Today's must reads for parents

Do you own a Maclaren stroller? If so, you need to know about a massive recall of about a million Maclaren umbrella strollers. It's kind of a gruesome story, but in the United States, 12 children have had fingers amputated after getting them stuck in the hinges of the strollers. The distributor there is offering to send parents a special hinge-pad cover to make the stroller safe. Meanwhile, Health Canada is trying to reach the manufacturer in Hong Kong to determine if the strollers sold in Canada also have the same defect. Read more to get the list of affected models, including Volo, Triumph and others.

Here are some other developing news stories parents won't want to miss:

A Catholic school board trustee is offering a "bootcamp" for new trustees to outline appropriate expensing habits, among other things. This follows a spending scandal at the Toronto Catholic School Board that involved trustees charging taxpayers for everything from Dairy Queen treats to holidays.

There are 172 Ontario schools slated for closure due to declining enrolment.Yesterday the advocacy group People for Education suggested the empty school should be used to accommodate all-day learning or turned into child and family resource centres.

Academic Pandemic: Does flu get worse on the day of the test? Education reporter Kristin Rushowy looks at whether schools are sending students home at the first sound of cough or sniffle, and whether kids are taking advantage.

In other H1N1 news, parents may be interested to learn the latest on hospital board members and other VIPs who say they are entitled to their pandemic vaccine shots before children five years of age or more. Better news, Ontario received some new swine flu vaccine yesterday, but clinics haven't been extended to any additional groups, including school-aged children. Here's where you can find the latest on vaccine clinic hours.

Downtown Toronto could become a child-free zone Developers showed up at city hall last week to oppose a regulation that would require them to make at least 10 per cent of new condo units family-sized.

A program to help young single moms graduate high school will soon be out of funding. Catherine Porter explores the unique program in her new column.

Check out our latest on the Santa Claus parade!