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

Board decides to bus kindergarten students Castleton parents reacted to He said that his tax bill has the Board's decisionto transport doubled in the last 6 years their kindergarten-age children because of increased education to Colborne by holding a special costs, Conquergood pointed out _ meeting Tuesday evening at the that when a local board was in Castleton Town Hall. ' existence education costs were Some parents expressed lower, and the board was more strong disapproval of this action accessible to the average person saying it had no benefit for their, in its jurisdiction, Like Gait, he ,uhilrlreuavhatsoevermln fact, "" said no savings seemed to ac; . common concern was the timri .kel'llt' from this move.' these young children would According to the Board's spend on a bus being tran- figures, only 12 kindergarten sported to Colborne. pupils were registered for Charley Conquergood stated Castleton Public School. that the Board should have However, Bill Pratt, principal, taken a better approach and says that registration stands at proved that savings would be 15 plus whatever pupils move made because of this proposal. into the area between now and The Northumberland-New- castle Board of Education Thursday accepted a proposal of its eastern area superintendent Douglas Sifton to bus Castleton kindergarten students to Colborne Puhlic School next fall because there aren’t enough pupils to form a kindergarten class at Castleton. ' The board also plans to bus kindergarten pupils at Smith- field Public School to Murray Centennial Public school for the same reason. "FirFieroRs CAUSED SERIOUS Pusssynss PV The board was told two factors have caused serious pressures in staffing schools of the Eastern area, First, assessment of pupils with severe learning problems has revealed the need for at least four additional special education classes. Secondly, declining enrolment has made staffing of smaller schools in- creasingly difficult, L mummy, WWW The board was informed that recent pre-registration. of kin- dergarten pupils at Castleton and Smithfield Public Schools indicated that there were scarcely enough pupils to justify continuing the class. Projected enrolments at nearby schools would permit the ace commodation of these children without increasing staff. At Castleton Public School, where the actual kindergarten enrolment was counted as 19 on Sept. 30,1978, it is projected to drop to 12 pupils by Sept.30,1979 to provide for a half time class teacher. ' Parents say No! Castleton parents reacted to the Board's decision to transport their kindergarten-age children to Colborne by holding a special meeting Tuesday evening at the Castleton Town Hall. WEE-wéiolbm'ne where 29 kim dergarten pupils were coynted. ”W...“ V. ,,,,, Charley Conquergood stated that the Board should have taken a better approach and proved that savings would be made because of this proposal. last September, the projected enrolment is expected to be 30 next September allowing for a full time teacher, _ _ . . At Smithfield, which just had 12 pupils enrolled last Sep- tember, the enrolment is only projected to go up to 14 this coming fall which would require at half-time teacher. _ . At Murray Centennial, last September there were 43 kim dergarten pupils, but this is expected to drop to 28 in the projected kindergarten class there nex} September, At Brighton Public School, 49 kindergarten pupils were recorded last September but only 41 are anticipated for next September. _ T "mor"'"""'""" Sifton's report stated that it was proposed to transport for the kindergarten year only, Castleton pupils to Colborne Public School and Smithfield pupils to the Murray Centennial kindergarten. . ..i..w.u_.m.v . No additional staff would be required for Colborne and Murray Centennial Public Schools but alternate assign- ments would be required for Castleton and Smithfield teachers. TRANSPORTATION COSTS or' MOVING KIN- DERGARTEN CLASSES _ The administration has estimated that the cost of transportation of the Castleton kindergarten pupils to Colborne Public School would be $2,213.50 a year' while the cost of tran- sporting the Smithfield kin- dergarten pupils to Murray Centennial school would be $1,966.50 a year, Sifton commented that there would be this cost against the cost of §wg_pa§t-t_ime teacheys. w... -i .... 'r'""' W. __ Campbellford trustee Brian Gibb questioned whether alternate assignments would be available ty.pyt-tiPe teachers. M gitfo'n "sditiGe" iGiinistration already knows there would not be enougltassigrynen.ts Port Hope trustee Mrs. Harriet Reisler said she thought the board was going to have to encompass fuli-time kin- dergarten classes in tt future, The trustees were informed that because staffing had been reduced in area schools as drastically as the program would allow, it seemed desirable to accomplish the saving of the equivalent of one full-time teacher. The board was told that some of these costs might be reduced by judicious routing of buses returning pupils to their home area. The distances would be seven miles to transport the students from Castleton to Colborne and four miles to transport the pupils from Smith- field to Murray Centennial school. Brighton trustee Dr. Douglas Gait was unsuccessful in getting the recommendation tabled to another meeting for further study, although the trustees voted six to five for Cabling. Gait voted against the resolution to bus the kim dergarten pupils from Castleton and Smithfield. _ neg} Septeqlbgr. The Castleton principal was informed of this proposal on Wednesday, the day before last Thursday's Board of Education meeting. He said that the decision came after parents had already registered their children for classes in the fall. Pratt also failed to see where any savings in money would result from this action The community's feeling in Castleton is well reflected in a parent‘s comment to the effect that nobody seems to know what the board isgoing to do, until it's done. Sifton contended that some of the children may not have as long a trip as they would otherwise have had, News from T Ca stleton WWW”. A lovely lunch was served by Urma Calberry and Ruble Carr. Next meeting will be for supper at 6:30. The May meeting of the WI will be at the home of Mrs. D. Dude, with convener Mrs. W. Turney. Rollcall is bring a friend and introduce her, “Sir: 'iir'sriGiirindle are in Cue Hill for a few days because of the death of leer Iryeit, Fm Mr., Mrs. Delbert Peebles of Colborne had supper with the Charles Harndens on Tuesday night. "irrrs,. Jean Todd of Toronto visited the Allens or} Tungay; "WE. K.“Aiié]i"axi& girls hid dinner with her aunt in Camp- belKord on Thursdgy. -- . . Mr., Mrs. Charles Harnden spent Saturday with the Gordon Harndens at Eddyslone and enjoyed some fishing. ' “may-.. ”w..- mum, Mrs. Pauline Neilson of Toronto spent the weekend with Mr., Mrs. A, Young. Mrs. Irene Somerville and Jack Levesty were dinner guests of Mr., Mrs. Jim Stark at JNewtor1vil1e on Thursday. Earl Walton of Edmonton spent the weekend at Mrs. N. Walton's and attended the funeral of his mother, Mrs. F. Hi Earl Walton spent the week, Wellun's and funeral of his n gym”... __ Walton's and attended the funeral of his mother, Mrs. F. Weltml. Mr., Mrs. Kenneth McKague of Ogema. Sask,, also Mrs. Audrey Lenard of Winfield, BC., spent several days with - a _ ”Hymn". “A :zlory ht yd relurm red home