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The Sun-Tribune welcomes your let- ters. All submissions must be less than 400 words and must include a daytime telephone number. name and address. The Sun-me reserves the Hopublhhornot pu “financin- nym‘ is compnsed of 100 community publications acmss Ontario. me Yom Region Newspaper Group also includes The Liberal, sewing Richmond Hill and Thomhill, Vaughan CitizenJ‘ne Era-Banner (Newmantet/Aurora). Markham Economist om Pm Canard ADVERTISING 905-640-2612 Classified: 1-800-743-3353 Fax: 905-640-8778 Sun, Georgina Advocate. York Region Business fimes, North of the City, yommgionmm and York Region Printing. newspapers The Sun-Tribune. published every Thursday and Saunday, is a (1hran of the Metroland Media Gmup Ltd., a many-owned subsidiary of Tocstar Corporation. Metmland CarrieMackrlanc Mike Banville WW5wm York Region Media Group community Bonnie W bmndauOymgcom lETTERS POLICY Jim Mason 1171me PRODUCTION DIS TRIB U T! ON 905 ~640- 26 l 2 905440-2612 xx: 905-640-8778 EDITORIAL For average kid, summer never lasts long enough lth gone to Catholic grade school but opted for the public high school, which was a lO-minuta walk from my home rather than an , morning bus ride to the all-Wm high ' I do-mmfier feelifig like a shrimp, compared to the rest of the student body. And I felt a little lost. We drive by the sow", Summitview Public, sometimes and my youngest yells, “Don’t lppk' and covers his eyes. I mustvdmit Grade 9 for me seems “*9 Quit” long time ago. I don’t doubt that he likes séhool as much as the next 11-year-old boy. He just needs a break sometimes. My older son, meanwhile, is ofl’ to high school for the first time. 7 He doesn’t seem at all nervous about it, but mayb_e he just won't admit it. C 'ell guys, looks like it’s back to school pretty soon,” I said at home the other night, which to my sons is the kind of talk that could get a dad fired, or at least roughed up a little bit. It’s as if I should bleep that word out of my column, in case one of them happens‘to be reading. Perhaps if he lays eyes on the i‘ed- brick building he might be turned into a pile; of sheik dust, is his theory. School? It’s still August and to them school is a fourâ€"letter word, give or take a letter here or there. This new billing plan may mean slightly higher costs and minimally lower consumption. But its most significant impact is the implicit message that cheap ' It is unfortunate and unpro- ductive to interpret any environ- mental program, such as the new hydro billing plan involving smart meters . and dine-of-use pricing. as yet another ‘cash grab’ from the pockets of the ‘lowly public’. M enjoy one of the highest standards of living and yet we pay a fraction of the cost. Not surpris- ingly. we consume more and waste more. than virtually any other nation. Lookbeyond our privileged bubble and see if our governments are really so corrupt. As well. to sugest this hydro conservation program is better suited to the 19506 and ’605 is absurd: these decades helped lay the groundwork for the unsus- tainable consumerist lifester at the heart of current environmen- tal crises. Re: Rush to go green bypassed common sense, letter to the edimr byS.Rizzo.4ug.15. lETTERS TO THE EDITOR Common sense at work ene’gygv‘iiffifflfflffi .‘. _--.... Speaking of “new” high schools. were you aware that most of the new high schools built by the public board in recent years in York Region have the aract seine design? ‘ Enter Bur ‘ Oak Secondary in Markham one day and Stouffville Dis- trict the next and it's deja vu all over again. The school Ofi‘lCB.7the gym, the are qfl in_the exact same spot. Which at first kind of shocked and am saddened me â€"â€" where’s the cre- the grand architecture? â€"â€" until 1 they probably save one heck I just hope my son picks the right friends and hangs on to the other friends he already has who will join him at their new high school. school on the other side of town. It meant making a lot of new friends. Some of those friends are still friends today. Bernie O’Neill SW-Tribune You might hear it referred to as a “victory lap", almost something derogaâ€" tory. But my sense is that many are tryâ€" ing to improve their grades, or they're working trying to save up money for college or university, or they are heavily involved in high school sports and may even be gunning for a scholarship of some kind by returning to high school for another semester or two. Or they haven't decided what they want to do as a career and don't want It did seem kind of silly. And when you realize most jurisdictions in North America had done away with that level of high school, maybe it was time for Ontario to erase Grade 13 as well. Lately, though. I hear of many young people who finish Grade 12 but come back for another year of high school anyway. For one thing there is no longer a Grade 13. We would “graduate” from Grade 12, with a graduation ceremony, suit and gown and the whole nine yards. only to turn around and see most of us graduate all over again from Grade 13 the next lune. ‘ of a lot of money by relying on one set of drawings rather than starting from scratch each and every time. I know things have changed a lot since I was in high school. I hear it’s done With new grade schoolsaswell. PUBLISHER Ian Proudfoot 6290MalnSL SW.0N.L4A 167 Summer can never last long enough. Stoujfm'lle resident Bernie O'Neill is a York Region Media Group editor. That's not the case in all boards in Ontario, with many students back in school on Sept. 1 before heading into a long Labour Day weekend. It might make you wonder if our kids are getting shortchanged. From what I can tell. the board is still offering the legal minimum number of instructional days in a school year. So perhaps it evens out in the end. This year. because of a late labour Day, school is not starting until Sept. 8, at least for the students in the York public board. The teachers appear to be back at work the week before but they are in part on PA days. Meanwhile, the kids themselves are probably quite content to see school start as late as possible, as much as they really miss it deep down. I don't mean to sound like a cynical parent, but you sometimes get the idea with all the vacations and PA days that they aren't in school that much anyway. so maybe taking another semester is a good thing. to waste money on post-secondary tuition if they’re not certain. Or they and their parents simply realize they are still not mature enough to be going off to school somewhere possibly far from home. Bonn: m Cum Debora Kelly Robert Lazurko Busmnss szcmn. Auvnmsmc, Dlsmnunou Nicole Fletcher Dumcmon, Ornamous Barry Black