PAGE 2, WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MARCH U1, 1987 MOUSE TALES BOTH ADULTS and youngsters enjoyed "Mouse Tales," a puppet show from Waterwood Productions of Toronto, at the Whitby Public Library Saturday. Shown right are Daisy the cat and Hickery Dickery Dock the mouse, chief characters in the presentation. Free Press photo Town won't support trustees in quest for funds Whitby council rejected a motion made Monday night to support school board trustees as they seek funding from the province for new schools. The motion was introduced by regional councillor Gerry Emm who argued that as council ap- proves subdivisions in town, the in- crease in population affects other agencies such as the school boards. Emm had argued that 900 more students registered for school in September 1986 than did in Sep- tember 1983. "That is enough kids for two schools in three years," said Emm. But in refusing the motion, coun- cillors turned some of the blame for lack of funding on school trustees. "Why is this (the motion) before us. This is a school board issue," said councillor Marcel Brunelle. "I'm angry about this. It is non- sense! I have a whole lot of questions on how the board funds their schools," he said. Councillor Ross Batten took the argument one step further. "We have a motion before us to help them and I don't see why we should do that," hesaid. He said if council approved the motion, the next step would be for the Town to ask the province to turn the school board properties over to the municipalities. "We could then manage them better and then lease them to the schools," he said. Batten said school funding is not under the jurisdiction of council. "It is not our placeto dictate the Board of Education's decisions," he said. Batten pointed out that every time a subdivision ap- plication comes before council, the Durham Board of Education is asked to comment. "The comment generally is 'We have no comment'. They have never said 'Whoah boys! We have no room." Councillor Joe Drumm said he "somewhat agreed" with Batten's remarks. He said some trustees have taken council members to task on the issue." Some councillors also said that trustees must take the blame for the public believing council has ac- cess to funds for schools. "It is hard not to support this but it's not necessary. People know where we stand," said Drumm. "This would be like us asking the school board to petition the provin- ce for more funds for roads," said Mayor Bob Attersley. "We have a hard enough time looking after our own budget." Attersley also said he had recen- tly sent two letters to the Ministry of Education as Mayor of Whitby, in support of school board funds. The only" supporter of Emm's motion was councillor Joe Bugelli. Bugelli agreed that there was some confusion among the electorate as to who is responsible for school funding - "Some trustees have caused this," said Bugelli. But he noted that the motion states that council would. only be "re-affirming its position " and "only if requested." In a recorded vote Attersley, councillors Brunelle, Batten, Drumm and Tom Edwards opposed the motion. Councillors Emm and Bugelli supported it. . Secondary plan appr6val delayed Whitby council delayed approval of the second stage of the downtown Whitby secondary plan Monday af- ter a last-minute change in rezoning plans by two developers. Council was asked to approve the second stage Monday night, paving the way for planning coinh t.e to start on the third stage of thstudy. But instead, council has sent the study back to the committee level due to thé developers' request. Kevin *Tunney, representirng Salvatore Princiotto and Lorna Cheah, asked that council rezone the west sidepf Brock St. S., from Ontario to John St., from medium residential to mixed use. While dealing with the secondary plan, committee had rejected an earlier request frofñ·Princiotto and Cheah to rezone the property com- mercial. The maximum building height was also set at three storeys. The two applicants had planned to build stores along the stretch. In the last-ditch effort to have the stores built, Tunney argued that under a mixed use zoning, stores would be permitted on the first storey and apartments could be on the second and third floors. After listening to the argument, council approved sending the study back to committee to allow ail those involved in study discussion to be notified and given an opportunity to comment. School board-looks at 12% increase Preliminary budget figures -in- dicate a 12 per cent increase in the public school mill rate over last year, according to Durham Board of Education finance chairman Ian Brown. Brown told trustees that with final assessment figures and the overlevy taken into account, the projected mill rate increase as of now will be 12 per cent, down from earlier projections of 16 per cent and later, 19 per cent. Oshawa trustee Cathy O'Flynn said the board should still attempt to reduce the increase even more. Brown's projection included ap- &kenm TRÂNSPARENT SATIN • a satin-gloss, see-through coating for Interior wood surfaces • available in clear and several wood tones CENTRAL PAINT & WALLPAPER 295 Ritson Rd. S. Oshawa 728-6809 proval of 68 additional staff positions, to cost $2.8 million but with a budget impact of just more than $1 million. The board had con- sidered 103 additional positions. Brown also cited the increased costs for employee benefits and retirement gratuities as part of the reason for the mill rate hike. Smoking ban in effect Sept. A ban on smoking, with the ex- ception of the lunchroom, will begin in the Durham Board of Education administration building in Septem- ber this year. The recent decision will provide a phase-in period before the board's total ban on smoking, in all board of education buildings, takes effect in September next year. Staff in the administration building have also been requested to restrict smoking to the lun- chroom beginning in April this year. The original decision to ban smoking by September, 1988, was made last year after a survey in- dicated that 78 per cent of ail board employees favored a total ban.