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' ' Alexandra , school program well planned P 6 - Waterloo Chconiclo. Wednesday, Juty 4, 1979 An Open Letter to Waterloo Regional Council Since the beginning of regional government. members of Waterloo regional council have been concerned about the lack of elected representation on the board of commis- sioners of police . published every Wednesday by Fairway Press, a division of Known-Waterloo Record Ltd., owner Fairway Rd. s, Kitchener. Ont address correspondence to Waterloo office. 92 King St, South, Waterloo. Ont. telephone mm Viv-Moo Chum-cl. on.“ m mud onzndfloov of the 0 w Sow. autumn annotate Waudoo Squat. Padang on ng Strut at In Wot-doc Sonora Open Monday to Fuday900lm tosooim According to the board of education, a class needs a cer- tain number of students to operate, and the number of stu- dents enrolled for Alexandra kindergarten was below that minimum. Certainly there are problems that may come out of the combined Grade 1, Grade 2 and kindergarten class at Alex- andra school next September. The idea may not be a clear- cut answer. but it's a start. And with enrolments dropping in school's all over the region, it's time we started working out some alternatives in education. According to the teacher who'll be teaching the Alexandra class, the combined class is actually better for the in- dividual student. Cathy Done - who taught in a similar si- tuation in Britain -- says if the system is properly taught. it gives all students a chance to progress at their own pace. Letters to the editor . One myth regarding the mass class idea that must be debunked is that the quality of learning in such a class will be inferior. Starting next September, Alexandra school in Waterloo will have a class made up of kindergarten, Grade land Grade 2 students. Some may view this as a negative step, perhaps one that takes education back instead of forward. Not only will the one-year program save the downtown school‘s kindergarten.-but it may also prove to be a useful method of coping with declining enrolments. If the program is successful at the Waterloo school. the school board may use a similar program to help a school afflicted with similar problems. The Waterloo county board of education's plan to run a re- turn to the "days of the one room school ho!tstit a good one. But Alexandra school would not have a kindergarten class without this experiment. - __ A - _ l’mvincial policy allows regional council to appoint Do you have any old photos of people or placerin Waterloo that relate to the City's history" We'd welcome the chance to reprint those old pic- tures as a regular feature in the Chronicle. whether the subject matter can be identified or not To date there has not been a comprehensive pie tonal history of Waterloo's history published. and your assistance m loaning yostphotos will perhaps enable us to at least partially fill the void Any photos mailed or delivered to the Chronicle will be copied within a week and either mailed back or held at our office to he pirked up armi'ding to the owner's chaice _ your - old photos We need mum- hut wunuu Editor Hound EDI-on Af-ti-ttt Mat-tour John Imam subscriptions: $14 a year In Canada. 816 a year in United States and Foreign Countries. ounci/Ior neglecting duty--reader established 1854 only two of its members to the five-person police commission. This, of course, is contrary to the principle of regional go- vernment. whereby one elected body was intended to be fully responsible for regional municipal services The first regional council. back in October of 1972, felt so strongly that it refused the pleas of the first regional chair- man. Jack Young, that he be appointed to the police 00m- mission Regional councillors felt that so little represents tion was allowed to elected persomrthat they were quite un- willing to allow the provincially-appointed regional chairman to take one of the two seats, I would suggest" that regional council should be at least as concerned about quality of representation as it has been about quantity, A _ Subsequent appeals to provincial authorities by regional council have failed to increase the amount of elected repre- saitation on the police commission. - - _ - _ When' the regional council has only two members on the police commission. I would expect that great care would be taken to choose two dedicated and conscientious representa- tlves I would suggest that the regional council presently has only one member of the police commission who is properly representing the people of the region Bernice Adams ap- pears to be doing an excellent job of trying to exert some control over the police administration on behalf of regional council But where is Conrad Ruprtow? He is the other member appointed by regional council to the police commission, but his behaviour shows that he does not take his responsibilities seriously On May 16, the police commission held an Important meeting to appoint a new chief and elect a new chairman Mr Rupnow was the only member not present, Where was Conrad Rupnow on the night of May 16" Was lserr'-z?s'fe __-e-_ -%V "52% "c'ik, gang, RRDIATION LEAKAGE UNDER CONTROL (tttrch, Emma: he ill? Was he out of the country? Was he attending to some other duty as chief magistrate of Wellesley township or as chief executive officer of the corporation of the township of Wellesley? Was he required to call out a posse to deal with a riot or other emergency within ten miles of the township's seat of government? No: it was none of the above. Where was Conrad Rupnow. mayor of Wellesley township and one of two regionally-appointed police commissioners. on May 16? He was handing out awards at a minor hockey banquet This is totally unacceptable behaviour for a regional re- presentative to put a minor social occasion ahead of weighty responsibilities on the police commission There was no shortage of hockey dignitaries present at the banquet who could have taken over his presentations, That is even beside the point: no matter how disappointed anyone at the hockey affair might have been. public siness must come first. I There are many politicians who put high priority on soc. occasions for the prestige and the vote-getting potential But most of these people at least have the sense to recognize the priority of public business Regional council should act immediately to remove Mr Rupnow from the police commission If regional council IS to have only two out of five members on the commission, it needs to have two who recognize their responsibilities to the public Bob Verdun Mr Rupnow's failure to attend the May 16 meeting of the regional police commission was not a minor mistake It was wilful] neglect of duty He should have been present at the police meeting to re- present half of the people of Waterloo region