By Chris Brown

$262 million in federal funds

Province to spread federal school re-entry funding on per-student basis

Sep 2, 2020 | 11:21 AM

Education Minister Adriana LaGrange says federal funding to support school re-entry will flow to local school authorities as soon as possible.

Last week the federal government announced Alberta would receive $262 million to support a safe return to school.

LaGrange says $250 million of that funding will be distributed to school authorities based on a per-student model.

Based on the conditions set by the federal government, school authorities must use this funding to support additional COVID-related in at least one of the following areas.

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“Staffing, adapting learning spaces and personal protective equipment, cleaning and safety considerations for schools and buses, supports for special needs students and online learning and teacher training,” LaGrange listed.

The $250 million works out to about $350 per student. Locally that would mean close to $2.6 million for Medicine Hat Public School Division, about $920,000 for Medicine Hat Catholic Board of Education and a little less than $1.2 million for Prairie Rose School Division. There is also $100,000 for CAPE School.

The remaining $12 million will be used to support school authorities who are seeing a large spike in enrolment due to increased demand online or distance learning.

The funding will be delivered from Ottawa in two phases, once September and again later in the school year.

LaGrange says concerns among teachers and parents about returning to school are normal and are being raised across the country and around the world.

The education minister says she and Dr. Deena Hinshaw are monitoring school re-entries in other jurisdictions to inform education decisions and public health guidance.

“We have not hesitated to support our school authorities to ensure a safe return for our students,” LaGrange says. “The safety and well-being of our staff and students has been and continues to be and will always be my number one priority.”

Hinshaw said that preparing for the return to classes has demanded “Herculean efforts.”

“Over the summer, teachers and staff have worked tirelessly to apply our public health guidance to prepare for a return to the classroom,” she said.

The chief medical officer of health echoed the education minister’s remarks about concern people have about heading back to school.

“As I’ve said before, we are living in an unprecedented time and there are no risk-free options when it comes to COVID-19. This includes not just risks from COVID-19, but also the risks our control measures introduce,” Hinshaw said.

She said that as we move into a new normal of living with COVID-19 all of those risks to children’s health must be considered

“In schools, it is critical to limit exposures, as well as limiting spread of the virus as much as possible. It is also vital that we support effective learning environments that mitigate other risks to our children, such as impacts to the educational and social development.’

She said except for minor differences, Alberta’s plan is generally consistent with plans in other provinces and many countries around the world. She said that includes the concept of easing distancing restrictions in the classroom to enable an effective learning environment.

Hinshaw attempted to explain why two metres of distance is not required in classrooms and why masks aren’t required in classrooms when two metres of distance isn’t possible.