A second instalment of School District No. 46’s $1.1 million in federal COVID-19 relief funding has been announced.
“With this second instalment, we are making sure that teachers and students continue to have the resources they need to learn in a safe and healthy way,” said West Vancouver-Sunshine Coast-Sea to Sky Country MP Patrick Weiler in a Feb. 2 release.
As of Jan. 13, the district had received $628,935, which included its $50,586 portion of an $11-million provincial holdback amount, and it was expecting to receive the second portion in January.
The money can be used to help districts deal with costs incurred due to the pandemic, including adapting learning spaces and supporting learning off school property, improving air ventilation, sanitation and purchasing cleaning supplies and protective equipment.
So far the school district has used the money to buy cleaning supplies, to improve transportation, add Indigenous education supports and for outdoor learning facilities, the release said.
The school district sought input from groups including the school district’s Indigenous Advisory Circle, school principals and union leaders.
School board trustees approved the spending in October, with some trustees requesting more time to make decisions. At the time, staff suggested there could be an opportunity to revise the plan when the second portion of the funding is released.
When the funding was initially announced, the Sunshine Coast Teachers’ Association (SCTA) urged the district “to use their share of the federal funding to prevent potential COVID-19 outbreaks by reducing the size of classes and ensuring all students have the option to access remote learning.”
Neighbouring school district No. 45 in West Vancouver has used $616,395 or 67 per cent for “learning resources and technology upgrades” for remote learning, and the purchase of 45 laptops.
School District No. 48 in the Sea-to-Sky region bought computers for Grades 4 to 12.
The one-time funding must be spent by June 30.
B.C. was allocated $242.4 million of the federal government’s $2-billion Safe Return to Class Fund, which was distributed to Canada’s provinces and territories.
