The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

BRENDA STONES (second from right), Durham Col- leges ursunàg student with the highest acadeunie standing, is shown with (from left) coilege preuident Gaiy Polonsky, board Chafrunan Domothy Stfing and nuruig faculty ps-harnnB<énie Giàter-Wrowa (1gh) No local money needed for junior kndergartenw., says Furlong GRADE 3 classes at Col. J.. Farewell learned about quilting firom the St. Mark's Quiers as part of a student study of 'Pioneers.' Peter Tomblin photo TEGHOST of AnnePs parents appear in a presen- tation of 'Anne of- Green Gables' by the Erewhon fleatre Company at Palmerston public sehool recently. PetowT'omblh, hot Lo)cal taxpayers will not be expectedtpa the cost of impie- mentinq junior kindergar-ten classes m Dur hamn Regon public schools says MPAllan urlong. Purlongrgave this assurance last iwee ~whi1e defending bis government's decision to order ail Ontario achool boards to offer junior kindergartn classes by 1994. In a speech to, the parents advisory comnittee of Anderison Collegiate, Furlong termed it a «tragedy» that 500 Ontario four-year-oôlds do flot have acces to early education. He said the government's deci- sion will Uenble every child in Ontario to reach his or her full potential» and had harsh words for critica of the move. Nothing distresses me more than to hear early cbildhood edu- cation characteriied as little more than glorifiedlbabysitting. ÀAnyone who has, raised a child knows full well the- enormous natural curiosity of a four-year- old, the tremendous capacity for learning that eidsts t at arf.» Furlong said tsattwll -be available to Durhm and other 5chol boards tooflst the cost of this and other proams announi- ced by the goverx enti last ye a T ne Seeh. sked by committee co-chair- ma John Johzýston if the government was prepared to totally 1fnd these changes or if teburo'en would fail on local iraepyorFurlong w1s suc- 'The government wilý, assist boards oimlement these pro- gra e. blivethemoney will De avaulable.» Furlong said last year's provin- cial budget set aside $194 million over the next five years for junior kindergarten and new programs in the higher grades. He a<ided that, an additional $15 million i incentive grants to help boards start these programs as soon las possible was announ- ced last ýnonth. As for total government spend- igin education, Furlong-remin. ded bis audience that the govern- ment will icrease operatig grants to schooi boards ini 1990- 9lby more than $4.5 billion. 4Tat is an increase of $363 million, or 8.7%, over the 1989- 90 allocation." Furlong conceeded that «one can alwiays argiie that there is flot enoùg h money for education, but then i get letters from people syn were already spendig toomuchand they're tbreatening a tax revoit." An audience member with a vested interesti in Furlong's remarks was Whi'tb Trstee Ian Brown, Ichairmano(t)IheDurham Board of Education. Juni or ranger cam to be used byShol On Thursday, March 1, offi- bas ben vr popular and bas Where both- parties benefit froun cials of the Durham Board of allow edsdents t o out tlbe shared projeets such as repair Education, Region of Durhamn region 'te take advantage of a and improvements -te the -Dur and Ministry of Natural variety of seasonai outdôor acti- ham Forest facility, costa wili lx Resources wiIl sign a five-year vities geared te raising aware- shared on a pro-rated basis. agreement for the board's use of ness o and concern ýfor the- Durham board, staff look for. the Lxbridge Junior Ranger enviorment and nature. Ward tobi InnrA was unot pesniisticg, but not overly optimistic" about. Fur- long's commitment of provincial funding to cover increased operatingcosts. Hie pointed out that public boards are now forcped to share commercial and industrial taxes with the separate boards, but the Svernment refuses to guarantee "nwriting" -the lost revenue. base. "They've- said they're goIng to put $180 million in'to a gooito cover the loss in revenue, ut our figures show that $240 million wiil be needed in Ontario.» Brown said the province con- tributed approximately 42% of the Durham board's $267 million operatig budget last year, with local taxpayers pickinig up the other 58% .Wbiie he agreed that the pro- vinoe is puttmng more money into education «%itotal",, Brown said current funding formulas used to determine how much a board will recive are not- satisfacto . He noted that the Durhamboard experienced a 2.3% decreas e p*1 in operatig graLnts froôm Brown said a «wild guess" of this year's budget increase will be "le to14 per cent. However -an actual figure will not be known until the province determines its funding rate and assessment roils are completed By signing this agreement, the board is making a 1on-term commitment to use the-faclit for its outdooran enviorment education j-rom for grade 6 students. Te popmté'date The boarci wili be responsible for ail costs rel4'ted te its pro- Fram fori the periôd September te May, ahid the Ministry of tNatua orc.s 4ii eres- pos0) o t pormCostafor T pêo ue~ Auguit. m' w-'pile u - omiim tocontinue te provide this valu- able service forits students. Media representatives are cor- dially imvited te attend the con- tract dignng ceremonyivolving, officialisfiom the .ýthree parties hivolveg. Amap fthe Durham Foetlcaton la attached. -mer -&% p