SATURDAY

, 1980
Vol. 43, No. 70
Castlegar, B.C.

3 Sections (A, B & C)

<<a

75 Cents

New principal
discusses job

WEATHER ;
Tonight: Cloudy skies, lows B°. 10°.
Sunday: A mix of cloud and sun.
Scottered showers. highs 22°.24°. The
outlook is for unsettled weather to
continue through Monday, with a slow
drying trend by Tuesday. Probability of
precipitation is 30 per cent tonight, 60
per cent Sunday

+++ A2

Bud Smith
defends actions
Abye

Castles ~

New tenants in park

--- A6

Rate
hearings
begin
Oct. 22

By CasNews Staff

West Kootenay Power's energy
conservation program, Power Sense,
is doing so well it may become a fac-
tor in determining yearly rate hikes
for the utility, WKP’s supervisor of
energy management programs said.

The savings to the utility since the
program was introduced last October
are “‘being considered’’ now as WKP
Prepares to go before the B.C.
Utilities Commission on Oct. 22 in

to seek pproval

for an interim rate increase that took
effect in January, Gerald McRobb
said.

But the precise effect the program
will have on WKP’s increases is dif-
ficult to calculate, he said.

“It’s hard to say if it’s having a
dramatic effect because it’s such a
young program.””

WKP officials have until Sept. 7 to
submit documents to the commission
concerning rate increases for the next
few years, company spokesman Jack
Fisher said.

WKP received approval for an in-
terim increase of 6.9 per cent in
January but the utility found that in-
crease was more than what was
needed and sought a reduction to 5.5
per cent, Fisher said.

WKP has been refunding the dif-
ference for the last few months, he
said.

During the hearings, which were to
take place in April but were post-
poned because of a spring strike at the
utility, WKP will seek increases for
1990, 1991 and 1992, Fisher said.

Utility officials hope that by in-
cluding the 1992 increase in the fall
hearings they can avoid a hearing next
year, he said.

Officials have ‘‘figures in mind’’
for 1991 and 1992 increases but they
won’t be released until the utilities
commission has seen the papers,
Fisher said.

The increases will have to include
the new goods and services tax, which
takes effect Jan. 1, 1991, and likely
won’t hold any surprises, Fisher said.

As the population gradually in-
creases, the demands for power made
on the utility increase and WKP must
increase its rates to cope with the cost
of buying extra power from B.C.
Hydro, Fisher pointed out.

Mother Natu
out the real mother nature by watering and removing dead
buds from the flowers outside the store in Castlegar. Dead
buds? Could winter be far off?

TENDER LOVING CARE

Pantry employee Christina Markin, 19, helps

CasNews photo by Ed M

NDP candidate calls
for 'cooler heads’

By CasNews Staff

Ed Conroy, the New Democratic
Party candidate for the Rossland-
Trail riding, is calling for ‘‘cooler
heads’’ to prevail in discussions over
Celgar Pulp Co.’s mill expansion
plans.

“‘We're going nowhere. We're
smashing our heads against a wall and
everyone’s getting mad at each
other,’’ he said, describing the current
mood.

People on the extremes of the issue
— those who want the expansion to
go ahead right away and those who
want long delays in the review process
to allow for study of Cel;
proposal — are being unrealistic if
they think their respective po: s
will win out, Conroy told the Castle-
gar News.

“People in the Slocan Valley who
think the mill (expansion) isn’t going
to go ahead with the full support of
the people in the area (are making) a
major error in judgment,”’ he said.

If Celgar receives government ap-
provals following the review process
and the company has the financing in
place to proceed, the expansion will
go ahead because the people in the
Castlegar area ‘‘need it and want it,’’
Conroy said.

But by the same token, the **build-
the-mill-at-any-cost people’’ can’t ex-
pect that ‘1 and social

she
ED CONROY
... we're going nowh:

“It’s 1990 and that (position) is not
reality either.”

Both sides should get together and
ensure that the review is completed as
expeditiously as possible, he said.

And people who have concerns
about the expansion’s impacts should
be making constructive suggestions
for Celgar to consider, he said

For example, people who fear an
increase in chip-truck traffic on
Highway 6 through the valley should
ask Celgar to leave space for

concerns will not be taken into con-
sideration before any construction is
allowed to begin, he said.

loading rail cars in case the com-
pany finds shipping chips by rail
feasible in the future, Conroy
suggested.

He noted that Celgar announced it
was switching to a hydrogen peroxide
bleaching system after he said the mill
should be expanded and modernized
but that it has to be “‘right up to
snuff’ environmentally.

He said there are many people in
the area who support his position

Editorial, page A4

rather than ascribing to the stands
taken by the extreme groups.

“I think by and large it’s a respon-
sible community. And it’s responsible
for us to come out of this with a clean
conscience.”’

Conroy said little consideration has
been given to the effect the expansion
will have on Westar Timber Ltd. and
its sawmill employees.

“The long-term health of
sawmill depends on Celgar.’”

And the shutdown of Celgar would
mean ‘‘the economic ruination of this
area,’’he said.

Conroy said anyone who wants
more information about the expan-
sion should attend the Sept. 10
meeting being arranged by the City of
Castlegar’s Celgar expansion advisory
group:

Technical experts who are not part
of Celgar’s consulting team will be on
hand to answer questions, said
Conroy, who is a member of the ad-
visory group.

The meeting is set for 7 p,m. at the
Castlegar Community Complex

the

Some students must wait

By CLAUDETTE SANDECKI
Staff Writer

The Castlegar school board will not
allow local children to attend school
before they are considered legally of
school age by: the Ministry of
Education

Children born just after the cutoff
date of Oct. 31 for entry into the Sep-
tember session of first-year primary
school, formerly known as kindergar
ten, will have to wait until January to
begin classes, the board decided
Monday during a special meeting
called to tie up loose ends before the
school year begins.

The new system, known as dual en
try, allows children born between

May 1 and Oct. 31 to begin school in
September while children born bet
ween Nov. 1 and April 30 cannot
begin school until January. Children
with November and December ‘birth
dates could be enrolled in the Sep-
tember session but they would not be
considered students by the ministry
until January, superintendent of
schools Terry Wayling said

Thirty children in the Castlegar
school district fall into the November
December bracket this year. If those
students are admitted to September
classes, they will cost the district more
than the Education Ministry will pay
for, Wayling told the trustees.

Children the ministry

does not

acknowledge as students are not
recorded by the government and the
school district does not receive any
funding for those students until the
ministry recognizes them as students,
Wayling said

As well, the ministry provides only
half the funding for a first-year
student that it provides for older
students because first-year pupils are
only expected to attend school for
half days

When the students move on to
second year and attend for a full day,
the ministry will only recognize the
tudents with November-December
birth dates as half-day students and
please see STUDENTS page A2

Teachers gear up for
new primary program

fy CLAUDETTE SANDECKI
Staff Writer

The colorful classroom is calm but definitely not
quiet.

The students, ranging age from 5% to 6%, are
working at their clustered desks, talking and helping one
another with an art project that relates to the beach theme
the class has been studying all week. The children pass
materials back and forth, constantly making suggestions
to one another. The teacher moves among the clusters of
children, praising, suggesting and worrying a little about
the cups of sand each student has at his or her elbow.

She pauses to straighten up the math centre where *

earlier in the day a younger child and her older ‘‘buddy’’
worked on math concepts with the variety of blocks in the
centre. She reminds herself to check with another teacher
on the combined field trip they will take their classes on
next week and then glances at her watch. Almost time for
an older group of students to join her children for
reading. And she mustn’t forget the parent coming in for
an informal conference that will serve as his daughter's
third report card for the year.

Scenes such as these will be played out beginning next
week in the Castlegar school district and throughout
B.C. as the province’s teachers implement the Ministry of
Education’s new primary program.

Trudy Andrews says now is ‘‘a very exciting time to
be a teacher”’ in:

Andrews, whose title is primary helping teacher and
who calls herself ‘‘a teacher who helps other teachers,"’
said the challenge will be to create practices that: reflect
the philosophy and goals of the new program ”

‘The program itself reflects the research that has been
done on how children learn and builds on ‘‘what we have
been most doing”’ in the said An-

drews, whorlives in Castlegar but has been working in the
Trail school district.

The primary program, which will replace the kin-
dergarten to Grade 3 classes with an ungraded system that
allows children to progress at their own rates, is based on
recommendations from the Sullivan Royal Commission
on Education. The program recognizes that each child is
unique and should be treated as an individual and en-
deavers to make the curriculum fit the development of the
child.

The program acknowledges that learning is a social
activity, Andrews said. Therefore, children will be given
more opportunities to talk and interact and teachers will
eventually become facilitators, rather than being the ones
who ask all the questions and do all the talking, she said

Students will be encouraged to express their thoughts
in a variety of ways, including drama and music.

They will no longer spend specific amounts of time
studying science, social studies, art, language or other
subjects. Classes will be built around themes and as many
subjects as possible will be studied within the theme.

“The theme is only the vehicle for tying the
curriculum together,"’ Andrews said. Children will no
longer be grouped strictly by age and ability

A and will hi: evidence
of growth throughout the year rather than a proficiency
with tests. Teachers will keep a portfolio of work for each
student and report cards will no longer carry letter grades.

There will be five reporting periods — three formal
and two informal. The three formal reports, in the form
of written evaluations, will inform parents about what
their children are doing in the classroom. The informal
reports may be phone calls, parent-teacher conferences or
letters home.
please see TEACHERS pege A2

§
A
Qe
g

Trudy Andrews. helpi
district teachers id gnarl to imple

CorNews photo by Clouderte Sondeck:

ew ie

»
teacher in the Castlegar school district, prepares her materials as

ment the Ministry of Education's new primary program.