Premier Scott Moe's recently announced updates to the provincial government's 鈥淪afe Schools Plan鈥� still falls short of the measures parents and staff are calling for.
Last week, Minister Gordan Wyant said school divisions were able to access the province鈥檚 $200 million contingency fund, but that 鈥淣o school division has asked for any additional funding at this point in time.鈥�
Yesterday, Moe announced that a paltry $40 million of this funding would be available to school divisions 鈥� but only on an application basis. An additional $40 million shared by over 800 schools does not go very far in ensuring safe environments for our students and staff.
Further analysis of the spending shows our government is regurgitating previously announced funding from March and only now, some of this cash will be made available to school divisions. Does our government realize that announcing this additional funding means very little to school divisions, who have already adjusted their safe re-opening plans as approved by the government on August 4?
Moe announced $10 million to purchase masks 鈥� a measure announced weeks ago. They announced $20 million for pandemic related costs including staffing and sanitation supplies, but they are still allowing school divisions to cut cleaning staff. The government announced $10 million to enhance non-classroom options for immunocompromised and medically fragile students, but have still not implemented any protections for staff facing the same issues.
There is no commitment to reduce class sizes. The news release only says, 鈥淎dditional staff to reduce class sizes in exceptional circumstances will be considered.鈥� Isn鈥檛 COVID-19 an exceptional circumstance? Isn鈥檛 now the time to ensure appropriate staffing levels and classroom sizes in all school divisions?
When Moe was asked if this funding can go to improving school HVAC (ventilation) systems, Moe stated his government spent lots of money on 65 new schools and capital projects including improved HVAC systems. This is hardly something to boast about, as hundreds of schools still need improvements to ventilation.
Moe said each school will announce their individual plans on August 26. That means we have one extra week before students return to school. One week of extra time to do what? The only guidance or direction coming from our government is for staff to figure out a way to prepare students as young as six on how to manage their personal responsibilities for reducing COVID-19鈥檚 spread.
The smoke and mirrors routine this government continues to perform is ridiculous and chaotic. CUPE members and staff deserve better. Our communities deserve better. Our children definitely deserve better than what this government is offering.
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