- lage tonight for a Progressive Conservative fundraiser. The traditional Tory event at Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville will start with a reception at 6 p.m., at which time Premier Harrs is expected to make a speech. A $300 a plate dinner wilI follow at 6:30 Mike Harris p.m. Correction on delivery A postal strîke story in Friday's Champion stated that seniors' pensions cheques were deliveredMTursday. In actual fact, it was child tax benefit (baby bonus) and some employment cheques Uiat were mailed by striking postal A Canada Post spokesman confirmed yesterday that old age security, pension and employment insurance cheques wili be delivered tomorrow. The remaining employment cheques will also be deliv- ered. The newspaper apologizes for the RememberU SLE30s0t W00nteFF Bill 160 powers.already there for most part, says RC director By CAROL BALDWIN Special ta The Champion Fred Sweeney is flot sure what ail the fuss over Bill 160 is about. The director of education with the Halton Catholic School Board says many of the pow- ers the bill affords the govemment were already under its control. In an attempt to help Catholic trustees understand Bill 160, Mr. Sweeney and Steve Balogh, superinten- dent of human resources with the Catholic board, pro- vided a step-by-step presentation ai hast week's English language board meeting. "The bill says the govemnment couhd regulate the achool year, school holîdays, the length of the terni. Many of those powers the govemment had by regula- tion anyway," said Mr. Sweeney. "Anything thai's there (in the govemning amendments) the ministry could do before." Mr. Sweeney told the trustees the stated goals of the bill were to improve quality and accountability, to focus resources in the classroom, and to streamline the organization. He questioned how the government would accomplish the second item white removing another $770 million from the system. "Over $2 billion in a five-year period bas been hopped off the education systern province wide," he said, adding that the third goal was already being implemented by reducing the number of trustees and their salaries. Removing the word "advisory" from the clause per- taining to achool counicils seemed to be the item thai tmoubied Mr. Sweeney the moat. "ht can mean that schooi councils wili have more than an advisoiy rote, or that they will be nothing at ail, like a PTA," hie said. "I tend to think the rote of the trustees will be lessened... I think it is an attempt on the part of the govemrment to change its mmnd on the rote of achool councils." In the bill's amendment conceming the Education Improvemrent Commission (EIC), Mr. Sweeney said, 'The EIC cannot give us direction, only advice." He noted that such a clause did flot mean Uhc govemment had given up on its "Great plan of wiping us (the sepa- rate school board) out. 1 stili believe there's a possibil- Finally Mr. Sweeney iold the trustees that Bill 160 gave thc boards of education the ability to -require teachers to work ail or part of thec Ove working days preceding the start of the achool year. 'Mat way the boards wîll become the bad guys," hie said. Mr. Balogh followed Mr. Sweeney with a presenta- tion on clasa sizes, teacher requirements and prep time. According to Mr. Balogh, Bill 160 limits csass sîzes to 25 in" elementary achools and 22 in secondary schools. "The formula for determining class size is entrenched in the regulations," he said. "And boards wiii have to publicize their numbers to the public." However, Mr. Balogh said he is flot sure how the govemment wil average the elementary clasa size - from junior kindergarten to grade 2 and grades 3 to 8, or from junior kindergarten through to grade 8. "Right now grades 1 and 2 are aliowed a maximum of 20. They are already contmolled. Our current class size is about 22.1 in junior kindergarten, 23.22 in senior kindergarten, 19.86 in grades 1 and 2, and 30.67 in grades 3 to 8," he said. "Right now, other than grades 3 to 8, we're in the bail park. "But no matter how they look at it, we will be adding teachers," he said "We'il cither be adding 18 or 64 teachers no matter what range they include in the average cîsas size." As for the secondary achools, Mr. Balogh said the numbers are flot as clear, and the Roman Cathoiic board wouid either be adding or subtracting about 40 teachers. Burlington Trustee James Sherlock interjected, "It's ese. Bill 160 on page 9 Programn Assistant The Department of Leisure Services requires a Program Assistant to work at the Seniors' Activity Centre and other community facilities. This is a 10 month contract consisting of a replacement for an employee on maternity leave and ongoing program support at the Seniors' Actlvity Centre. Period of contract November 1997 - September 1998 commeno- ing ai 2 days per week and increasing over the contract period to a maximum of 35 hours per week. BUTIES & RESPNSIBILITIES: " Co-ordinate programs for a variety of age groups ... children & youth, seniors, and adufts. " Develop, promote, supervise. and evaluate program opportunities for seniors, children, youth and adults " Involvement in the areas of staff supervision, qualty control, customer service, and some community liaison furictions. " Assist with the co-ordination and promotion of special events in association wlth a nun- ber of volunteer groups. " Department representative to a variety of volunteer committees. DUAULAFICDI *Degree/dliploma in Physical Education. Gerontology, or Recreation Leadership. *Possess effective organizational and communication skhlls. *Wilingness to work irregular tiaurs including evenings and weekends. *Computer experlence in Word, Excel, and Publisher. *Current and vald Standard First Aid and Level C CWR certification an asset. Notice to El, TAGS, Employment Traince Programs, OAS and CPP Recipients Alternative cheque distribution and claimant reporting during the postal disruption. Human Resources Development Canada bas made alternative arrangements for picking-up -and dropping off Employment Insurance, The Atlantic Groundfish Strategy (TAGS) and Employment Trainee Progranis cheques and claimant report cards duning postal disruptions. Claimants may pick up their cheques and retumn their bi-weekly report cards through I-RDC cheque distribution centres. Clients will be required to show two pieces of identification in order to pick up their benefit cheques. Claimants served by: Cheques available at: LOP IBO OAKVUILLE- LOP 1EO CHEQUE LOP hio DISTRIBUTION L6H CENTRE M6 Traf'algar Village Mail L6K 125 Cross Street L6L .Unit #11 L6M Oakville, Ontario L9T Hours of oporation: Monday to Friday 10:00 a.m. to, 4:00 p.m. Old Age Security, Canada Pension Plan and Government Annuity cheques will be delivered on November 26th as usual. Postal disruptions will have no effect on clients who receive their benefits by direct deposit. Effective Monday, November 24th, Employment Insurance clients cen phone a bilingual tolt. free number and enter their postal code to find out where to pick up their cheque: 1-800-POSTAL3 ~ Cana&_