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5 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,S eptem ber 10,2020 theifp.ca Open for Dinner Wednesday thru Sunday Ask about our fabulous breakfast, lunch, senior and student specials Mon-Tues 7-3 • Wed-Thurs 7-7 • Fri-Sat 7-9 • Sun 8-7 154 Guelph Street, Georgetown (905) 877-2511 Our Staff specialize in making you smile! Hope to see you soon! Follow us on Facebook and Instagram - Georgeview Open Kitchen Dine -in, Patio, Takeout and Curbside Service available. You'll love our Homemade Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner. We make your favourites like Liver & Onions, Triple Decker Sandwiches and Home-made Burgers Thank You For Voting Us #1 For Best Breakfast And Runner Up For Best Family Restaurant! 150 YEARS of combinEd HoRTicULTURAL EXPERiEncE 9478 Wellington Rd 124, ERIN, ON 519-833-9313 | bloomgreen.ca All items while quantities last. Subject to availability.We reserve the right to limit quantities. Images are for illustration purposes only.The text prevails over images. Although we strive for accuracy in both copy and illustrations, errors may occur. 150 years experience* refers to combined experience of Bloomgreen's management team at time of publication. Mon to Fri 8-7 | Sat 8-6 | Sun 9-5 FOLLOW USPlants soil mulch gravel Come ask our experts for free advice for all your planting projects! HUGE PLANT SALE ON NOW! TrOPicALS 50% Off As the countdown to the reopening of schools con- tinues, it's time to tighten your social circles. That was one of the sig- nificant take-aways from a meeting of the Halton Dis- trict School Board on Sept. 2 - a reminder that families are as much a part of the solution to a successful re- opening as educators. "All of us need to be a part of this solution, in that preventing the spread (of the virus) is a community- wide effort," said Burling- ton trustee Leah Reynolds. The single most impor- tant piece of the process is parents' commitment to completing the daily self- assessment every morning to ensure their child doesn't show a single one of the COVID-19 symptoms, said superintendent of ed- ucation Colette Ruddock. "I completely appreci- ate the inconvenience of keeping a child home, even with only one symptom, but this is truly the single most important preventive measure that families can commit to - staying home when your child is ill," said Ruddock. This is the time to be vigilant again, said Reyn- olds. Public Health Ontario's messaging is that this is the time families should be tightening social circles and new circles become classmates, added Rud- dock. "We want to make sure that that class remains safe and protected in the class- room environment, that families really should be thinking of reducing the number of close contacts outside of school and home," said Ruddock. The same holds true of teachers, said Oakville trustee Joanna Oliver. "Students need to be so- cially responsible and our staff need to be encouraged to take a sick day. We know that many people go to work sick, but in the time of pandemic, that's not what we can do or tolerate. "We have to really deliv- er that message and let them know it's OK. If they are sick, they're not to come in, and substitute teachers will be found." Until a vaccine is devel- oped, "we as a society, and we as a school board, have to learn to live with this vi- rus," said director of edu- cation Stuart Miller. "If we don't, we'll be shut down again," he added. With the staffing of schools completed to date, average class sizes have been reduced at the ele- mentary level, said execu- tive officer of human re- sources Debra McFadden. • 24 teachers and 14 des- ignated early childhood ed- ucators have been added to kindergarten classrooms, reducing average class siz- es in the 244 kindergarten classes to 20, with none over the funded average class size of 26 students. • In Grades 1-3, only 16 of 450 primary classes have more than 20 students, while the average class size is 18.5. • In Grades 4-8, of 809 classes, 50 classes are be- tween 25 and 26 students, but the current class size average is 22.6 students. "As our enrolment sta- bilizes, when students ac- tually return to school and we see what our traditional schools look like, not just intent but actuality, we will likely have a Septem- ber reorganization process as we normally do, and that will be our opportunity to further address some pres- sures of class size where we can," said McFadden. NEWS PUBLIC BOARD URGES VIGILANCE IN KEEPING SCHOOLS SAFE KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com HDSB announces reduced class sizes and urges vigilance as schools get set to reopen. Torstar file photo "I completely appreciate the inconvenience of keeping a child home, even with only one symptom, but this is truly the single most important preventive measure that families can commit to - staying home when your child is ill." - HDSB superintendent of education Colette Ruddock