New funding from the BC Ministry of Education helps Revelstoke parents and students

Revelstoke's School District 19 (SD19) school board has new funding to help with the cost from the BC Ministry of Education.

District 19 has two new grants coming from the BC Ministry of Education, meant to address financial issues for parents and students, and another to address issues of early learning and child care. The district is getting $250,000 as part of the Student and Family Affordability Fund, which will be used to help students and families pay for some of the extraneous education costs. The BC Ministry of Education is also releasing funds, so that the school board can hire someone to help with early learning and childcare in the region.

The $250,000 fund is set to help students access nutritional food "before, during, and after the school day," said a memo from SD19. The fund will also be used to offset costs to parents, guardians, and students, including supplies and other costs that contribute to a financial strain.

"Families across British Columbia are facing unprecedented global inflation challenges," said minister of education Jennifier Whiteside, adding she was "pleased to announce [her] government's $60 millionStudent and Family Affordability Fund for B.C. public school."

Specifically, the fund will be used to help provide basic school supplies that parents would ordinarily need to buy, like pens, paper, and sports equipment. The fund can also be used to offset the fees for existing programs and events like workbooks, field trips, or supplies for a shop or culinary class.

On top of the funding for the Student and Family Affordability Fund, SD19 will also be getting funding for Early Learning and Child Care (ELCC). The fund is intended to help districts understand some of the common problems affecting the rest of the province—issues concerning access, affordability, and quality of early learning and child care.

The fund opens up two options for SD19.

The first option is to conduct a thorough environmental scan to figure out the barriers to ELCC. The second option is to create a new role within SD19, specifically designed to an environmental assessment of the ELCC circumstances, and to then work on fostering relationships with local organizations to correct them.

SD19 is opting for the latter and looking to hire someone to take on the new role—though, funding will likely not be available until 2024–2025. However, the environmental scan funding is available for this school year.