Provincial funding for school expenses to help B.C. families

More money for field trips, sports teams and school lunches was announced at Mountian Lellum Middle School on March 6.

The additional funding will be for $20 million and will help needy families throughout B.C., said Rachna Singh, Minister of Education and Child Care.

She said that schools will use the extra money to help students who might face hardship and help pay them to participate in sports, classroom field trips and more.

"These extra funds will go a long way to help take the pressure off families so that no child is left behind," said Singh.

She said the cost-of-living crisis has made schooling difficult for some families and the additional funding would help.

Singh was joined by MLA Ravi Parmar, trustee Chief Chipps, Superintendant for Sooke School District Amanda Dowhy, and Lellund Middle School students Hayden Bryson and Zachary Monroe.

In his previous position as former head of the board chair of School District 62, Parmar said he knew that students and their families needed all the help they could.

"It really does take a village to support our young people," he said.

Programs provided by the government had allowed the students at the middle school to attend a skiing field trip at Mount Washington on March 6, said Monroe.

"Without access to these funds, students would not have been able to go on this amazing experience."

Singh said that each school district in B.C. would receive a minimum of $100,000 and that it would be up to each school district to decide how best to use that money.

"These funds act as a crucial support system, enabling schools to remove financial obstacles."