Moe's $40M back-to-school funding to draw from previously-announced $200M COVID-19 contingency fund

Premier Scott Moe says the province is allocating $40 million for additional costs related to keeping students and staff safe through the pandemic from the $200 million provincial COVID-19 contingency fund it had previously announced.

Moe also said Monday that the 2020-2021 school year is being pushed back by one week to Sept.8.

The $40 millionwill be allocated as follows:

• $20 million will be available to school divisions on an application basis for pandemic-related costs including staffing and sanitation supplies.
• $10 million will be available to enhance non-classroom options like distance learning to help ensure immunocompromised and medically fragile students have continuous access to learning cross school divisions, available on an application basis.
• $10 million will be allocated to the Ministry of Education to centrally procure masks, PPE and other supplies for school divisions.

The province said $40 million saved from closing the schools will also beavailable to school divisions.

The province has faced mounting criticism from parents, teachers and pediatricians over its reopening plan for schools.

Moe defended the government's decisions at a Monday new conference.

"The plan as it came out was built to be adaptable," Moe said. "It was built to address what is a very fluid situation. What we have done is buildon the funding of that plan in allocating new dollars from our contingency fund into the education sector."

Moe said the additional funding and planning is being put in place after listening to chief medical health officer Dr. Saqib Shahaband his staff, as well as parents and teachers.

"We have provided clarity.We've provided funding to ensure that parentscan have the confidence that there will be a safe return to the classroom this fall," Moe said.

Detailed plans

The province also said it is finalizing 'school-specific operation plans' that will be posted online and communicated to parents and students by Aug. 26,

Plans will includeblock scheduling, cohorting and considerations for alternating school days.

It said the new funding will make it possible for additional staff to reduce class sizes in exceptional circumstances.

Testing

The province is working toward daily testing capacity of 4,000 tests by the beginning of Septemberand will continue to offer universal testing for anyone who wants to be tested.

Drive-thru testing sites will be introduced in Regina and Saskatoon.

All teachers and school staff will be encouraged to be testing prior to returning to school and at frequent points throughout the school year, Moe said Monday.

Targeted school testing will be put in place withselectionbased on factorssuch as number of students in the school and if the community is experiencing a recent surge of new cases.

Shahabsaid he expects there will be an increase in cases with schools reopening.

"But an occasional case or a cluster in a school, or in a family of a child that goes to school should not be a cause of concern," Shahab said.

Shahab said itis important to inform the community and the school if there is a positive case, but that it should not create a panic.

As part of the school specific plans expected by Aug. 26, parents will be provided with detailed information that includes instructions about what to do if a child tests positive, and what a classroom and school would do to follow up and protect others.

Talk of savings a 'shell game': union

The Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation president Patrick Maze,said schools have saved some money by not having to operate buildings since mid-March and halting some professional development, but that 25 of the province's 27 school boards recently ran a deficit.

"Yes, there are some savings, but it's kind of a shell game," Maze told CBC's The Morning Edition on Monday.

• Premier Moe pledges additional $40 million for safe return to schools following Labour Day

Maze also expressed some skepticismabout how far that $40 million will go. He said some schools need their ventilation systems completely overhauled, while others require "extensive" new staff hiring.

He wants to know who is going to staff the isolation rooms that the government is requiring at each school for the temporary housing of sick students waiting to be picked up by their parents.

"Teachers are already going to be busy with overcrowded classrooms," Maze said.

Teachers still want to see the province mandate masks, instead of leaving that decision to individual school boards, Maze added.

The government has already confirmed voluntary COVID-19 testing in schools will be available for students and staff and that the province is aiming to be able to test 4,000 people a day by early September.

Pediatricians weigh in

Saskatchewan pediatricians are the latest group calling on the government to improve its back-to-school plan.

On Friday, the department of pediatrics at the University of Saskatchewan's College of Medicine sent a letter to the Education Minister calling for a "robust" plan.

The department said schools should reopen as early as possible but that the province needs to do it right. The pediatricians are calling for smaller class sizes and consistent contact tracing and rapid test results in all schools.

The letter also asked for "increased funding for masks, cleaning supplies, environmental cleaning and improving ventilation."

• Ventilation guidelines not included in Sask. back-to-school plan