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= Neighbours come to aid Continued from page 1 difficult for him to go outside to smoke as he usually does, he had permission to smoke in the basement and burn insense to dissipate the smell. "Incense is not supposed to be able to start fires," McGinn said. "But that's all they could find as a cause, - a spot in the couch when the whole burner appears to have tipped over." McGinn says insurance will cover their repair bills but she having trouble find- ing a way to thank all the soe who have helped them such as the veterinarian who took in their ailing dog and loaned them a carrier for their cat. Neighbours put out food to entice their missing cat, Hooters, who disap- peared when she was dumped outside during the fire. Friends took in Katie until McGinn drove home from work in Wednesday's ice storm. An Acton High school teacher is tutoring Bob despite the drive to Guelph to do it. "The house doesn't look bad from the outside," McGinn said, "but the wir- ing and water pipes are all melted to nothing so a have to be replaced. The beams in the cellar are charred pretty badly too. The damage (estimated at $50,000) is mainly from smoke and heat but it will probably be at least eight weeks before we can get back in." CHIROPRACTIC THE NEW TANNER WAITING IMPATIENTLY: Katie McGinn, 13, with Hooters, Bob McGinn, 15, and Sandra are waiting for their bloodhound, his stay with the veterinarian. gutted their home during the night Feb. 1 The family are livin ) Toulouse Lautrec, to return from in a Guelph hotel after fire 8. - Maggie Petrushevsky photo School officials unsure of plans By MAGGIE PETRUSHEVSKY The New Tanner risis looms for the Halton District School sys- tem as staff and trustees wrestle with a lack of infor- mation on which to base its future, parents were told at a recent public meeting at McKenzie-Smith-Bennett school. "There are a lot of unan- swered questions and our timelines for getting answers are extremely short," said Paul Anthony, Superintend- ent of Staff Services for the "In order to staff the system adequately and follow an appropriate budget proc- ess we need clarity from the rovincial) government on the funding envelopes as soon as possible." Anthony was the guest r at the first of a se- ries of monthly meetings ar- ranged by North Halton trus- tees Ethel Gardiner and Erica Andrew. The meetings will be information forums as well as opportunities to hear public concerns. The province has man- dated average class sizes of 1:25 for the elementary level and 1:22 for the secondary Wettness Centre Dr. Tom Thompson i & is pleased to announce an extension in hours to better accommodate patients me during the evenings. _ --- The office will be open B M. ow: from 8:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. - : on Mondays, Wednesdays and Thursdays e Tuesdays 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and Fridays 8-11 a.m. a ten ee) AND FONE LN an | Mark Weidner, Registered Massage Therapist, will joining the staff on a full-time basis and will be scheduling appointments during clinic hours. New Patients Welcome! level. "The trouble is we have no idea how to calculate that," Anthony said. Are the aver- ages supposed to be school- wide, board wide, or even province-wide? Given an enrollment of roughly 25,000 elementary pupils, for instance, they would appear to need 1,000 elementary teachers, he ex- plained. But does that in- clude principals, vice-princi- pals and special education teachers? No one knows. Depending on whom the ra- tio includes, Halton's staffing cuts could range from sub- stantial to almost nil. To meet those class sizes by Septem- ber, decisions need to be made now both board-wise and school-wise based on those numbers. The second solid piece of information is the mandated instruction period - 1300 minutes for elementary pu- pils and 1350 for secondary students -- in a 1500-minute week, May the board use those optional periods to maintain existing programs? How does teacher planning time fit into the picture? What discretion does the board get? Again, there are no answers. The government has been talking about giving each teacher 200 minutes of plan- ning time per week. Halton teachers only receive 160 minutes in their existing col- lective agreement. If the gov- ernment is serious about that 200 minutes, "they have al- ready set us up for the next round of contract negotia- tions," Anthony said. Georgetown - Denturist - W a THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 26, 1998 Flu fells record numbers By FRANCES NIBLOCK The New Tanner e hundred and seven students -almost one-third of the population at Robert Lit- tle Public School was absent on, Friday -- most of them at home sick with the flu. "I've never seen it like this," school secretary Joan Parker said in an interview on Friday as she coughed, struggling with a cold and waiting for the final bell to ring. Monday morning Parker was one of four staff felled by the flu and at least 41 stu- dents were still absent, a majority of them reporting colds and flu. The culprit of one of the worst flu seasons in memory is believed to be the Sidney strain of influenza A -- a flu bug first identified in that Australian city last summer. There's no confirmation that Acton children are suffering from that particular strain, but confirmed cases of influ- enza A have been reported in Halton. Although the other schools in Acton report slightly higher absentee rates than normal, none had a sig- nificant number of students away. St. Joseph's Separate School reported "a fair number of students" absent, but no more than normal for this time of year. Thirty- seven Acton High School students were away on Fri day, but the absentee rate was back within normal levels on Monday. At McKenzie-Smith Bennett staff reported ap- proximately 15 to 20 students- were absent with colds and flu, an only slightly higher than normal number of this time of year. ~ Staff at the Acton Medi- cal Group is very busy, but that's typical for this time of year. Staff said patients do seem sicker with this win- ter's flu strains. The preventive message from health officials includes frequent hand washing and the use of tissues. For those already ill it's the old standbys. "Drink plenty of fluids, rest in bed and see your doc- tor if the symptoms persist," advised Halton's communi- cable diseases program man- ager Mary Anne Carson in an interview on Friday. "It's not just the schools that are getting hit hard but also the nursing homes, daycares and seniors centres. Parents, if your child is sick, keep them at home," Carson said, adding recovery can take between five and seven days. Impaired Acton man rams cruiser An injured Halton police officer was off duty for sev- eral days after his parked cruiser was rammed from behind by a pickup driven by an impaired Acton man in Milton last Thursday night. The officer was sitting in his cruiser with the roof lights on, making notes, when he noticed the truck speeding at him from behind. The officer attempted to get out of the way but the truck slammed into the back end of the cruiser. The accused ran from the scene after the crash but was chased and caught by the of- ficer who had suffered minor neck injuries in the crash. Charges against the Wallace Street man include impaired driving, having over 80 milligrams of alco- hol in 100 millilitres o! blood, dangerous driving anc fail to remain. He appears it Milton court March 30. Stolen car abandoned Police are still looking fo the driver of a stolen car tha was abandoned after slam ming into a CN Rail cross ing standard at Churchil Road-Glen Lawson Road south of Acton at 3:05 Sun day morning. The ignition o the car, registered to i Guelph resident, had bee1 punched out. A CN Rail maintenanc crew was called out to repai: damage to the crossing bar rier. Police checked local hos: pitals and are still searching for the driver. 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