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STRATFORD VOLUME 5 • ISSUE 5
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SEPTEMBER 12, 2025
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"There be dragons" this year for local school boards, chair warns trustees CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Amid rumours that the trustee-system will soon become a thing of the past, trustee Michael Bannerman, chair of the Avon Maitland District School Board (AMDSB)’s board of trustees, warned that uncharted territory is before them. “Mapmakers, when they created maps, they would have unchartered territory and they put all the design in the mountains and they would get out there and they usually draw a picture of a dragon and write ‘There be dragons,’” Bannerman said. “… Who knows, right? Unchartered territory. And I feel like, as we go into this school year, there be dragons. “We’re heading into some unchartered territory. And it is an interesting climate to be a school board trustee.” Days after the return to school for students and teachers across the province, Minister of Education Paul Calandra teased through various media channels the end of the trustee system – spurned by recent scrutiny into spending at the Thames Valley District School Board, the Brant Haldimand Norfolk Catholic District School Board, the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board, the Toronto Catholic District School Board and the Toronto District School Board. CONTINUED TO PAGE 5
(CONNOR LUCZKA PHOTO) With their garlic clove hats on and bundles of the "Garlic Chop" on hand, Katarina Vrbanek and mom Nancy Laslavic pose at this year's Stratford Kiwanis Garlic Festival. On Sept. 6 and 7, vendors, growers and shoppers gathered at the Stratford Rotary Complex for the annual festival, celebrating locally grown garlic.
No homeless shelter this winter, after public urges council to do “something” CONNOR LUCZKA Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
While many delegates at the Sept. 8 Stratford city council meeting agreed that the Rotary Complex was not a good location for a shelter, nearly all of them acknowledged that something must be done. Council and the public had a lengthy debate on the potential for a temporary homeless shelter this winter at the
complex, after Coun. Geza Wordofa put forward the motion. As he said, it was about taking responsibility. “We are lucky to live in one of the best cities,” Wordofa said. “We are so lucky … Through (the) chair, I’ll ask you (with) respect, who is taking responsibility … for our homelessness?” “We all are,” Mayor Martin Ritsma answered. “We are, and I oppose when you say it has to be council. We have agencies in our community that serve our most marCONTINUED TO PAGE 2
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