(file photo/northeastNOW Staff)

By Mat Barrett

School's Back

NESD Director of Education talks government funding, first day of classes

Sep 8, 2020 | 5:16 PM

School is back in session and school divisions, parents, students, staff, and the government are all adjusting to the new normal.

Tuesday, Sept. 8 marked the first day back at school for most students in the North East School Division and also featured a funding announcement from the provincial government.

First Day

It was the first day for almost all students in the North East School Division (NESD) as some of the younger grades are doing a staggered start. Director of Education Don Rempel said he and his staff are excited to see students back in the classroom.

“It sounds like everybody came to school prepared to learn,” he said. “And also with their masks.”

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Students Grades 4 to 12 are mandated to wear masks on the school bus and when physical distancing cannot be achieved.

Rempel added throughout the return to school, they’ll continue to watch how things progress and follow the provincial government and Saskatchewan Health Authority’s recommendations.

“We will review our practices, see what’s working well, what’s not working so well,” Rempel told northeastNOW. “And stay in communication with our families as we move forward.”

He said they sent some communication to parents prior to the first day about the precautions in place.

Funding

Tuesday also saw the provincial government announced $51 million more in COVID-19 related funding for school divisions. The funds are to be allocated to sanitization, equipment and furniture, support for immunocompromised students, more distance learning capacity, and technology upgrades. All of those areas will include up to 443 new staff around the province. The funds come from the federal and provincial governments, as well as held over funds in school divisions.

For the NESD, Rempel said they have already hired more custodial staff, which some of this funding will help offset. They’re also in the process of hiring two new teachers to help with distance learning, but there’s the opportunity for more help in that area soon.

“We have about 85 students that are going to be accessing supports online, and working from home,” he said. “So that will be our next ask from government.”

Included in more funds for online learning, Rempel said that could include some more software and other supports to enhance online learning.

There was no mention in the Government of Saskatchewan release about class sizes being reduced as a result of this funding, but it would be up to the school divisions to use the funding to hire more staff, which could ultimately reduce class sizes.

“For us, it would be if we had enrolment increases where we didn’t have staff,” Rempel said. “We could probably look at accessing some of those funds.”

Rempel said with lower enrolment, he hopes the division wouldn’t lose funds for that reason.

There’s another phase for divisions to apply for more funding in December, and Rempel said there is the possibility they could attempt to access more funds. He said they’ll continue to evaluate.

“We’ll also learn from other school districts as far as what are some safe practices that are working for them, and the sector will kind of learn as we go,” Rempel said. “It’s nice to know that we have some ability to gain excess funds.”

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mat.barrett@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @matbarrett6