School District 69 (Qualicum) has sent a letter to B.C. Education Minister Rob Fleming, asking that funds allocated by the federal government for public schools be divided on a per-student basis and that districts have control over how the money is used.
“The Board of Education of School District 69 Qualicum was pleased to hear Prime Minister Trudeau announce on August 26, 2020 that $2 billion in federal funds would flow to the provinces and territories in support of a safe reopening of schools this fall, with $242.4 million of that targeted for British Columbia,” read the beginning of the letter.
Fleming announced on the same day that parents wanting to utilize home-based learning for their children wouldn’t be required to transfer to distributed learning or withdraw from their school in order to start homeschooling.
“Approximately 12 [per cent] of our families have indicated that they have a need for that home support and they appreciate not having to withdraw from the neighbourhood school to register with DL or as home schoolers,” read the letter.
READ MORE: Some mandatory mask-wearing to be part of Qualicum back-to-school
Ultimately, the two requests were outlined as:
1. That the portion of federal funds that will be made available to public schools be distributed on a per capita student enrollment basis;
2. That school districts be provided with the autonomy to direct those funds to areas of greatest need including both health and safety measures and additional staffing to support home based learning.
— NEWS staff
