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h ~ Teaching jobs not affected by decline in school enrolment a from ENROLMENT on page 1 occurred in Burlington, Milton and Georgetown. "It has cauted somte reorganiza- tion in the achools, which is to be donc by September 30," said'cdu- cation superintendent Paul Anthony. "Most of those reorgani- zations should be completed by now. We're trying to minimidze dis- ruption to staff and students." In tome cases, the effect of the thuffling ia that a student or clasa may begin the week with one teacher and have a different one by the end of it. Split-grade classes could be fonned or undone by the enrolment fluctuation. "We'll be within the 25:1 class- size ratio overali but we will have tome larger classes," added Mr. Anthony. The 285 figure caught tome trustees by surprise and generatcd queries as to whether the students are being loat to the rival Catholic hoard andlor pnivate schooling. "People are very disillusioned with our board," said Peter P etrusich. The Oakville trustee taid he has talked to tome of his con- ttituents who believe, as hie ducs, many famuiliet with a non-Catholic parent are opting to join the sepa- rate school board. "These people are voting with their feet and walking to the Catholic school down the street. We're losing our 'clients' forever. "That's 9-10 classes (fewer) and we get funded baaed on the number of students. What about staffing implications?," Mr. Petrusich asked. Mr. Anthofly agreed with Mr. Petrusich that the board was lucky ther.e would flot be a negative impact on teachers, such as the need for layoffs due to fewer pupils. Staffing figures are already "pret- ty tight", Mr. Anthony noted, adding there were several last- Minute requesta for leaves of absence as well as other teachers who moved on to other boards, all of which balanced the drop in enrolment. Halton Hilîs trustee and board Chair Ethel Gardiner termed the student decrease a «"real anomaly". Supenintendent AI Greyson said many factors could account for the signiticant drop in enrolment and hie would delve more deeply to come up with exact answers. Meanwhile, he offered some hypotheses. "Tis is the firat year we integrat- ed a différent (computer software) systeru in doing student enrolment projections. We're working on a different set of assumptions because we need to challenge tradi- tional ones" based on residential planning. "T'he Catholîc board is now get- tîng the higher ratio of (new) stu- dents," said Mr. Greyson, because more Catholic schools than public ones are being built around Halton Region. The uncertainty of the existence of some schools is likely playing a part in which system a parent puts their child, he added. The superintendent alto alluded to other possible explanations for a general decline in public board enrolment, including dual income faniilies delaying the start of hav- ing children or the switch to pnivate schooling. Busing regulations may also enter the picture, said Mr. Greyton. He noted the Halton board pro- vides busing to Kindergarten through grade 5 pupils who live more than 1.6 kilometres away froin their school and to students in grades 6-8 who are 3.2 km or far- ther away. Conversely, the Halton Catholic hourd buses students froni JK-8 if they are 1.6 km or more away. litemational Languages (Elementary) tion in nine.dlfferent lafiguages- cUusS Prograin is now underway and runs every are held i n boh Burli ngton and Oak ville. weekend throtsgh the school year. To register, or for more information, open to childrepfn ouryears oldto cailDooy WWe i(01 32-244, Large Feeders, Small Feeders, Tube Feeders, Suet Feeders, Fly through Feeders and many more feeders. We've got them ahl. And to bang your feeders, long poles, off set poles, double poles, short poles, tree limb hooks, baffles for squirrels, baffels for Racoons. Oh Yeah our bird seed won't be beat either. It~sailat -;tà MacKinnon Waterfalls & Ponds (Jui ves o te GO eiti Linda of Rambrandt Landscaping will be picking our pond contest Winners. This weeks winners will be announced in Next Fnidays Champion. It's going to be tough to choose. Ail the Ponds entered are a beautiful addition to the gardens.. Stili working hard to stay #1 7T ANNUAL ONE DAY j ' sA MAJIESTIC. ~i~eP/oe MAJESTIC * DV36 ey window *Brick Iining * Fan e Large surround trie À@.. A à