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TIE OAKVILLE BEAVER A Metroland Community Newspaper ALN‘i“! ”41:ng dermal/Q flew/0W CCNA Better Newspapers Competition 1993 WEDNESDAKFEBRUARY 9, l 994 Vol. 32 No. 16 8. 000/0 MarkSlipp (416) 359-4633 100% Government Guaranteed Slrlp Coupons Maturlng In 2004 to cshange 68 Pages, 75 Cents (GST included) Battle lines being drawn rover school busing Issue By KATHY YANCHUS akville Beaver Staff i:qua1 access to education. oyalties of taxpayers could switch to the Halton Roman Catholic schoolboard if trustees of the Halton public school board cancel secondary school busing iouth of Hwy 5, according to one angry parent. This “ripple” effect could occur if, for example, Glen Abbey high school students are forced to use ')ublic transportation to reach their schools south of [he QEW, when they could walk to St. Ignatius of goyola High School on Nottinghill Gate, said Lise Vloras, who presented some compelling arguments 1gainst the proposed cancellation of the service, a move which would save the board $189,000 in 1994. She referred to it as a user fee for education and reminded the board that all students should have student $500 per year, said Moras meaning expenses of $1,000 or more for a family with more than one child attending high school. and rights. Not only is the public transportation system “expensive and time consuming,’ ’it 1s not as safe for students as a school bus, said Moras, explaining that it would take her children an hourâ€"and-a-half and three buses to get to and from school. Although Glen Abbey’s burgeoning student popu- lation could easily fill a school, students from this area have always been bused and “until such time as a school is built” the board has an obligation to con- tinue to provide this service, said Moras. She urged those trustees whose constituents this decision didn’t affect, to consider all students’ needs Moras said she and her husband have no problem having their education taxes go towards special edu- cation and technical programs, which her children Having to use Oakville Transit, would cost each . (See 'Busing' page 2) Results of police investigation review inay never be made known to public y HOWARD MOZEL "Jakville Beaver Staff Complaints Commissioner Clare Lewis’ office, only the comâ€" . plainant can reveal details of the A provincial review into a Halton police investigation of alleâ€" gations by an Oakville woman that she was coerced into recanting her ;tory she was sexually assaulted is '10W in its final stages. When and f details of the report are released, iowever, remains uncertain. ; According to John Yoannou, spokesman for Ontario Police investigation and final report. Everyone else is bound by the “strict” provisions of the Police Services Act, says Yoannou. “The commissioner is review- ing the evidence and the review is nearing completion,” said Yoannou. “There is no finn date I can give you but it is in its final stages.” .Town Council meets to approve budget l After Ironing out its scheduling difficulties, Town Council plans to meet Tuesday, Feb. 22 to approve its unprecedented 0% budget for 1994 The meeting, which starts at 7:30 pm, marks the final chapter in the monthâ€"long process which saw the Preliminary Budget of 1.6% chipped away to a final 0%. Because of a conflict with Budget Committee chair Kathy Graham’s calendar, councillors were polled and then Feb. 22 selected. Ward 6 councillor Bill Logan will be absent, however. .« The meeting will be the last time Council and members of the pub- ;lic can have their say on the budget. On the table will be the delayed staffing of Fire Station #6 in Glen Abbey; Oakville Transit fares and ficheduling; staff cuts; roadwork; traffic lights; flower planting; grass fzutting and other matters. THINKING . SPRING I The snow will be cleared , and the daffodils planted in time for the third annual Rizzuti Dinner-Dance on April 15th. Tickets are now on sale for the dinner-dancer, again hosted by Le Dome, 1173 ‘North Service Rd. E., to raise , funds for the Oakville Unit of l the Canadian Cancer Society 1 l and Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital. Organizers are: front from left, Shelly Sanders Greer, Tom Sanci, and Jack Burkholder; middle row from'left, Angelo Rizzuti, ’ Carole Thompson, Lillian Morris, and Bruce MacKinnon; and at back from left, Dan Ferrone, Joan Gibb and Shavak Madon. Tickets are $150 a couple and $75 sin- gle ($50 income tax receipts will be issued per person), available from Lillian Morris at the Cancer Society office, 845-5231. Last year’s dinner raised $34,000 for the cancer I society and $13,000 for the hos- pital. (Photo by Fliziero Veda/ll) If the woman - now 23 - wishes to release the contents of the report she may do so, Yoannou contin- ued. Her actions will depend, of course, on Lewis’ findings which are limited to two options. Under the Act, Lewis can choose to take no further action based on the evidence and the gathered documentation. His sec- ond and more complex option is to call a public board of inquiry, an independent civilian hearing on which no serving police officers appear. The board’s chair is a lawyer representing the Attorney General’s Office; the second mem- ber represents the Police Association of Ontario and the third from the Association of Municipalities of Ontario. “This is not a criminal process but an employee discipline pro- cess,” said Yoannou, explaining that the board can make a finding of guilty but not of a criminal offence. Penalties it can impose, howev- er, range from a reprimand and loss of pay to a demotion or disâ€" missal. According to Yoannou, only two demotions have been reg- istered in the three years since the Act was passed. The complainant has options as well. If Lewis finds that no further action is required, the Act provides no recourse for her. However, she (See 'Fieview' page 3) COLD COMFORT iv Group wants help to kill alternate day kindergarten... By KATHY YANCHUS Oakville Beaver Staff If the Halton Board of Education wants to raise the ire of parents with their budget cut pro- posals, thereby obtaining their ‘permission’ to raise taxes, they have succeeded, charges parent Nancy Batchelor. Batchelor, along with dozens of other parents, has jumped on the board’s proposal to offer kindgarten as a full day, alternate day program, something unac- ceptable to the parents who have deluged her with concerned calls. With this cut, the board would save $67,400 in 1994 and $231,750 on an annual basis. “This is a decision strictly based on money and a quick bandaid fix,” said Batchelor. According to Batchelor, the board is basing its decision on an American report â€" Gullo and Clements, 1984 â€"which “found no significant differences between children in half-day, every day and full day every- other-day alternate day programs when academic achievement, classroom social behaviour and time spent in school were com- pared.” Batchelor is critical of the study, and believes it should not be used as a comparison for Canadian schools. “It’s an American study. They (American bused kindergarten programs) give them hot lunches and hot breakfasts,” she said. The 45 schoolboards who have implemented this practice in Ontario are in rural or remote areas where transportation becomes a factor, reminds Batchelor. Batchelor is also concerned about the availability of sufficient numbers of teaching assistants, and the non availability of a curâ€" RBC DOMINION SECURl'flES Mrmberofwmm RSP GLOBAL INVESTING WORKSHOP LIMITED TO 20 PEOPLE ONLY. TUESDAY, FEB. 15 AND THURSDAY, FEB. 17 AT 7:00 PM. riculum for parents to peruse. If the board wishes to cut costs, they should scrutinize their own administrative costs and salaries, added Batchelor. “If you took two superinten- dents and put them back into teaching positions, you could pay for the entire kindergarten pro- gram,” she said. Batchelor urges concerned parents to sign petitions currently circulating throughout nursery schools, call their trustees and/or attend the finance committee meeting Feb. 14th to show their support. ..but one mom likes the scheme Diane Salter may be a lone voice in the barrage of parental voices against full day alternate day kindergarten â€" she is in favor of it. Salter studies children, how they think, how they learn, their developâ€" ment. She has earned her Masters in Educational Psychology and is cur- rently working towards her PhD in Cognitive Psychology at the Ontario Institute for Studies in Education as well as teaching psy- chology at Sheridan College. On top of those academic qualifications, Salter is a concerned mother. “My slant is...these kids are quite capable of handling a full day at school,” said Salter, whose oldest daughter was involved in such a program. “A lot of these kids have the benefit of a day care setting and that’s a much longer day.” Salter said if a coalition of edu- cators and parents feel that five- yearâ€"olds can’t cope with a full day, perhaps they should not be part of the system at all and the whole con- cept of kindergarten should be wiped out. 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