Submitted by Norm Park, Contracted Reporter for SECPSD
Financial figures, program deliveries, school and distance education numbers impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic outlined at the Sept. 16 school board meeting for the 麻豆传媒AV East Cornerstone Public School Division in Weyburn.
Prior to the start of the board meeting, Lynn Little, director of education, and Shelley Toth, chief financial officer for the division, met with media to talk about financial relief packages that were being offered by the provincial and federal governments to help school divisions combat the COVID-19 virus on an ongoing basis.
The provincial government has provided a $41 million relief package for Saskatchewan school divisions. The federal government has since added to that grant program.
鈥淏ut first, we had to show them what savings we had due to the early shutdown in March,鈥� said Little.
Toth said estimated savings due to COVID are $2 million, which includes: $1.1 million in sub salaries for teachers and school based staff; $600,000 in transportation; $264,000 in travel, PD and supply budgets; and $76,000 in plant for water and electricity savings while the schools were closed.
Then the additional needs started accumulating with the current status of schools re-opening under new safety and health guidelines.
鈥淲e have increased our custodial staff by 25 per cent,鈥� said Little. 鈥淭his is to address the additional cleaning processes and is based on school enrolments and square footage.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 going to be an additional $884,000,鈥� said Toth.
A further $364,000 was added for additional cleaning/sanitization supplies and equipment that will be needed for this year.
The division鈥檚 Cyber Stone online learning system has increased its outreach to include Kindergarten to Grade 8 students, therefore a further expense for an additional 8.0 full time equivalent (FTE) teaching positions has been incurred.
Additional staffing to support 10, 20, 30 credit courses is being adjudicated dependent on enrolments. There has been a significant increase in students and thus they indicated increased staffing will be required, which will cost about $760,000, they said.
Additions for new technology materials to meet the growing demands for online learning will cost about $157,000.
鈥淭he offering is for full time, or just a few credit courses if they wish,鈥� said Little.
Earlier in her report, Little noted that within the region 7,411 students engaged in supplemental learning in April following the school shutdowns in March. At the conclusion of the school year at the end of June, 5,792 students out of a potential 7,959 were still participating in supplemental learning.
Since Sept. 14, she said, 238 students were enrolled in Cyber Stone from Kindergarten to Grade 9 and another 130 are enrolled in taking fully on line, the Grades 10 to 12 offerings. An additional 570 credit hours are also being distributed to 342 students at the Grade 10-12 levels. Home schooling enrolment is up to 279 now, an increase of 107 from June.
The applications for other online courses and credits are still coming in, said Toth, who added that Cornerstone would be eligible to reapply for further grant assistance, this time with federal funds being engaged. The deadline for this second application is December 1.
鈥淲e are not sure whether this will be a shared provincial and federal program moving on, but we will apply,鈥� said Little.
Although a formal count of student enrolments in SECPSD is not to be taken until Sept. 30, Little said the current count indicated a decrease in school population of about 100 compared with projections, but they are still tracking some of those students and families who may have moved while some may have moved to other education providers.
鈥淭he Ministry鈥檚 funding adjustment for actual enrolments will happen after Sept. 30 and may not be completed until as late as mid-winter,鈥� said Toth, reflecting on the new pressures being exerted on the administrations鈥� financial and logistics departments due to the pandemic.
