A8 Terrace Review — Wednesday, December 20, 1989 oe! wd The classroom: --revolution New School Act defines trustee conflict of interest This is. the third installment in a five-part series on.B.C.’s new School Act “and its associated regulations by Terrace Review free- lance writer Nancy Orr, a long-time resident of Terrace and former School District 88 trustee. Educationalists are renowned for their concern for language, but who would think ‘that’ a Royal: Commission . would | be 7 needed to define words such. as — ‘child’? and ‘‘spouse’’? Each word is explained carefully in the preamble to the newly-proclaimed School Act. (Bill 67) which has been drafted from the recommendations of - the Sullivan Royal Commission on Education. The definitions. appear bland and matter-of- fact, but in reality reflect fun- ‘damental changes that have oc- curred in society, particularly in family life, in the three decades ‘since the last Commission, the Chant Report in 1960. The: consequences of these definitions are apparent in the segment detailing Conflict of In- terest. e “For the purposes of Section M1, the pecuniary (also defined) interest of a spouse or of a parent or child of the trustee shall, if known to the trustee, be deemed to be also the pecuniary interest of the trustee.” Simple words,. but. fare reaching. Consider the effect on the very specific guidelines for the procedures to be followed in a conflict of interest. e@ At an ‘“‘open’”’ or ‘public’ meeting, at which any matter is being considered in which the trustee has a pecuniary interest, that interest must be declared and the trustee must refrain from speaking, voting or at- tempting to influence decisions on the matter before, during or after the meeting. The interest must be recorded in the minutes. e Ata “‘closed’”” mecting from which the public has been ex- cluded, the trustee must not only comply with the above, but also absent himself from that part of the meeting. The fact of the dis- closure must be recorded in the minutes of the next public meeting. @ If the trustee is absent from the meeting, he must observe all the rules above and also disclose the interest at the next meeting of the board. That these apparently obvious statements could have dramatic implications on the conduct of business is reflected in the sub- sequent sections which lay out rules for the conduct of the board’s business by: reason of a lack of a quorum’’. @ Failure to follow the guide- lines does not invalidate pro- ceedings, but the board itself may take action. @ A board may expel onc of its own members from a meeting. @ Another very significant dele- tion is the removal of the restric- tions. on the remuneration for trustees. - There is no. legislation . concerning the responsibility of members to participate or to at- -tend.. No doubt, responsible boards. will make their. own by- | laws and guidelines. Few will | follow the lead of the Vancouver School Board that jumped its remuneration to $20,000 from $4,000. The chairman of the VSB. was reported to. have claimed that trustees spend 30 hours a week on board affairs. Someone is, forgetting that it is the board’s mandate to set policy, not implement it. . @ Then there is the simple state- ment that anyone who is entitled to vote and has been omitted from the voters’ list, may be sworn in on polling day and may be nominated for office. In the proliferation of jurisdictions in federal, provin- cial and municipal elections, that legislation is essential. Various definitions concern- ing actual termination dates, of meeting procedures and many details in the new Act will help to clarify former vague direc- tives — — So that!boards may. con tinue to act, in the new ter- minology, ‘‘as a natural person of full capacity’ « . to be continued. Universal . | ~ Newhark Gold Mines has completed: Stage Il and ‘is tion on its 60 percent-owned Stewart. The compariy’s 1989 X- million, and: in the latter stages effort is being con- _centrated on defining the R-8 structure. Underground now involved. in the third © stage of this year’s ‘explora- ’ Sulphurets property north of — ‘ploration budget is $11.5.— crews s recently completed a. 170-foot raise that:graded an" average 2.861 ounces of gold _ ‘per-ton and. EDT 3 ounces of : silver, The- current program . began Nov. 17 with the ob- . ject. of completing 15,000 feet of underground dia- mond drilling to confirm - reserves. through close- spaced drilling and expand ing encountered. Newhawk, reserves with a ‘step-out pro- . gram; Company president - Don McLeod says broader | widths than: expected are be- : _ Results from the 1989 pro- gram will be one considera- tion in the feasibility study for the Sulphurets project | be- ing prepared by Cominco °. Engineering . Services’ for Regional district eyes grant | for Thornhill sewage system Kitimat-Stikine Regional District director Les Watmough would like to see a sewage treat- ment facility for at least a part of Thornhill; but even though a government funding program is available, realization of his ~ dream may be somewhat in the: future yet. Watmough has his. eye ona provincial program with over $3 million in grants available through the Ministry of En- vironment that is. intended to assist municipalities in develop- ing sewage treatment projects. These grants are designed to supplement existing funding . available through the Ministry of Municipal Affairs, When combined, these funding sources will cover 75 percent of the net capital cost of the project. There are, however, a few re- quirements to-mect first: To be eligible, a municipality must . ‘already have received approval ‘4 for a basic 50 percent grant under the Revenue Sharing Act, ID cards for disabled coming Universal identification cards for the disabled may be here soon, . The Kitimat-Stikine Regional Hospital District has endorsed a proposal made by the B.C. Coalition for the Disabled for a system of photo ID cards. by writing a letter of support to the Premier’s Advisory Council on the Disabled. The photo ID cards would provide disabled persons with access to special services such as parking, assis- tance in boarding aircraft and . special transportation fares. In discussing the Coalition’s proposal, regional district direc- tor . Les Watmough suggested that the cards would be issued for a specified period: of time following consultation with a doctor or panel of doctors. “I don’t think it should be a life- time privilege without re- certification,”’ he explained. Under the present system, says Watmough, a disabled per- son must apply through a doctor for each individual situation — — for example, each airline flight or request for services. In de- scibing the situation of one dis- abled northwest resident, John LeSage added that, ‘‘He likes to be independent, but he has to go down every month to apply with capinhand.” . . It’s degrading, LeSage added... but these days may soon be over. The Terrace Library Christmas holiday hours will be as follows: . Open. Sunday, Dec. 24 from 1 to 5 p.m.; closed. Monday, Dec. 25, Tuesday, Dec. 26 and Wednesday, Dec. 27; open Thursday, - Dec, 28 and Friday, Dec. 29 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.; open | Terrace library sets holiday opening hours Public . Saturday, Dec. 30 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m,; and open Sunday, Dec. 31 from 1 to 5 p.m. The library will be closed Monday, Jan. 1 and Tuesday, Jan 2. Regular hours will resume on Jan. 3. the need for the facility must be- ‘proven to be.urgently required and have significant en- vironmental benefits, and it must be shown that without the Ministry of Environment grant the tax share of funding the pro- ject would exceed $250 per household annually. But the process has begun. -The board of directors passed -Watmough’s motion that a funding application be submit- ted following his description of recent events in the Thornhill . area, According to Watmough, funding for Thornhill was de- 7. : | | Sk» THIS WEEKS PUZZLE ANSWER ACROSS ‘Stalk Police: pl. Solld: comb. form Hatred : Discordant Filet.’ Drills Decade National AillaAssn. [eB Disrnounled Whiripoots Dress part Toward Regret Recent Raps Speak Perak Pl. volcano Stitch Cyrus... educalor Courteous DOWN .Am. Creed Ages : . . Interiors Ltd. Exterior and interior paints Armstrong flooring * Harding carpets “(All the supplies you need”? . 4610 Lazelle Ave. Lower abdominal regions Cancelted Charred Weakens Very good Calebrated in history Blanc clined by the government in 1977. .Shortly after this, the - - funding share of. the province ” was reversed, they would pay for . only 25 percent of the total cost, -and the idea was again shelved. This was later changed to a §0/50 cost sharing arrangement and now that it’s back up to the original 25/75 level, Watmough says it’s time to consider the pro- ject again. At the old cost sharing levels, Watmough says, some property owners were better | ‘off to “burn and rebuild’, but this new pro- gram has brought things “back. into focus”. Terrace Sunworthy wallpaper 635-6600 Celastlalbody — Norse god Swine Bright Unemotional Additional Slacken Of the nose: Lat. _ a JONES Belonging tohim Accomplished Oldauto. 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