BARRHEAD-WESTLOCK-Though the costs of providing online services to students is proving greater than expected, the Pembina Hills School Division still has much of the funding provided by the federal government this fall to cope with increased expenses amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
During their Feb. 10 meeting, secretary-treasurer Tracy Leigh gave Pembina Hills trustees an update on how the federal Safe Return to Class funding has been utilized.
The federal government had committed in August to provide up to $2 billion in funding for school boards to cope with increased costs related to the pandemic, such as increased sanitization and hand hygiene supplies and improved air ventilation.
Pembina Hills' share of that federal grant was $3,216,350. Approximately $1.2 million was allocated specifically to support the increased cost of delivering online services to students, which has seen a substantial increase in enrolment this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Another $1.2 million was allocated to the Co-op Pool, though only $87,000 has been used so far. As well, $400,000 was directed to the facilities department and $137,000 has been used.
Transportation was allocated $75,000, but only $14,000 has been used. Finally, Vista Virtual School received an additional $300,000, though they could also utilize the funds specifically meant for online education.
One issue Pembina Hills has run into is that the costs of online education services is greater than expected. Leigh projected that a total of $2.8 million would be needed, which obviously exceeds the amount allocated for online education.
Leigh had also reported earlier in the meeting that the Minister of Education had received Pembina Hills’ request to use $1.7 million in reserves to fund a deficit at Vista Virtual School. (The province passed legislation in early 2020 requiring divisions to send in a request to the Minister of Education if they wished to utilize reserves.)
While that $1.7 million could still be used to cover the increased costs of online services, Leigh suggested any federal money not used by the rest of the division could be transferred to Vista Virtual. That would allow the division to “not have to utilize those reserves,” she added.
Trustee Wendy Scinski asked why so much money had been allocated to the Co-op Pool when so little had been used.
Leigh said the amount was based on projections of how many substitute teachers the division would need due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Board chair Jennifer Tuininga pointed out that substitute staffing costs would be lower than expected because high school students were sent home and participated in classes remotely for most of December and a portion of November and January.
Scinski also asked if the increased costs at Vista Virtual School were the result of additional staffing or some other expense. Leigh indicated that it was primarily due to staffing.
Noting that she had heard from other divisions that they were experiencing higher-than-expected costs relating to cleaning supplies and masks, Tuininga asked if the facilities department was coping with these expenses.
“No, we are doing OK there,” Leigh replied.
