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Finding room ’ RC Board views accommodation biggest factor Enrolment projections, contained in the plan, show that the board is expecting a jump of approximately 1,200 students, about 200 per year, in the next five years. Pat Arbuckle Chronicle Staff Providing suitable accommodation for its 14,000 or more students will be the greatest challenge facing the Waterloo County Separate School Board in coming months. The Waterloo County public school board approved a similar plan in a separate meeting held Thursday. ‘"‘There is no question facilities, (findâ€" ing) accommodation in the right place will be our greatest short range challenge," said the board‘s acting director Jack Chiarelli. To accommodate the increased student enroiment, the separate school board has called for the construction of new Catholic high schools in both Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo and Cambridge and the hiring of 16 This was revealed in a 40â€"page impact statement approved by the board Thursâ€" day evening, which outlines how extended provincial government funding will be implemented in the Waterloo County separate school system. Both statements were forwarded immeâ€" diately to the government‘s planning and implementation commission in Toronto for approval. While, on the other hand _ The board also projects it will lose 50 ‘ Enrolment projections, included in an Mera mm es ht Arcknart Th ay evening, w that enrolment $s likely to decrease 300 students over the *‘‘We might have the right number of pupil places, but not the right kind of pupil places," he said. The board is currently looking into a number of options to resolve its immediate space problems: rental of facilities or programs from the public board; renovaâ€" tion of its own schools; the use of portable classrooms; the lease of public or private accommodation within the community. Moflhg' hg toâ€" the draft report, the .tutional: questions to be settled, adequate impact of : bmmw-q% Iluoi:fidnad“mmm The board previously announced it would offer Grade 11 next year at three junior high schools: St. David‘s in Waterâ€" loo, St. Benedict‘s and Monsignor Doyle, both in Cambridge. The schools are intended to serve as secondary facilities at least for a transitional period. Aithough the public school board is willing to share or lease its facilities, the report said that scheduling problems are likely to occur because of a:variance in At Thursday‘s meeting superintendent of Education Peter Hicknell explained that the board‘s accommodation problems spring from the fact that its junior high schools have been built according to elementary specifications and therefore lack suitable facilities for science, techniâ€" cal and physical education classes and office space for department heads and counselling services. â€" additional teachers in 1985, 19 in 1986, 15 in 1987, one in 1988 and three in 1989. funding has been recommended by the . Waterloo County Board to allow: constiâ€" to the system. This enrolment mmhawwfl limitation of program options in some The ‘board is not anticipating any staff in 1985 or 1986. "e* â€". A on¢â€"year delay in implementing full class length and lunch periods. In cases where technical facilities are shared, a system would have to be worked out to Among those taking part was the Jolly Green Giant, who left his home in the valley for an invigorating dip, and took home the prize for best cosâ€" Jack Chiarelli arrangements for the hiring of support staff. This hiring policy will remain in effect for 10 years. According to the draft plan, nonâ€"Catholic students will also be welcome in the separate system, but they must be preâ€" pared to participate in the entire school program, including religious education classes. Parental beliefs must also be compatible with the board‘s basic philosoâ€" phy. In hiring nonâ€"Catholic teachers, the board will consider only those who respect the philosophies of the Catholic school system and will require a character referâ€" The board is also making similar arrangements for the hiring of support In an interview after the meeting, Chiarelli said that he doesn‘t expect ‘"mass switches‘‘ from one school system to another as a result of the extended funding and believes that most teaching positions lost in the public board will be handed through attrition. The report was prepared by nine comâ€" mittees comprised of board trustees, administrative staff, teachers, principals, representatives of teacher associations, church officials and members of the general public. Although teachers hired from the board will suffer no pay reduction and will have seniority recognized, their salaries will be frozen temporarily until they match the separate board levels. The impact statement confirmed that when openings come available, the board plans to give first priority to hiring teachers and support staff whose jobs in the public board are declared redundant as a result of students shifting to the separate system. The board is also investigating the possibility of establishing a French lanâ€" guage Catholic high school in the county. With both St. Mary‘s and St. Jerome‘s hish schools experiencing crowding and al public _ ;h schools filled to capacity, the board .cels that the only longâ€"term solution to its space problems is the construction of a third Catholic high school in Kitchenerâ€"Waterloo in the near future and a fourth to be built eventually in Cambridge, the report said. determine who is responsible for equipâ€" ment maintenance, provision of material and pupil supervision, Hicknell said. Melodee Martinuk photos