WHITBY FREE PRESS, WEDNESDAY, MAY 20,1987, PAGE 3 Portables solve board's overcrowding problem Overcrowding is not a situation only relegated to students of Durham Board of Education, it has hit the staff as well. To alleviate the crowded situation at the board's headquar- ters at 555 Rossland Road West in Oshawa, two connecting portable offices will be installed on the parking lot before the new school term starts this coming September. The move will be made "sometime between now and August," and will allow for a num- ber of changes, according to Bruce Mather, the director of education. The present headquarters building has been the centre of con- troversy for some months now, par- ticularly since trustees recently approved a plan to seek a location for a new headquarters building. The quest for a new headquarters building has some parents' groups outraged. Trustee, councillor join walk A Whitby school trustee and councillor took a walk with more than 30 parents May 12 on a route to the future Bellwood Public School. Parents had invited public school trustee Patty Bowman and Town councillor Joe Drumm to see poten- tial hazards for future students who will walk to the school, expected to open early next year. The main concern of parents is heavy traffic on Thickson Rd., which some students will have to cross when going to school. Anita Sturges, one of the parents, said students will also have to walk along Powell Rd. which has no sidewalks and deep culverts. Parents want either bussing, to be decided by the school board, or traffic lights on Thickson. in the school area. The Town's operations committee decides on lights and crossing guards. Parents want school expansion Parents wanting expansion at Palmerston Ave. Public School will appear before Wednesday night's meeting of the Durham Board of Education's property and transpor- tation committee to ask that funds be re-allocated for expansion of the school. Last week, due to a com- munications mix-up, the Ministry of Education announced that fun- ding for expansion to Palmerston was included in $13.7 million ap- proved for projects in the Durham area. The school, however, was no longer a priority-due to boundary changes that will see 125 students now at Palmerston attending the soon-to-be-renamed Whitby Senior Public School. But the parents say that as of April 30, the projected enrolment for September, 198'7 will mean a total reduction of only 50 from the school's current population of 289. Further, the parents believe tbat due to continuing expansion in the area, enrolment by September, 1987 could be the same as the current population of the school. The parents would like to see funding for expansion to the library, which they say is half the size of normal libraries i the region, and thus inadequate. They also want expansion of tbe playroom, upgrading it to a full- fledged gymnasium witb a stage and change rooms. Director gets an assistant' The heavy workload of Durharr Board of Education's director o: education, Bruce Mather, ha! finally been recognized. He wil soon have an executive assistant t< help him with his duties. They have suggested schools throughoutlhe region should be ex-. panded prior to building any new administrative facility. It was their suggestion that the staff at headquarters be housed in por- tables much like many students are. Mather stated there was not suf- ficient room at the Rossland site for more than hluded that departments two portables, but moving two of his from the main building to the temporary offices would allow for much more needed space for other departments. w W W ' W"W v' ' Mmý MM ýl bi Long& McQuade Limited Musical Instruments THE SAME FRIENDLY STAFF AT ALTO Il ,MUSIC LTD. WOULD LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THAT WE HAVE NOW JOINED THE LONG & McQUADE GROUP Ã"F MUSIC STORES Asthe 11th outlet, located in0shawawewili now be able to serve the Durham Region even better. FOR SALES RENTALSe SERVICOE AND FINANCING WH EN YOU NEED IT MOST LONG & McQUADE 445 SIMCOE ST. S. 0-SHAWA, ONTARIO 434-1612 1. TORONTO 5. WINNIPEG &VANCOUVER 2. DOWNSVIEW 6. CALGARY 9. VICTORIA B.C. 3. PARISPANNY NJ 7. EDMONTON 10. VANCOUVER 2 4. WINDSOR 11. OSHAWA 1 IUVRW"' IMORMW lavRmr - quommr lavRm.w lavw»,w jeauwyw 0'la 0 qa l'ma