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Teacher narrowly accept board contract Continued from page 3 "From many of our memâ€" bers‘ points of view, the fiveâ€" perâ€"cent wage increase pales in comparison to the 11 per cent increase in workload." To help offset some of that increased workload, the local public board has agreed to hire 26 monitors to help provide assistance in student _ supervision _ in schools for teachers unable to provide this service on their ful} schedule. These paraprofessionals will be in place by Nov. 13 to support and assist teachers and school administration in their efforts to ensure safe and secure schools. Another point of conâ€" tention which arose out of the ratification vote was how the wage increase will be paid for by the local board including â€" reductions in staffing by 40 teaching posiâ€" tions, the reduction in the number of guidance counâ€" sellors, and the reduction in the number of departments and department heads. By the 2001â€"2002 school year, the 19 departments in every secondary school will be reduced to 11 departâ€" ments. In addition, the English and social sciences departments will be the only onea with a head and an assistant head That move will save $4,786 for each department head eliminated, and is still in line with the curriculum changes being implemented as part of Secondary School Reform in the province. And Brohman said most of his members blame the province instead of the board for the changes both negotiated and legislated that they‘ve had to deal with over the last five years. Given the funding for mula, our board did the best they could do for us," said Brohman, who has been part of the OSSTF‘s bargainâ€" ing committee for the last four sets of negotiations. "We have to keep pointing back to what we think is the problem with the situation which is the amount of funding being provided by the provincial government." Jim Vair, superintendant of Human Resources for the local public board, said he was pleased they were able to strike a fair deal with more than 1,290 local high school teachers. The wage increase will be paid through the staff reductions and savings and the 1.95 per cent the board received in this year‘s fundâ€" ing envelope from the province. "One of the things this collective agreement does is reach a fair settlement, but does it within the existing budget," said Vair. "It sets ROMEO COURT LIFE LEASE RESIDENCES Just For You From $90,900 Prices Increase Nov. 1" â€" Act Now! Stratford‘s Newest 55 plus Adult Lifestyle Community Let‘s Start Hanging Out With Folks Our Own Age! Vair said none of those savings will come from proâ€" gramming cuts. "The reducâ€" tions we‘ve put in place for staffing more than make up for the cost of the salary adjustment," said Vair. that precedent for other negotiations as well. "If we‘re looking for salary adjustments we have to look within the dollars made available in the board‘s budâ€" get." The public board is stil negotiating with its primary school teachers, with talks continuing agaity next week. Meanwhile, locat sepaâ€" rate school secondary teachâ€" ers have asked for a conciliaâ€" tor, while the Waterloe Catholic school board conâ€" tinues to negotiate with its elementary teachers. One area still unresolved is the amount of extraâ€"curâ€" ricular activities that will be available for local students. Both the board and the teachers have agreed that those activities are voluntary and it‘s up to individual teachers to decide if they wall provide them. Members of Waterioo‘s Communities m Bloom entry travelled to Edmonton on the weekend to compete in the national blooms competition. Waterloo finished one point and one bloom short as national winner in the 50,001 to 100,000 category to Kanata, Ontario. Kanata now goes on to the International competition. Receiving the second place award for Waterloo are, left to right, Bruce Hawkins, Angela Vieth, Mark Whatey, Mayor Joan McKinnon and master gardener Mary Ann Gilhuly. Four blooms for Waterloo 80 KING ST SOUTH (ACROSS FROM WATERLOO TOWN SQUARE: WATERLOOG, ONTARIO + (§519) 888â€"9200 LRLofer *Network instaliation *Fullâ€"Ser vice Consulting »Web Hosting »Computer Training * Searchable Business Directory! *Free Classified Ads! *News and Info about your community! the mad netter #3 â€" 10 regina street n. (519) 886.1099