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graphic examples weekender november lit 1987 p3 aids program may raise parents ire by paul pivato staff reporter condoms and artificial penises may be brought into markham classrooms as part of an aids education program approved by public school trustees this week warning trustees to be pre pared for angry phone calls director of education bob cress- man told board members the new program cannot skirt issues and one of those controversial issues he said included showing students how to use a condom in order to prevent aids and other venereal diseases are we going to see artificial penises and condoms in the clas sroom he said lets not have any surprises this is a prog ram that cannot skirt issues cressman referred to a recent dispute in calgary where irate pa rents want to eliminate an aids education program from the schools he then urged the board to preschool centre in tight squeeze by steve houston staff reporter a buttonville nursery school owner will likely have to find a new facility in 1988 after notice was given by the town that it wouldnt renew its annual lease but parents whose children attend the kiddies country preschool in the townownsd womens institute building on woodbine ave plan to petition the town for reconsideration owner cindy rudolphsmith was notified in july that her lease wouldnt be renewed this year she will have to vacate the building after august 1988 rudolphsmith has been in the womens institute building for the last three years after parents helped the school relocate when it had to move from markham pentecostal church but regional councillor ron moran cautioned that the town hasnt decided what it will do with the building he added that the preschool whose only access is from the town headquarters parking lot has been the cause of parking congestion he said a meeting will be scheduled to consider uses for the building and is aware of the petition being circulated by local parents the building could be turned into a community centre for the button ville community he added it leaves our options open the owner can come before us moran said in an interview but we keep getting asked for space all over we cant be a real estate body rudolphsmith fears space shortages in the town will stymie efforts to relocate the preschool but she said support and involvement of parents will be ongoing to aid in finding a new preschool location right now we have nowhere to go she said theres a real lack of facilities in the area bring any potentially controver sial issues out into the open jean mclafferty a member of the york region aids commit tee confirmed that some teachers will bring condoms into the classroom and show students how they are used but unionville trustee anne atkins said explicit measures such as demonstrating how to use a condom may be unacceptable to unionville residents she said people should have the option to exclude children from the program staff members told trustees that since the new aids curricu lum falls under the boards family life and sex education program parents can exempt their children from the class trustees were generally enthu siastic about the new aids educa tion program which was de signed by the ministry of educa tion richmond hill trustee janet mabley said that in the case of aids awareness ignorance is not bliss people can stick their heads in the sand if they want to she said their heads may be protected but the rest of their bodies will be exposed to this particular virus aids the new program which stres ses sexual abstinence and re sponsible sexual decision making will start in grade 7 and continue through to grade 12 the board will sponsor aids implementation workshops for parents beginning in early de cember the first local workshop is slated for wednesday dec 9 at unionville high school parents will be informed about upcoming workshops through school newsletters markham op off to province by steve houston staff reporter the town of markham approved its new official plan op tuesday after nearly a year of public controversy and debate a small group of local residents and developers made final com ments and it will now be for warded to the provincial govern ment for final approval town officials heard again from local conservationist stephen marshall representing save the rouge valley system and referred his recommendation for land conservation policies in the op to planning director tom januszcwski markham councillor gord landon said the town will likely dictate conservation needs on a per site basis but the town refused to act on a request by a local developer to allow industrial growth north of major mackenzie dr west of woodbine ave mayor carole bell said ample opportunity was given to the pub lic to provide opinions on the plan and added that it will permit more moderate growth than in past years the plan may not be all things to all people but i believe weve mayor whoops a driver for gottardo bros lifted his bucket and hit overhead wires monday afternoon pulling down the stoplight the mishap occur red at mccowan rd and 14th ave causing traffic tieups and snarled tempers as well as wires sjoerd witteveen big three tough with province by steve houston staff reporter markham has followed rich mond hill and vaughan in a unanimous vote to petition the province for special funding pri vileges in high growth areas members debated tuesday be fore passage of a resolution iden tical to that of richmond hill and vaughan those two municipali ties also unanimously favored the plan but if legislation doesnt come the three will demand a review of york regions political structure to recognize the need for equi ty to provide urban services however most councillors emphasized that the town isnt criticizing the region in its opera tion or of its disbursement of funds for high growth areas like markham the town says the intent of the resolution is to garner more of the provincial pie to meet service de mands growth has placed on municipalities like markham vaughan and richmond hill there are other levels of gov ernment the province that are not acting responsibly when it comes to pouring money back into this and other communities said regional councillor frank scar- pitti at the meeting scarpitti was successful at re gional council on thursday to have a report prepared outlining monies being spent in markham by york government but thornhill councillor mike popovich bluntly stated that the three municipalities which make up twothirds of yorks popula tion might consider withdrawing from the regional scheme he also said the town shouldnt be concerned about implied messages contained in the re solution say ing the plan is hot a critic ism of york regional government doesnt necessarily mean it isnt a criticism said popovich obviously something is wrong perhaps we should see some of the benefits of not belonging to york region regional chairman eldred king said he disputes any allega tions that the southern municipa lities are being shortchanged by the region in its funding policies he also denied that the move by the three will cause a political rift between yorks northern and southern municipalities using general tax levy con tributions for roads construction from the three king pointed out that each has been given more than any other municipality for roads projects in markham he said taxpayers contributed 1 24 million for roads projects this year whereas some 58 million is committed for con struction i don t think this is necessarily going to cause a split said the chairman- they need some additional urban services but weve all been fighting for them but markham councillor gord landon said the town isnt point ing fingers he said there is just not enough money to go around regional councillor ron moran said a review of the regional structure could improve funding inequities but noted that a meet ing with provincial officials is im perative he said the ontario government has to have special policies en trenched that react to high growth areas in need of additional fund ing for roads schools and social services i think the region is doing as well as it possibly can with the funds they have moran noted local firms hit by theft concord transportation and thcives made off with 5220 in harmac ltd two companies lo- cash from concord transporta- catedonljthaxewexebrpjniijin and took another 3814 in info rdslwe5kendsaid police cash from harmac police said