~

Dear Editor: "

ee ey

In your June -24 issue,

Betty Griffin claims to have -

been misled by. the Con-

decreased by -$76-77 this
-year but
forgets the additional $100

- conveniéntly-

ee ; <k - a te ey i

a lower pupil/teacher ratio
than North Vancouver.
However an examination of
these. districts proves in-_

teresting. Sixteen have tess -
cerned Citizens Association. ",
She claims, for instance that’. have less than 3,000 pupils
the school taxes on her home *

than 1,500 ‘pupils. Seven

and only two, Nanaimo and
Cowichan, have more than
6,000 pupils. Most of them
are rural districts with a

of districts with higher costs
have less than 1 ,900 pupils.

North Vancouver has over

_ 18,000 pupils.this year. The.

average cost/pupil for

boards with - enrolments
- Similar to North Vancouver

is $1,976 or $205 ‘less, and

the average for the districts

in the Lower Mainland is

British North ‘America Act
to the municipal councils for

our high school | taxes,
ignoring the facts that_ most
‘other- districts: manage far

better than we do and that

no matter which option the
municipality selects for tax
purposes, the school taxes
remain unchanged.

Dear Editor: a

We wish to express’ -our

_deep shock and concern _

“over the bear shooting in- |
‘cident, which took place in”
_Lynn Valley, on Monday, _
June 25th: These creattires -.

haye as‘ much right on this

Earth as we'do, after all it’s —

not bears who have polluted
the lakes and streams. Nor
have they desecrated the
life-sustaining earth with
monstrous machines in order
to build yet another: ugly
housing project to ac-
commodate their ever

over s sists

whatsoever
’ him into the cage? ©

Teas?

stench of crotkag garl

irbage, ne.
was. simply — looking~’ "for.
something to eat. Why did:

Adolf .make no attempt:

ronically,

if a human.

to encourage —

roams into. “bear. country” . .
and is consequently mauled: -
and/or killed for trespassing, | -

the -public_is shocked and.

—paid=—by—-the— provincial

government as Home Owner
“Grant, specifically to D reduce
school taxes.

Despite the claims by Ms.
Griffin, the time spent by the

trustees on the 1979 School

Budget was: negligible ‘and.

their input -on the final

budget was non-existent as_
the board has neither.

finance . committee nor
budget committee to guide
“and direct the
ministration. ;

Instead of 20 there are, in

ad-_

large area to cover. Quesnel

' for .instance covers 10,000 |

square miles.

The - same comparisons
can . -be made with “school

districts with greater cost per

pupil than North Vancouver.
Among districts with pupil
enrolment above 10,000 only

. Nanaimo comes close to
North’ Vancouver | -
$2,130 against our $2,181

with

and- only one district with’

over 6,000 students, Cariboo __
Chilcotin, exceeds our cost '"

C.-

a ee

a ome

fact, 32 school districts with

for r each pupil. The majority

Self-indulgent

society worries

school board head ©

Dear Editor:

I must ‘ confess 1° am
worried.

During the last few years
school systems, in general,
and the North Van system in

particular, have been.
subjected to the most
relentless, vicious and

largely uninformed attacks
which has ever been directed
against them. This is oc-
curring at the same time as a
drastic decline in enrolment
which is seriously affecting
morale.

The two problems are not
unconnected. As fewer
people in our area have
children, and those who do
move out because of high
housing prices, fewer
members of the community

tend to-show-a-concemfor ~
“om ~ghild

1 sector,

current is

pom cilt ane

where we
cheerfully told we must
spend $100,000 for yachts

: which sink in the Caribbean,

$30 million for a multiplex,
$100 million for a_ con-
vention centre, $300 million
for yet another highway to
the interior to accommodaté
camper trucks, and $3
billion for fighter planes
which American generals
assure us are already ob-
solete. So as I look around, I
see little evidence of
restraint except in the fields
of health and education.

There is a good deal to
criticize in -the
system, but it seems to me
that much of that which is
negative, and
permits the schools to be
used as scapegoats for all’ ‘the

frustations Society pr produces.

reason for. the_decline.in. garlier.letter...anc._of__my_-
7

menor rime id-bearing-and—rel
(the —sise-lerankpa

~~ indulgence “so 3o prominent in
our society.

Fewer people are
prepared to give up a portion
of their income to rear their
own children, let alone
educate the children’ of
others, when they could be
spending that money on
good things like tape decks,
microwave ovens, imported
wines, bi-weekly dinners in
fine restaurants and bi-
annual holidays in Hawaii.

It may be noted that
during this period of in-
creasingly strident demands
for restraint in cducation,
sales of luxury goods arc
skyrocketing. The contrast is
no less vivid in the public

ee —

ome a7
oh

ae iE

though it ‘that declining
enrolment may cause the
firing of teachers on con-
tinuing contracts.
venom mystifies mc. But it is
not unusual.

.Macdonald Burbidge

Chairman
North Vancouver School
Board

TIME FOR A
TUNE-UP?

are .

school - -

—i- “mentioned * gon

SOPDUNE SATIESEOR CAC Te =

“ie

Such

$184-less than North Van-
couver. If the North Van-
couver School costs were at

‘ the- average for the Lower

Mainland, the saving would
be ‘almost
about 8 mills for the average
home owner. ot

Ms. “Griffin proceeds: to

--blame _ overything from the

$4,000,000 or

As has been pointed out
before now, the average
B.C. home owner saves $90
each year on school taxes by

not living in North Van- -

couver. —

Ernie Sarsfield
School! ‘Trustee
North Vancouver - -

Re

«ify
rt D
ae £
‘
. a
: fj
poles beatae .
z7 4d
* ese.

It’s incredible,
Fish and Wildlife Branch,
who are. supposedly in-

terested in” conservation,

have only one tranquillizer

gun. However, we can. be

_ fairly certain they have more -—
_ than one life destroying gun,.

like the lethal. weapon used
to end that poor young bear’s

' jife. Also, if there are too
many bears on the North

that the

dignation. © The
responsible is

filled-. with ‘Tighteous | in-
bear.
branded |

“mankiller”, hunted “down:.

and killed. Poetic justice

would reach an all-time high .

if a party ‘of righteously |

indignant _bears,-

tracked him down! .

Mr. & Mrs. A. Mi ler
AN:

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| Phe Tena Sun

KISS « CARLY SIMON « BILLY JOEL
ROLLING STONES « LINDA RONSTADT
ANDY GIBB * AND MORE!

having -
branded Adolf. “bearkiller” -