In another sign that the provincial government believes they have the pandemic under control, the ministry of education announced last week, to wide-based support from parents, students, teachers and school boards, that high schools will have the option of returning to the regular semester system in February 2022 if local COVID numbers allow.
Kawartha Lakes council recommended the approval of five out of six routes that will allow owners of these vehicles to travel on city-owned roads to access the Victoria Rail Trail at various locations.
The Trillium Lakelands District School Board senior staff, led by Superintendent Paul Goldring, are hoping to find a balance between dealing with COVID outbreaks in four schools across the system since October 25 and allowing the system to continue to return to some sense of normalcy sooner than later.
In recognition of the significant stresses that the pandemic has put on all levels of school board staff, TLDSB director Wes Hahn wants to move away from a style of leadership that only focuses on how the system operates.
Describing 2021 as a year like no other, Steve Podolsky, board chair of the Lindsay Downtown Business Improvement Association, and Melissa McFarland, executive director of the Lindsay Downtown BIA, asked council for a 3.7 percent increase in funding for the municipal board established and responsible to Kawartha Lakes Council.
With the chronic shortage of affordable housing in Kawartha Lakes, the work being done by the municipally owned Kawartha Lakes Haliburton Housing Corporation in providing geared to income housing is becoming all the more important.
The Kawartha Lakes Library Board has asked council for a 2 per cent increase over 2021. That amount translates into $131,000.
The Kawartha Lakes Police Service is calling for an additional $541,000 in funding for 2022.
In 2020-2021, the Trillium Lakelands District School Board suspended and/or expelled 780 students. That’s down from previous years, partly because virtual learning ensured less interaction between students, according to the board.
Dr. Natalie Bocking, medical officer of health for the Haliburton-Kawartha-Pine Ridge District Health Unit, has requested a five percent increase in the local public health unit levy.
Among a survey of current councillors, Pat Dunn, Doug Elmslie and Ron Ashmore are all considering a run for the mayor’s position next November.
High profile Lindsay lawyer Jason Ward has made it official -- he will be running for mayor in next year’s municipal election.
One of the surest signs of a return to approaching normal at the schools in the Trillium Lakelands District Secondary Board is the availability of extracurricular programming at both elementary and secondary schools right across the district.
Finding bus drivers is still an issue for a local public board of education that keeps on growing.
Trillium Lakelands District School Board is having difficulty finding enough available supply teachers to cover absences.
In a stunning about-face, Kawartha Lakes council voted down a motion by Mayor Andy Letham to prohibit ORVs from accessing local, collector or arterial roads in Lindsay.
Since the last round of municipal elections in Ontario in 2018, experts have been parsing the results and many say they are very concerned with what they have discovered. It is clear to many in the media, politics and academia that municipal councils do not reflect the people they govern.
Will city residents be facing a 45 per cent property tax increase over 10 years? Or maybe it will be the closure of arenas, libraries, and community halls? Perhaps limiting garbage pick-up to every other week?
Three deputations made by local citizens at the most recent city council committee of the whole meeting proved that with a little bit of research and the willingness to engage politicians, citizens can change decisions made by senior Kawartha Lakes staff about inclusion of properties on the heritage register.
As public consultations begin on a new trail master plan, it is already clear there are two very different visions for trail usage in Kawartha Lakes. One vision is favoured by motorized users and one is supported by non-motorized users.
Since 2019, municipalities were given the right to use photo radar on any designated road where the speed limit is 80 km or less. Toronto was the first jurisdiction to sign on, and since then they have been joined by 11 other municipalities and cities including Durham, York, Ottawa, Hamilton, Brampton, Peel, Waterloo, Mississauga, London, Pickering and Oakville. Kawartha Lakes could be next.
Trillium Lakelands District School Board director Wes Hahn believes he can explain where an additional 500 students came from. These students are are responsible for larger than expected class sizes, which has caused issues such as buses not picking up all students.
“Extra-curriculars are back,” Trillium Lakelands District School Board’s director of education, Wes Hahn said at the recent board meeting, but not all coaches and teams will be running. “We will respect if staff feel uneasy or anxious about running teams again,” because of the pandemic, he said. “It is their voluntary right.”
Director of education for the Trillium Lakelands District School Board Wes Hahn said there are nearly 40 cases of COVID in TLDSB schools, with one case in Haliburton and 21 cases in Kawartha Lakes.
