The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

4 stoitflville suntribune saturday june 2 2007 security at schools lax we find by teresa latchford staff writer when you enter your childs school you are expected to sign in at the main office but how long could you wander around before being noticed oh the heels of a parents con cerns about security after an episode she calls disturbing and the explanation of safety measures from both school boards we decid ed to put it to the test i visited seven schools at ran dom across the region with the intention of entering each without checking into the office to see if i could walk one lap of the main floor without being approached by a staff member each school had a sign clearly posted instructing visitors to sign in at the office upon entering the school some of the schools also posted warnings including a reference to the safe schools act being taken seriously that trespassing is pro hibited and security cameras may be in use at whitchurch highlands public school in whitchurchstouffville i wandered halfway down a hall and returned to the main entrance i paused for at least three min utes to gawk at a display about dis posing of batteries safely located directty across from the office i was not approached and there were numerous teachers entering and leaving of what i assumed to be the staff room right beside me upon entering thornhills holy family catholic elementary school roselawn public school in richmond hill and aurora grove public school in aurora i was approached almost immediately by a staff member at holy family a teacher pass ing by the main entrance politely asked if she could be of assistance and escorted me to the main office at roselawn i was only five paces down the hallway and was called to by a staff member moni toring the front entrance at aurora grove i hadnt even made it into the school before speaking with a staff member mon itoring the yard at recess with all the security measures i was sure i would be spotted at unionville high school or brother andre catholic high school in markham hjpif teresa latchford in the schools i entered unionville and was able to roam around say a few words to students and leave after 10 minutes without being approached by staff at brother andre where all stu dents wear uniforms i was able to walk in cross in front of the main entrance and travel down the first hallway i left through a door at the end of the hallway after passing- a group of three teachers chatting with stu dents who barely noticed me whats more disturbing is i was not wearing a uniform or visitors badge the most disturbing visit how ever was to newmarkets stone haven elementary school i was able to walk through the main entrance past the main office and through four hallways through the third hallway a group of young students were tak ing drinks from a water fountain i saw a teacher monitoring them briefly but was able to smile and ask the students how they were then without any questions i continued through the final hall way and made my way out the same way i came in my experiences were similar to what happened on an afternoon earlier this month when fernanda carrasalsberg and a neighbour took their children for a walk in a wooded area behind thornhill woods public in the yonge and centre streets area her neighbours son needed to use the washroom and headed to the school a short time later mrs carra- salsberg wandered into the school looking for her friend i was astonished at how easy it is to enter and walk around without being noticed she said why is it up to visitors to volun tarily report to the main office she said i cant believe if someone is going into a school with poor intentions they will sign in at the office she decided to try to get some answers by writing a letter to thornhill woods principal super intendent education minister kathleen wynne and mayor linda jackson a buzzer system or more super vision was what she suggested in each letter i explained the aforementioned occurrence and demanded a prompt constructive response she said for this ive either been ignored or informed that enforcing greater security measures is beyond their reach all schools have signs at the front door stating visitors must sign into the office and many schools choose to lock every entrance except the main doors while school is in session superintendent of high schools helen fox said with all the security features in place i expected to be stopped at every school but to my surprise questions were only asked at three out of seven schools i visited we do not have call display and we do not record the call cash rewards for anonymous tips that lead to an arrest 1800222tips or wwwcrimestoppersyrca this message brought to you as a community service of the economistsuntribune a wwwkingfestmusiccom hosted by seneca college- king campus 13990 dufferin st n king city order tickets online at wwwticketmasterca or call 4168708000 tkketmaster smuiytvmfmtlmtia mcaugse t- ontario jnbbdcm mmm s seneca m philips larter ck3 o rogers- s tftfr jo 4 v art town of whitchurchstouffville ic ceiestyle close to the city community information meeting proposed go transit north stouffville station thursday june 7th 2007 630 pm to 830 pm whitchurchstouffville municipal offices council chambers 37 sandiford drive 4th floor the development services dept of the town of whitchurchstouffville will be hosting a community information meeting on the proposed go transit north station located adjacent the tenth line bethesda rd and regional rd 30 the community information meeting will be convened on thursday june 7th 2007 in the council chambers town municipal offices the information meeting will be informal in nature operating as a dropin session between the hours of 630 pm to 830 pm go transit representatives will pro vide a brief presentation on their development proposal starting at 700 pm the information session will provide the opportunity for interested members of the community to meet with go transit representatives and to ask questions on their development proposal please plan to attend go transit proposes as part of its 1 phase of development scheduled to commence in the fall of 2007 the following creation of a kiss n ride passenger pick up and drop off area provision of 183 offstreet parking stalls creation of two driveway access locations onto bethesda rd and creation of a dedicated bus pick up and drop off area for up to five 5 vehicles the bus area is designed to support go transit york transit and durham transit go transit proposes as part of its 2nd phase of development scheduled to commence in the spring of 2008 the following provision of an additional 216 offstreet parking stalls creation of two driveway access locations onto regional rd 30 construction of a bus layover facility for go transit vehicles other phases of development in terms of constructing a formal station building and additional parking will occur in the future when demand warrants the expansion there is no timeline for the later phases of devel opment for further information on the community information session please contact andrew mcneely deputy- v director manager of planning at 905 6401910 x270 or via email at andrewmcneelytownofwscom jj