(file photo/CJME News Staff)

By paNOW Staff

Government approves $51 million in additional funding for safe return to school

Sep 8, 2020 | 11:41 AM

The Government of Saskatchewan has approved more funding to schools in the province for equipment, staff and cleaning supplies.

According to a media release, the government announced $51 million for Saskatchewan schools to ensure a safe return to school. Forty-six applications have been approved to send funds to school divisions and other independent schools.

The funds come from the $150 million COVID contingency fund, $41 million is from provincial funding and the remaining $10 million is from school division savings.

Funding that has been approved goes as follows: $19.1 million for sanitization including 191 staff members, $6 million for furniture and equipment, $13.2 million for support for immunocompromised students which includes 150 staff, $9.5 million for for distance learning capacity including 102 teachers, and $4 million for technology upgrades.

In total, the school divisions are expected to hire 443 teachers, custodians and other staff. The staff hired will be in addition to the 200 hired from the increased funding provided by the 2020/21 budget.

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“In order to ensure our schools are as safe as possible for students and staff, $80 million has been committed for the start of the school year,” Minister of Education Gordon Wyant said. “As a result of our combined funding increases, more than 600 new teachers and staff will be funded this school year.”

The Ministry of Education put $10 million toward personal protective equipment and spent $2.3 million on six million masks for the divisions.

There is $64 million remaining in the COVID contingency fund for education and the next intake for school division funding applications will be on December 1.

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panews@jpbg.ca

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