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AVA I L A B L E dentistoakville.com den Business Real Estate Broker BROKERAGE JOHN VAIL JohnVail.com 905-842-6030 90 www.carstaroakville.com 547 Tr T afalgar Rd. 905.842.8690 HALTON TRANS NSMISSION (905) ) 559 SPEERS R ROAD, UNIT #3 905-8457579 SNA NEWSPAPER OF THE YEAR 2010 ONTARIO'S TOP NEWSPAPER - 2005-2008 Golden tee Sports 2212 Wyecroft Rd. 905-847 -2595 842 2-0 072 25 A member of Metroland Media Group Ltd. Vol. 49 No. 125 "USING COMMUNICATION TO BUILD BETTER COMMUNITIES" THURSDAY, OCTOBER 20, 2011 40 Pages $1.00 (plus tax) Psych-ed wait times cut in half By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Thanks to additional resources arranged through trustees, the Halton District School Board has managed to dramatically reduce the long wait time for students in need of psychoeducational assessments. With about 700 students and wait times that averaged 15 months, the board faced a public outcry from parents of children struggling in class. The assessments help identify learning strategies for children, such as those needing special education assistance. Superintendent of Education David Boag told trustees at a recent board meeting the list of waiting children is now just under 350 students and the wait is seven-and-a-half months. One contributing factor to the long waiting period was the lack of staffers to do the assessments. Since then, the board has been able to fill two vacancies and with additional funding provided assessments in the spring and summer offmonths by board staff (74) and by a third-party association (189). "Through some excellent work by our psychology staff, and trustees supporting this initiative with financial resources, we've been able to chop that list in half," Boag told trustees. "I think, over the course of this year, we will continue to chip away at that number as well." Oakville trustee Kathryn Bateman-Olmstead said the board is on the right track, but noted more needs to be done. "If I had a broken arm, I couldn't wait six months to have it mended," she said. The board does have $175,000 in reserve funds, allocated for psycho-educational assessments if required. Trustees and educators will continue to monitor the situation. INGER MACKENZIE / SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER HE'S GOT THE RIGHT ATTITUDE: Oakville resident Rob Buren with his daughter Zara. Buren is paralyzed as a result of a cycling accident in the trails of north Oakville three years ago. It has forever changed his life -- his direction and his view every day. He has turned the accident into inspiration with a positive attitude. His accident was front-page f news By Inger MacKenzie SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER Attitude is everything -- for Oakville's Rob Buren. On a Sunday morning in October three years ago, an injured mountain biker was carried on a stretcher through the overgrown north Oakville trails to a waiting ambulance. It was Buren. "Someone had built a jump on a hill in the forest. I thought I would give it a try and landed in an awkward way," Buren recalls today. It forever changed his life. "We did not have a cell phone, so my friend raced to Dundas Street to seek help. Lying on the ground, looking up at the trees and the sky, I was unable to move my legs and feet." The first thoughts that came to his mind, he said, were, "I won't be able to dance with my girls at their wedding, or accomplish all I had planned for my life. What about me and my wife Sabrina?" His daughters Chloe and Zara were three and five years old at the time of the accident. More than once, their only birthday wish has been for See Buren page 16 1 DAY ONLY! Saturday, October 22nd, 2011 STORE HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 8:00am-9:00pm; Sat. 7:30am-6:00pm; Sun. 9:00am-5:00pm DUNDAS & TRAFALGAR ROAD 400 Dundas St. East · 257-TIRE Offer Valid One Day Only, Saturday Oct. 22, 2011. 20 SAVE A ¢ When you spend $50 or more at Canadian Tire retail stores* Fuel Savings awarded as a $10 Gas+ Card *See in-store or canadiantire.ca for details Per litre* STORE HOURS: Mon. - Fri. 8:00am-9:00pm; Sat. 8:00am-6:00pm; Sun. 9:00am-6:00pm 1100 Kerr Street (Kerr & QEW) · 905-844-0202