The municipality’s school board has doled out close to $30,000 to keep 300 hand sanitizers filled, just one of many measures its taking to keep students healthy – and keep the H1N1 virus away.
“They’re going to be installed in all of our schools and offices, primarily in main entranceways,” Halifax Regional School Board spokesman Doug Hadley said yesterday.
“They’re as much for visitors coming into schools as they are for students.”
Students won’t see hand sanitizer stations in hallways when they start school today, but Hadley said they’ll be installed over the next few weeks, adding the cost covers several refills.
He said the board is “confident we’re as ready as we can be” for any potential pandemic of H1N1, with a draft response plan to be posted at www.hrsb.ns.ca soon.
“It’s expected schools are going to open and operate as they normally would,” Hadley said, adding the contingency plan could come into play “if the virus does start to impact significantly on our operations.”
The Education Department has sent H1N1 information kits to schools across the province, which includes a letter that will be sent home to parents this week.
Spokesman Peter McLaughlin said yesterday the department fully expects a second wave of H1N1 to hit Nova Scotia’s schools, adding “we don’t know how bad it’s going to be, so we’re just preparing for it and hoping for the best.”
-with files from Philip Croucher
