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i v v v ecommistsimrtribuni eictionjissueslfcftioob -t- iii hodlshkifiaf patrick mangion staff writer s anyschoqlf trustee candidate whojcampaigns around a york- regiohjchpolis likelyto notice the atrnospkerejjsift asupbeat asit lortsewasvjv t sii- qvajiybday who denies that teachersih ontario dont feel their efforts are being appreciated would be denying the obvious said bill crothers chairperson of the public school board teachers at both elementary and secondary schools in crothers board are without a contract arid strikes are a possibility before christmas the elementary teach ers voted 91percent in favour of a strike high school teachers signed a noboard report in august indicating they dont believe a negotiated settlement can be reached s the contract talks are coloured by education reforms introduced by the province which have angered teachers in many cases teachershave responded by with drawing from- extracurricular activities which has angered stu dents v when asked about morale at school one teacher from huron heights secondary school in newmarket simpfy responded ifs taking a beating richmond hill trustee candidate dennis ichrdnopoulos said he noticed the same thing when meet ing with school board administra tors students and parents everyone is really tired he said when therejs this much change everybhesriervesare a little frav- zled- r- -rt- theres ho strike threat at the catholic school board vtiich reached a contract with its teachers in thespring but provincial legisla tion increasing class time and the threat that teachers could be forced to supervise afterschool activities are creating tension-v- -v- staff photorob alary even though theres no strike in the catholic board studentslike robcuralo left and mark mitrowski of sacred heart catholic high school still sense k dip in morale t peter dajia a physical education teacher and- coach at cardinal carter high school in aurora for the past six years said the dip in school morale comes from rapid and sig- nihcant changes to curriculum along with a rapidly growing stu dent population in botiy cases its difficult for teachers to keep upl he added moralems betterthan it has been but its not where it has been in the pastdajia said in 1997 bill 160 prompted illegal teachers strikes across the province and now the recently passed bill 74 allows education minister janet ecker to intervene in- school board decisions as tension between thetwo sides continues to escalate either as a protest or because they no longer have extratime she credited teachers at her school for gomg me extra mile to ensure some extracurricular activi- ties remainbut admittedjts still a far cry from years past v a lot of people wanttb gbback ya how it was a few years ago when we had all our extiacurriculars and teaefsweremoreavajlable r katy roveda agrade 12 student avhuronheight sympathized with the teachers situation- v nobody is really happy with the clack of extracurricular activities roveda said teachers are going through just as badatime if not worse h v atecent survey indicatedthree highschools 4thornieavaughan and huron heights have no extracurricular activities thisyear only one york region high school has the same number of- activities as last year while another 18 schools have fewer extra-curric- ulars w 1- r but many students consider sports band drama and clubs vital s parts of their education -f- just as important as classroom work its a difficult time for students teachers and school board mem bers said makhani were all mak- ingthebest of itj vj but cana trustee affect the morale in schools crothersrwhowas acclaimed as trustee in markhams area 3 says yes r pfcourse thatstarts with set tling contracts with the teachers j unions something crothers calls a delicate balancing act requiring both sides compromise in the inter- teachers havent been supervising ests of students vj wu uai the way we getbeypndtliis is sports at many york region schools a leila makhani an oag student at r langstaff secondary in richmond hill is prime minister of the york region presidents council an organization that meets with government and school board offi- cials to discuss issues affecting high school students by saying ami doinggood things for kids crothers said beyond that he said tlie board can improve morale by making sure teachers and other board staff feel appreciated people need to feel good about their job they need to feel theyre being supported tmtilialtergtibni t patrick casey v staff writer j t theyre caliirig me tordhto servicesboarda toothless giaht no legislative authority butyork region councillors opted ntovdelay aforrhal decision oh the fledging organizations v jnstead politicianshave left the task to a newregional council to be elecled nextmonfli f tat aispecialworkshbp thursday afternoon councillors spent less vv than an hour discussing the future rbleofthegtsb pt11 newmarket mayor tom taylor suggested the organization be dis banded and replaced with a provin cial ministry while markham mayor doncousens prepared a report indicating restructuring of munici palities in the gta must occur in conjunction with any gtsb reform however markham regional councillor- franks scarpittu con vinced his colleagues to withhold a formalposition until after the nov 13 municipal election j there area number of issues here and i dont want them misin- jterpreted that we 5 supporting another level of government t stressed scarpitti we are not f this is not clear enough and we have not gonethrough the issues it hasnt worked for 212 years and it is riot the end of the world if it does- nt get fixed in the next 312 months t whitchurchstouffville mayor wayne emmerson added more time was needed than just an after- noon workshop if we are going to get into this stuff now fine and dandy but i dont think we have the time right now it is not going to work he said discussed since 1997 the provincial government established the gtsb in 1999 to coordinate j gtawide policies for transporfa j tion tourism economic and social r development growth management and the environment but without the ability to approve new- legislation it has effectively become a lobby group to the and federal govern ments in search of capital gtsb members have been asked to submit a report to a consultant reviewing the services board with recommendations sent to the mtmicipalaffasrdepartnveht for tsr jaittmfitttmjmi ra- t i