The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

9 | The IFP -H alton H ills | T hursday,N ovem ber 19,2020 theifp.ca The solution to COVID-19 is in your hands. •Wear a face covering. • Keep 2m apart from anyone outside of your household. • Limit your close contact to your household only. •Wash your hands often. Stopping the spread starts with you. Visit ontario.ca/coronavirus to learn more Paid for by the Government of Ontario • Keeping schools open is a priority for her, said Dr. Hamidah Meghani, Hal- ton's medical officer of health, in a presentation to the HDSB. This is why, she said, it's important for ev- eryone in the community to be "extra vigilant" this fall to avoid a shutdown of essen- tial areas such as schools. • As of Nov. 2, 69 Halton schools had experienced at least one confirmed or probable case of COVID-19 among their students and staff, which included 24 staff and 101 students, with most of these infections be- lieved to be acquired out- side the school environ- ment, said Meghani. • A total of 2,400 elemen- tary students chose to switch learning models during the allotted October time frame, with 600 stu- dents returning to in-per- son education and 1,800 switching to distance learning. These changes will be in place for Nov. 30. • Milton SW #1 high school will not be opening in September 2021, but is now anticipated to open in February 2022. The rea- sons and rationale behind the delay will be presented at the next meeting of the board on Nov. 18. As a re- sult, a north Halton I- STEM program that is be- ing implemented at the new secondary school will be postponed. Instead, the board will have only one I- STEM program in opera- tion during the next school year, at Aldershot High School in Burlington. An I-STEM Virtual Open House for the Alder- shot program will be held on Thursday, Nov. 12 be- tween 7 and 8 p.m. Visit www.hdsb.ca for more in- formation. • Discussion about school renovation projects (review the report here: bit.ly/38fTOPl) included questioning about the board's administration building on Guelph Line, a facility beyond repair, ac- cording to director of edu- cation Stuart Miller. The cost of renovations is prohibitive, but at some point the building will have to be replaced, he said. The building is not compliant with the AODA (Accessi- bility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act), and there is "zero chance we will be by 2025," the date when On- tario is to be fully accessi- ble. "It's inefficient and im- practical to spend large quantities of money on this building because the struc- ture itself is challenging," said Miller, adding that many school boards across the province are in a simi- lar position. Funds earmarked for schools cannot be used to replace administrative centres, but it shouldn't have to be a choice between fixing up school buildings and providing a proper ad- ministrative facility for staff and visitors, com- mented Oakville trustee Tracey Ehl Harrison. NEWS More elementary students chose to switch to the virtual learning model than vice versa when the opportunity arose last month. HWDSB photo HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE LATEST HALTON DISTRICT SCHOOL BOARD MEETING KATHY YANCHUS kyanchus@metroland.com