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st weekender saturday november 22 1997 p 3 warming the bench al taylor enjoys the sunshine as he whiles away the day on a bench in front of his apartment building on elm road in stouffville tuesday pwto by lisa diamond use bank to pay bills during strike joan ransberry staff reporter despite the postal strike the bills must be paid stouf fville residents are reminded while postal workers and the government are both optimistic that a tentative agreement will be reached over the weekend local banks are reminding every one that banks automated tellers and telephones are the best way to continue making payments in the event that contract talks between the two parties get bogged down maureen ratcliff stouf- fvilles canadian imperial bank of commerces cus tomer banking representa tive said stouffvilles elec tronic banking system is such that almost all bills can be paid without involving the post office use bank machines all major credit card com panies and telephone compa nies such as bell canada and cable companies are advis ing customers to use the bank machines and the tele phones to pay the bills letter carriers abandoned the picket line wednesday and delivered government cheques if the strike drags on letter carriers are expected to return to work at least for wednesday to help get pen sion welfare and unemploy ment cheques to canadians anyone waiting for a fed eral cheque can call 1-8878- 4407744 if theres no quick end to the strike arrangements are being made to have decem bers welfare cheques not automatically deposited into bank accounts picked up here in stouffville at the post office located on main street picket lines were set up for a few hours each morning for the past three days schools scramble to make up lost time plans to make up the time lost to teachers strikes in local schools will stay hazy until next week trustees for both area school boards have argued over the best ways to create more instructional days board meetings next week are their next opportunity trustees did decide to cancel nov 28 as a pa day except for public ele mentary schools and catholic principals have been asked to find ways to save time by cutting out or reducing noninstruc tional extras like field trips christ mas concerts or fundraising during class time a schools christmas play for example could be replaced by a brief religious reading the separate board suggested field trips for public board students are not being outlawed but they should specifically be connected to the core program of study a spokesperson said honour system used to recoup 40aday parental strike costs mike adler staff reporter an honour system will be used so parents can claim up to 40 for every day the walkout closed local schools the government suggested this week but dont go looking for claim forms yet at york region school boards or schools school board offi cials are warning the provinces fairness for parents and employees act has just been introduced they said and it could change but a draft claim form has already been posted at a government internet site it says one claim will be allowed from each family no matter how many children in it missed school parents can only collect for chil dren under 13 or secondary school children with a disability that requires care or supervision or children prevented from entering a daycare facility they attend at a school children of teachers would not be eligible unless they were at work during the provincial strike today we are keeping the promise we made to help lessen the hardship caused by the teachers strike ontario labour minister jim flaherty said before introducing the bill but board staff said much about what the legislation will do is unclear for instance the draft form says parents should not include receipts but adds you should keep receipts and details of costs incurred hang on to your receipts advised john sabo the separate boards finance director until the final ver sion of the bill passes if its required no harm done he said the draft legislation says the boards are responsible for sending out the cheques which in itself will become a big expense and headache said board staff and york regions separate board is singled out in the bill as being eli gible only for the first week of the walkout it says catholic parents here cant collect for missed days starting nov 3 because thats when the boards teachers started a legal strike the education ministry has a telephone line for enquiries at 1-800- 2637965 meanwhile both boards expect to pass plans next week to make up for days lost nov 28 is no longer a pa day for catholic students and public secondary students they said optimists promote student writing from page 1 and third place winner local first- place winner will automatically be forwarded to the optimist district contest where it will be be judged against other club winning entries the district winner will receive a fourday trip to the freedoms foundation in pennsylvania in july also the winners will be offered scholarships all entries must be submitted by january 12th for more information call catherine sword at 6420342 optimist international is one of the largest and most active service organizations with more than 150000 members in 4200 clubs in the world promoting the motto friend of youth optimist clubs conduct service projects which reach 6 million young people each year balancing act micky hunt balances on a ladder tuesday as he decorates outside his home in stouffville just in time for christmas phnto by lisa diamond were first in distribution weve delivered 44780233 flyers doortodoor so far this year for further information on how we can deliver your flyers call ruth or melissa at 6402100 the tribfne watch for these flyers on saturday november 22 1997 walmart ap sobevs sears sears christmas zellers l0blaws newmarket l0blaws insiders report ikea h0uday brochure loblaws insiders report yonge loblaws supercentre weston produce biway cashway the bay super monday iga stouffville family photography magazine dominion selected treas only bernard canadian tire richmond hill