The province announced Saturday it would be allocating $40 million from its $200 million COVID-19 contingency fund to Saskatchewan schools to help improve safety when classrooms reopen this fall amid the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, the province provided a breakdown on how funding will be spent.
$20 million will be available to schools to help cover costs for additional staffing and sanitation supplies while $10 million will be available to enhance non-classroom options such as distance learning so that “immunocompromised and medically fragile students” have continued access to learning.
Schools may access funds from the $30 million through an application process which will be communicated to all school divisions on Tuesday.
The remaining $10 million will be handed over to the Ministry of Education to spend on personal protective equipment and other supplies for school divisions.
“Over the past few weeks, our government has been listening to concerns about our students returning to school while we are still managing our way through the COVID-19 pandemic,” Premier Scott Moe said.
“Today, we are acting by providing more information, more time, more testing and more resources to ensure a safe return to school in September.”
The province said the extra funding allows it to consider reducing class sizes in “exceptional circumstances.”
School-specific operation plans are also being worked on which will be finalized and posted online no later than Aug. 26.
Parents, teachers and staff can expect those plans to include things like block scheduling, cohorting and considerations for alternating school days.
The province said school divisions are preparing plans for the Ministry of Education to alter operations of high-density schools, primarily in collegiate settings under Level 3 of its Safe Schools Plan.
The Saskatchewan Teachers’ Federation describes the province’s approach to releasing its back-it-school plan as “frustrating.”
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“(It’s) very frustrating to get this kind of patchwork of announcements,” said Patrick Maze, STF president.
“It’s kind of a non-announcement or an announcement that clarifies that very little money will be allocated to education for the pandemic response.”
Maze said the province should have sat down with stakeholder’s months ago and that government interference should be limited to funding.
“I don’t think the plan has been very respectful of the educational community,” Maze said.
“(School divisions) know what’s best for their staff and their students. Allow them to make decisions and then commit to funding it.
“We’d like to hear that we are sparing no expense to make sure that our students and staff are safe in Saskatchewan.”
The province released its original Safe School Plan on Aug. 4.
Province delays start date for Saskatchewan schools
The Saskatchewan government also announced its pushing back the start date for schools.
Students were set to return to class between Sept. 1-3, but will now return to class on Sept. 8.
“This extra time will provide teachers and staff two to four additional days to be in the schools to get training on the new protocols, properly reconfigure classrooms, and where possible hold virtual meetings with parents to discuss the new school procedures,” the province said in a release on Monday.
Despite the delayed start, conditions surroundings its collective bargaining agreement with the STF will be honoured.
“Instructional hours will not be extended, meaning depending on the school division, there will be two to four fewer instructional days this school year,” the province said.
Maze said the decision to delay the start date does “leave some teachers scrambling to find daycare” but overall believes the province got it right.
“You want to give some credit where credit is due,” Maze said. “It’s the right move.”
For Tenille Lafontaine of Regina and mother of three, she said she is going to use the extra time to talk to her kids about safety and getting them used to social distancing and wearing a mask.
“Absolutely, without a doubt,” Lafontaine said when asked if all of her kids would be wearing a mask at school. “That’s one small thing I can do to help out teachers.”
Originally left out of its Safe Schools Plan, school divisions now have the option to make masks mandatory for Grade 4-12 students.
Province to increase daily testing in Saskatchewan, introducing drive-thru testing
The province also announced it is working toward a daily testing capacity of 4,000 tests by the beginning of September.
Drive-thru testing in Regina and Saskatoon is also expected to be made available which will be available to anyone with a health card.
No timeline has been given on when drive-thru’s will be up and running.
“All teachers and school staff are being encouraged to seek testing prior to returning to school and at frequent points throughout the school year,” the province said in a release on Monday.
“Priority access to testing will be established for teachers and school staff in the coming days, with referrals available through 811.
“Targeted school testing is a key focus of the expanded testing plans, with plans including targeted monitoring, testing of students with parental consent, and priority testing for teachers and school staff.”
COVID-19 testing will also be included in school public health visits for vaccinations where parental consent is granted.
Questions surrounding what to do if a child tests positive and what a classroom and school would do to follow up and protect others will be made available on Aug. 26.
“What we need is to make sure that if a student is displaying symptoms that they’re able to be tested quickly and that we can … trace things back and know who has been exposed quickly,” Maze said.
“Testing a school community is a huge undertaking and so … we’re hoping that Saskatchewan Health is ready for that type of situation.”
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