The Saskatchewan School Board Association (SSBA) says it’s happy with the recent changes made by the province to its Safe School Plan.
On Monday, the province officially announced it would be allocating $40 million from its $200 million COVID-19 contingency fund to school divisions throughout Saskatchewan and delaying school start dates by a week.
“Certainly the additional money is welcome,” said Shawn Davidson, SSBA president.
“We knew that the government did have a contingency fund in place to deal with COVID-19, but we did not have any money specifically earmarked for school divisions and for the education sector. Now we do.”
Funds will be available to school divisions through an application process for things such as extra staff and cleaning supplies.
The money will also allow schools to explore distance learning options for immunocompromised and medically fragile students.
Saskatchewan’s Ministry of Education is receiving $10 million of the $40 million to purchase personal protective equipment along with other supplies that will be handed out to school divisions.
“Now we clearly know that there are some additional resources available to help us put these health-related protocols in place that will assure the health and safety of our staff and students,” Davidson said.
As for schools starting late, Davidson is fully on board with the province’s decision, saying the additional time will help with preparation.
“(It) just gives them that little bit extra time for our staff to prepare for students actually arriving on Sept. 8,” Davidson said.
Answering questions is something the province has been doing since releasing its Safe Schools Plan on Aug. 4.
“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 on Monday.
Overall, Davidson said school divisions are focusing on being ready and are prepared for change.
“We are well aware that this situation could change in an instant,” Davidson said.
“We certainly have our plans in place and are ready to adapt those plans as necessary at the direction of the chief medical health officer.”
The province also announced Monday it would increase its daily COVID-19 testing capacity to 4,000 tests with plans to keep the virus out of the schools.