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Turnbull returns with new approach Melodie Martinuk Staff Writer After Monday‘s inaugural meetâ€" ing Brian Turnbull is officially back as a member of Waterloo city council after a fourâ€"year retirement â€" and he is bringing with him "a new approach" to municipal poliâ€" tics. "It‘s just my thing about governâ€" ment," Turnbull saig, "but all during the (election campaign) I argued that we should study and increase the productivity of city and regional staff." The basis of Turnbull‘s approach to politics is simple â€" it involves a continual assessment by Waterloo staff and elected officials of city objectives, policies and procedures to guarantee that the direction Waterloo is taking on any issue is the best one possible. "We have to sit down and examine where we are going and what we have to do to get there ... to assess existing situations and see where the strengths and weaknesses are, and if there are problems, to improve on them," Turnbull exâ€" plained. Although they had not yet seen the actual document and were, therefore, reluctant to comment on the proposed changes, a survey of school officials and board of education trustees in Waterloo revealed mixed reactions to Stephenson‘s announcement. ‘"We have received nothing official," said Larry Folliott, principal of Waterloo collegiate. "I would like to see more definition and interpretation."" Pat Arbuckle Chronicle Staff Stephenson, in her report entitled Reâ€" newal of Secondary Education in Ontario (ROSE), outlined plans to reâ€"establish a more structured system in Ontario seconâ€" dary schools. The new system offers only one diploma, which may be obtained in either four or five years but will require students to complete 30 credits, instead of 27, many of them in compulsory subjects. There was a waitâ€"andâ€"see attitude exâ€" pressed by school administrators, trustees and teachers in Waterloo in regard to the reforms in secondary school education announced last week by Education Minâ€" ister Bette Stephenson. _ As well, he said, Waterloo should be looking at what other municipalâ€" Nevertheless, Folliott heartily endorsed the changes. Folliott added that WCI, which never became involved in the ‘"smorgasbord" of education that the credit system offered students, was at the forefront in the move to add more structure to the system. The school retained three sets of examinations per year and a basic core of compulsory subjects. ‘"We feel rather pleased that this is coming about," he said. ‘"We have been asking for this all along." For this reason, Folliott does not feel the For six firefighters with the Waterioo Fire Department, Westmount Road station, restoration of a neglected piece of firefighting equipment seemed a natural way to contribute to the Seagram Museum â€" so that‘s what they did. Tuesday, after months of work the firefighters presented to the museum a completely restored, centuryâ€"old sodaâ€"acid fire extinguisher, which had once been used in a bourbon plant in Kentucky. Here project organizer Bill Hasse (left) gives Edward Nowak a bit of advice on how to piece the extinguisher together. Only moderate effect locally from secondary school changes EXTINGUISHER ities are doing and judging its effectiveness on the basis of that comparison. ‘"Comparison," Turnâ€" bull said, ‘*is good because it allows municipalities to take advantage of each other‘s experiences. How are we doing in comparison to other municipalities? Are we golden or aren‘t we? We don‘t really know." Turnbull pointed to the Fire Task Force, which recently released its final report recommending imâ€" provements to the city‘s fire departâ€" ment, as ‘"an excellent example" of the approach he‘d like to take. "*Everyone involved (city staff, polâ€" iticians and fire department offiâ€" glals) got together to discuss the situation and came up with some workable solutions," he explained. *"‘This," Turnbull said, "doesn‘t mean the city isn‘t doing a good job. 1 know better than most the high quality of the staff. **But, that doesn‘t deter me from wondering about procedures. 1 would be surprised if there wasn‘t some room for improvement," he said. **Even in the bestâ€"running operaâ€" tion,"‘‘ Turnbull commented ‘‘there‘s some room for improveâ€" ment." * changes will be traumatic for students at the school. "It is just a sensible move," he said. "Kids need a good basic education. We have to prepare them to learn." _ _ â€" Earl Widmeyer, principal of Bluevale collegiate concurs with Folliott‘s view that the proposed reforms are simply an endorsement of the approach Waterioo County has taken to education all along. "If history is correct, we were right," he said. ‘"Waterloo County didn‘t move as far as other counties into the credit system. We kept a more traditional approach, allowing some flexibility." Although he has heard no specific comments from students, Widmeyer exâ€" pressed some concern that the increased number of credits required in specific areay for a diploma may cause problems for some students. ‘"For students just interested in a high school education, the Chronicle Staff Students in the future will be observâ€" ing Remembrance Day, not with a holiday but with a service either in their school or at the local cenotaph. A proposal released by the Ministry of Education, regarding changes to the school year, will make Nov. 11 a regular school day. Other changes include a lengthening of the Christmas break to two weeks, Melodee Martinuk photo School day reform in effect next year system will be more demanding. We will see fewer being successful," he exâ€" plained. Harry McCosh, principal at Kitchenerâ€" Waterloo collegiate and vocational school, sees the ROSE document as a "political" statement, ‘‘a response to public presâ€" sure." McCosh feels that the student headed for university will notice few changes in the system, with the exception that he will now be eligible for a high school diploma in four years instead of five. + The full impact of the reforms will be felt by the average student who is now required to complete 30 credits instead of the usual 27, he said. The new system will require every student to take a full complement of courses each year to complete the necesâ€" "I am concerned about removing the reward further away," McCosh said. commencing on or about Dec. 21. The Christmas vacation is currently a variable length, depending on the day on which Christmas falls. The Ministry set the school year at a minimum of 194 days with nine days to be designated as professional activity days. The fiveâ€"day March break will occur each year on or about March 14. Easter Monday is no longer designated a holjâ€" day. WATERLOO CHRONICLE, WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 1982 â€" PAGE 3 sary 30 credits in four years. "If the kid has a bad year, he doesn‘t have time to make it up," he explained. ‘"He is being hurt." Students who normally completed their high school education in four years will now take five years to graduate, he says. McCosh expects to see more students drop out of school as a result. He also predicted that more schools will move to adopt the semester system, adopted by KCI in 1973, because it allows students greater opportunity to pick up credits they have missed in a shorter length of time. Ken Moir, principal of Laurel vocational school, expressed ‘‘cautious optimism" about the proposed changes. Although he is concerned that the requirement of one French credit may present a major stumbling block for basic level students, he supports the imposition of the restricâ€" tions in regard to the subjects students must take. ‘This is good and the way it should be in a democracy," he said. Waterloo trustees, too, were mixed in their reactions to the proposals. Elizabeth Witmer feels that the key to the whole ROSE document a "centralizaâ€" tion of control in education and a weakenâ€" ing of local autonomy,"" but the Waterloo trustee was reluctant to make further comment until the report is made availâ€" able to the board. Robert Kleinschmidt described the changes as "a step fdrward" for seconâ€" dary education. He does not see any drastic changes coming to Waterioo region schools as a result. ‘"Weâ€"haven‘t really relaxed the curricuâ€" lum to the extent that other boards have done. It is not going to be as difficult to swing the pendulum back,"" he concluded.