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

Board will accept volunteers for extracurriculars By Dominik Kurek OAKVILLE BEAVER STAFF Except for a few pockets of extracurricular activities run under-the-radar by renegade teachers, students in public schools have been mostly devoid of programming beyond the classroom this year. However, now members of the community will have a chance to fix that. The Halton District School Board will soon be allowing volunteers to be the supervisors of extracurricular activities. This means there will be a return to sports, clubs and groups, where there is enough support from the community. There are a number of restrictions on which activities will be allowed under this supervision model and potential volunteers will be screened by a school board committee. "We would much prefer to have these activities supervised by teachers. They are in line authority to the principal. The principal is ultimately responsible for every activity that happens in the school," director of education David Euale told the board of trustees at the Wednesday, Feb. 20 board meeting. "This is a measure that we're only taking in these unusual circumstances." Extracurricular activities have been cancelled in public elementary and secondary schools across the province as a teacher response to the provincial government's passing and enacting of Bill 115, which froze teacher wages, cut into 13 · Friday, February 22, 2013 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.insideHALTON.com "We'll take what we get and see what we can do with what we get. There definitely will not be equity." David Euale, director Halton District School Board Halton and beyond schedule, and activities that are curriculum-related such as a class trips. "These activities, we're suggesting can only go forward if the principal will supervise or can secure a teacher to ultimately supervise the activities," Euale said. The board has also rated activities as low, medium and high risk. An example of a low-risk activity, Euale said, is a chess club operating in a public area such as a school foyer. Activities in a gymnasium, a distance from the school office, on the other hand, would be considered medium to high-risk activities. See Volunteers page 19 The Regional Municipality of Halton benefits and took away the unions' bargaining rights. The local school board, however, will use a provincial policy to allow volunteers to supervise activities instead. "We already have policies that encourage volunteers in schools. The difference in this case is this is a policy that will highlight how a volunteer can solely be responsible, rather than assisting a teacher, in an activity," Euale said. There are a number of activities the school board will not allow to run without a teacher or principal supervisor. They are over-night excursions, offsite field trips with 50 or more students, invitational tournaments in sports beyond Access Halton at: www.halton.ca Dial 311 NOTICE OF ROAD CLOSURE Tremaine Road (Regional Road 22) from Dymott Avenue to Britannia Road (Regional Road 6) for Watermain Installation Town of Milton This closure will be in effect from Monday, February 25, 2013 to Friday, April 19, 2013 inclusive. NOTICE OF CONSTRUCTION Watermain Installation on Tremaine Road (Regional Road 22) from Dymott Avenue to future Louis St. Laurent Avenue Town of Milton CONTEMPORARY, TRANSITIONAL AND TRADITIONAL LIGHTING DERRY RD (REG. RD. 7) DETOUR ROUTE (REG. RD. 22) BRONTE ST BELL SCHOOL LINE ROAD CLOSURE DYMOTT AVE FUTURE LOUIS ST. LAURENT AVE REGIONAL RD. 25 TREMAINE RD BRITANNIA RD (REG. RD. 6) 295 Main Street East, Unit 6, Milton (Same plaza as Troy's Diner, at the rear of the building) Contract Number: Scheduled Start Date: Scheduled Completion Date: Project Manager: (905) 878-7111 www.miltonlighting.com W-2636-12 February 2013 May 2013 Chris Ewen 905-825-6000 x 7141 210213 Monday & Tuesday 10:00am-6:00pm; Wednesday, Thursday and Friday 10:00am-8:00pm; Saturday 10:00am-5:00pm; Sunday closed Please contact us, as soon as possible, if you have any accessibility needs at Halton Region events or meetings.