The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

problems created by the movement tors of the two boards By TERRY FIELD OfThc Examiner When reviewing education in Simcoe Cathie4 with either board have genergliytthe resources as largerschools ty over the decade one event standsoutf Perhaps the keynreoourceszm untid the minds of educators who have trativebodies establishedttiolerate the throughout the 19703 the creation in 1969 of the county school board system the birth of both the Simcoe County board and separate school board and their evolution handling curriculum planning argd plant financingand soon te 01 system the al The arrival of the two la scammed fifihfnistry of education provided inspectors for boards meant the end to som smallboardoyjf each area of Ontario who acted 337advisors and education committees which to that and were the eyes of the le islature They point had organization of the educational of waited with the hundreds Small boards fcrings in the county reqigonsible in some cases for one elementary In the early part of the decade most time school was spent just overcoming organizational In general the move 103 count 3081111135 meant more sophisticat approach to all the problems facing school rd from daytoday says Harris In the past few years the ministry has made it theresponsibility of local boards to develop they own academic programs using ministry guidelines Both Simcoe County Boards have been actively assembling their own programs in various areas These programs are created with help in this county of teachers and can take into ac count needs of children here that may be dif ferent from those in other jurisdictions Har ris says Greoier degree of consistency had to be shifted an immenSe central it 1118 and bookkeeping system had to be 77 ed All that the smaller boards did If hir mg teachers to purchasing pencils ha to be donc on larger scale by newlycreated mcchanism complete with chinks that gave away its agc Tl Pllllems were eXlremelY in With the benefits however therehave been tortsuns recalls John McCullough drawbacks While centralization has aided Midland trustee and the board first chair the process of providing education the death man of local boards may have removed parents to We had some very sophisticated urban adegwefmmthe process boards and some small rural boards that in some cases kept their records in shoeboxes licyond the logistics of altering an entire PrlnClpOlS represent nctwolk of education systems the change to the county board has brought Changes county tIi$ChOOl and education wide inthe schools themselves say thedirec to were concerned at thetime over ss of their own board says Harris 399 Barrie can seem long way away to people fit in the extreme ends of the county Atone time there were about 160 public board trustees in the county today there are 21Both Bolger and Harris say school prin cipals have been cast in the role at the town and village level to make up for the loss in part The principals have come to represent the school and education generally in some com mum Bolger says HOpefully he adds with trustees and mm cipals all available parents are being served and are getting answers to questions they have But all considered and the pros and cons the move to county boards has been advantage and has contributed im fably to improving the quality of education being offered in Simcoe County ac cording to virtually everyone involved in the The move to county board systemihas mcant great many things to lot of pie says Irving Harris director ofthe coc County Boardof Education 0n the educational side the cirriculum side it has rcsultcd in greater degree of consistency around the county ICvtrything was standardized he says To Bill liolger director of the Simcoe Courts ty lioman Catholic Separate School Board the changcovcr was more than major reorganization It was he says large step towards ensuring each of the countys studcnts had the same educational opportuni ty as his or her peers thangcs made altered the methods used to htrc teachers and the salaries they were be ing paid It was not uncommon that smaller boards had financial problems and trouble at tractmg good teachers There are tremendous number of bcnclits to thc ccntralizcd approach to stallg mg serving providing programs Bulger College system becomeq The year 1967 tirioughtwithitthfm of ncw system of colleges strungacrosOntario designed to fill the chasm between university anti high school andprovidc an alternative to thc strictly academic training offered in in st It at ions of higher learning They were given various names but are known collcctivcly as community colleges offering practical approach to education and skill training says Wayne Busch presi dcnt of Georgian College Barrie economy by providing skilled employees for the industria machine but the economy is also serving the college system With ecdfibmic timesbeing tough many are going to therolleges because they are afraid no job wilIaWait them The state of the economy has added great impetus to the growth of the college system says Norm Williams chairman of the council of regents the body which g0verns the 22 schoolsl He also said genera acceptance to co Nimt pu tent of the 6000 day students leges and the employment possibilities it hr at the 22 schools have Grade 12 diploma lugs have made them Viable in the eyes of Int traditionally aretht ones who have not grams and studentsdurmg the 19705 gonc on to university but moved directly into thc work torcc It is for them the colleges ex ist Busch says SKIIIIIIIIRDIS is Morc and more people need specialized skills to get by and get job and that fig we provide he says tollegc programs covcr dozens of skill arcas from electrician to marine mechanic Thcy train technicians machine operators and even journalists The skill training is scrvcd up with dose of academic that is not mtcrior to univcrsity programs but geared toward again tthradc 12 grad Everything is relative while our acadcmic program may be easier than umvcrsity it may not be easy for the students wc have Busch says Skillcti tcchnicians and machine ope tors havc been lacking in Canada and thegufitges that is recognized by many While the system has grown and apphca tions for first year openings are up every year funding of the institutions has been in adequate and must improve if the schools are tolthprove says Busch Universities and school boards get more operating money than the colleges and that should be altered to make distribution of wealth more equitable he adds We need all three they all have role to play As society becomes more dependent on the seriiiceseof technicians and operators of machines and less on manual labor the education system must be altered to reflect those changes say both men can help corrch the imbalance BuSchIayS lhc collcgcs therefore are serving the Georgian College In Barri£Wi protticaiflopprooch to post secondory school education3DYflflg5jident Wayne Busch Examiner Photo Wi iiiitormity of serfice means the swam rds The county now has fulltime poor emotive The lt classroom setting has changed somewhat in the past decade with the experimenfol open Health By NANCY IIilIltZIIO Of The Examiner The 1970s was decade that brought physical fitness to the forefront anti diets to everyones mind but it was the eradication of one disease in particular that will mark the 19705 in the annals of health and medicine says Dr David Korn Simcoe Countys medical officer of health On Oct 26 1977 Ali Maow Maalin cook in Somalia Africa became the last known case of smallpox recorded by the World Health Organization WHO Oct 26 1979 after two fruitless years of searching for further cases smallpox was declared eradicated from the face of the earth the first time any disease has ever been eradicated believe this is probably one of the greatest if not the greatest achievement in the annals of medicine Dr Korn told The Examiner Smallpox once considered the scourge of Asian0t only leaves survivors scarred for life but also is one of the oldest known diseases to man Medical problems can be eliminated Smallpox an acute iral infection is spread by close respiratory contact The disease in its major form kills 211 to to per cent of its Victims and in its minor form three to five per cent says Dr Korn In January 1967 when the World llcalth Organization embarked on the task of eliminating smallpox bctwccn 10 and 13 million people suffered front it Dr Korn says the eradication of small pox is proof that through participation on worldwide scale many medical problems can be attacked and eliminated As the 1970s saw the eradication of small pox the 19805 could see the eradication of measles says Dr Korn Measles havc Characteristics of small pox he sits Measles likc small pox are easily recognized arc found only in humans and there is an cxccllcnt vaccmc now available to combat it To date Americans more so than ana dians however have exhibited desire to eradicate mpnsles many of the The United States has picked up the challenge and is running quite an age gressive program says Dr Korn In 1978 seven states reported less than lo cases of measles in the year In most States it is mandatory that children be vaccinach against mcaslcs before entering school In Canada no such laws exist Dr Korn blames thc absence of such laws on failure of comnutmcm by the Cana dian government and by Canadian doctors Measles which are ensilv transmitted can lead to pneumonia encephalitis brain damage and death In third world coun trics measles are often thc thing that finishes off kid he says Dr Korn would like to see thc day when Canadian children like American childrcn must be immunizcd against mcastcs but says such law could raise questions of civil liberty But if we have chance to prevent something the community should bc responsible to that he says Dr Korn also believes that in the 1980s strate could be developed to eradicate polio though he says that would be more difficult than eradicating measles He says however that in the 19805 the greatest challenge in Canada is to change our lifatyles We arent dymg from in curable viruses he says but from our lifestyles Canadian study 111 19171 showtd that in men agcs rill to 33 motor vchiclc tlttlllt11gt are the number one cause of death followed by suictdcs heart disease and drow mugs For Canadian women in the same age bracket motor vehicle accidents are also listed as the number one cause of death followed by suicide breast cancer anti strokes In the 1980s lung ca nccr could well be add cd to the list of ailments killing women There is an increasing phenomenon of smoking among teenage girls says Dr Korn Traditionally it has always been much less acceptable for women to smoke but thats not so anymore As result lung cancer in women is increasing It is the impact of chemically induced cancers and the identification of chemicals related to cancer which will likely dominate the medical forefront in the 19805 he says Although lung cancer among women is on the rise cancer of the cervic is the second most common type of cancer afflicting iOIIlCIl if 42 Dr an id Korn now pipclcss Health officer quiiier Practising what he preaches is one of the aims of Simcoe Countys medical officer of health Dr David Korn who has often said that anadiam must change their lifestyles if they intend to live long healthy lives recently altcrcd his lifestyle Dr Korn 37 began smoking pipe at about the agc of 17 In October he broke the hbit It was picture of him in The Ex aminer pulling on his pipe that prompted him to quit never considered seriously giving up my pipc he says But after seeing that picture rcalircd that part of my job is to sci an examplc role models are very im portant lhc picturc he says shot down his credibility It was the straw that broke the camels back It has now been three months since he quit And although he is just taking one day at time he says really not smoking Dr Korn is also nondriirkor and ing fanatic He runs about 60 to 70 every week run because like it he says Its in cidental in some ways that it is also good for me With running feel little more at pumi with myscll and more in control of my lllt ltcully thats not con Running is vcry pltntsurablc style learning place of the 60s becoming the norm of the 705 School boards in Simcoe County smallpox gm Wen the examiner Thursday Dec 27 f9 Traditionally cancer is more common to women while heart disease is more com mon to men Biologically women are more adept via their hormones at protecting themselves from heart disease says Dr Korn The middle aged man who smokes lncreosing phenomenon ofsmoking among teens doesnt exercise and is 13 pounds overweight is prime candidate for heart disease but there is plenty he can do to prc vent it says Dr Korn In Canada today heart attacks are in epidemic proportions he says But that doesnt have to be so The onus rests on the individual to modify his lifestyle says Dr Korn have also experienced great change over the last decade but have sirived to keep the level of education at high standard Examiner Photo dicoiion stood out in decade of me generation Advertising campaigns and better ctittctr tion are stcps in the right direction but the desire to change must conic from the divitlual he says Each of us in pact moment has to colnc to gut with ourselves he says The responsibility however of Informing pcoplc about changing1 their lilcsty lcs must come from areas such as the Simcoe ounty llcalth Dcpartnicnt the media and the schools saysIr Korn In the 1980s the health department plans to increase their visits to high schools The idea is not to scare the hell out of anyone but to let people know there arc lots of things that can be done he says The challcngc tiircctly to Simcoe ounty in the limos says Dr Korn is to insure we plan rationally for our anticipach popula tion growth He says howcvcr that the area as well doctorcd community We have high level both in quality and in numbers of doctors in this arca he says We are very lortunatc Social concerns brought to light Child abuse problems of the aged will likely dominate social matters in the 1980s but the seeds for their domination were sown years ago In report entitled Child Abuse Report 1978 the coordlnator of Child Abuse for the Simcoe County Childrens Aid Society said the society received and investigated 120 complaints of abuse against children in the county That figure was up 20 per cent from 1977 And 1979 to date has been no exception This year the society received 111 com plaints of child abuse David Gordon told The Examiner Although figures have not yet been compiled for location time of year and initial source of referral for the abuse figures for 1978 show relationship between the time of year and the number of abuses thatoccur In 1978 the following abuse figures were recorded January six February six March 10 April nine May 19 June 16 July 12 August five September seven October eight November 14 and December eight The increase in cases from 1978 to 1979 was not as large as the increase from 1977 to 1978 As Gordon explains this was probably because in 1978 the Child Welfare Act was changed LIABLE TO FINE Under the new Child Welfare Act per son is liable to fine of not more than 81000 if found guilty of falling to report that child is suffering from abuse According to Gordon the countys cases of child abuse are not exceptional Ive heard it said that Simcoe County has higher number of child abuse cases than other areas he said But dont know where people get this information from Gordon believes the incidents of child abuse can be reduced if the public is made more aware of it Courses on effective parentiroifi will also be luable he says to assist parentfin becoming bet ter hesays Education he says is the key In the human relations curriculum at small sec tion of it is devoted to child abuse Weve got to start talking about it at an early age he says REPORT IMMEDIATELY According to the ministry of community lilllltlit no worse hcrc and social services cases of suspected abuse should be reported immediately to the area childrens aid society even if it in volves confidential or privileged informa tion Anyone who reports suspected violence or neglect is guaranteed protection from civil liability unless the giving of the informa tion is done maliciously or without reasonable grounds to suspect that the in formation is true childrens aid social worker in vestigates each report and as required will enlist other professional and community resource people ior help The societys first duty is to protect child from immediate harm and to prevent further or more serious damage 192 ltvyecw