“crease. takes effect d
“fapidly declining
enrolments and .
' closures of schools over
the past several years.

“There-a couple of reasons
why we are still faced with

rising costs despite falling
enrolments,” said chairman
‘Verna Smelo

The recent CUPE settle-
“ment took a-large chunk of
the increase, while rising
operational and
Maintenance costs in heat
and lighting are very difficult
‘Yo cut back on, Smelovsky
said.
« Still, the financial
"worry facing the board is its
present negofiations with the
teachers.

“I -can’t
negotiations,

comment on
but all you

have to do is look at what the
Vancouver — teachers just

.

weather

SUNDAY
Cloudy with

a few showers

MONDAY
Litde change.

some |“

tre.

VERNA SMELOVSKY

received ... 19 per cent!”
Smelovsky told the News.
The board does not know
how much its budget in-
crease will affect the local
mill rate next year, but

Smelovsky did say there
might be taxation formula
changes, both at the local
and provincial level. These
could provide some relief to

The largest single’i increase

in the budget ‘is in in-

struction, up over $5 million

_ “‘to--$41,988,690:, This figure
includes faculty salaries... a

-

School District
44 was able to hold its
budget increase to I! per
cent, one of the lowest: in-
creases in the province.
Smelovsky maintains this
year’s budget will again be
one of the lowest percentage
increases in the province.

“Talking to other trustees,
1 would estimate that the
average increase in school
budgets around the province
will be 20 per cent,” she said.

However, if the board has
been able to keep increases
in its budget below the
average, has this fiscal
restraint had any detrimental
effect on programs? — -

“I think some of our pro-
grams have suffered,
especially in the high
schools, but I believe we are
doing the best job possible
under the present fiscal
restraints, we're in a reces-

CONTINUED ON PAGE A2

r ” Pee years

OPPONENTS of
North Vancouver's
. Premier Street
‘Landfill have hit
upon a new tactic
- which they hope
will whittle down
the life of the dump
by as much as 15
years.

If successful, residents
of the Arborlynn = arca
would likely also ac-
complish their objective
of having the mountain of
garbage currently visible
from their homes
substantially lowered.

Their approach 1s to
pressure provincial
government = authorilics
into refusing to give a
pollution control permit
for a final area to the nor
theast of the present land
fill. The permit is essen.

oa ok p om —

tial to North Van
District’s overall plan to
pile garbage steadily
higher and contour the
area to the height of the
adjoining cemetery lands.

Members of the Com-
mittee for Opposition to

Landfill Dumping
(COLD) which was
recently formed by

residents in response to
the height of the garbage
dump, have already col-
iected 600 names on a
petition which calls on
the province to ban fur-

ther cxpansion of the
landfill

Without access to the
slope leading to the
cemetery, the residents
maintain that = Distnct’
would be unable to com

plete its system of about
300 ft
That

would leave the

‘would have to be lowerec

a.

level of the Jandfill in the
northern expansion, .
which is scheduled ‘to
open up imminéntly,en-":.
ding in a steep cliff which: "
would be so unacceptable
even to the District that it
would be impossible to
consider.

So, they say, District
would -be forced to'
gradually slope down the
northern side of the next
landfill area, which would
necessitate contouring
down the present moun-_
tain of garbage towards it |
from its current height of
over 150 feet.

Such a situation would
mean much of the expan-
sion area set aside for gar-
bage in years to come
would be filled with land-
fill already there, leaving
District with room to
dump only about another
five years of garbage

CONTINUED ON PAGE All

iy’