SD57 Superintendent reflects on additional funding useage at final Board meeting of 2020

During the SD 57 School Board meeting tonight (Tuesday) Superintendant, Anita Richardson explained a number of ways the district has used additional government funding recently.

“Some of the supports we’ve been able to put in place includes EA’s and teachers to support transitional and immune-compromised students in reaching and achieving appropriate academic goals,” said Richardson.

She explained some of the funding has been used to support the success of students attending classes during the pandemic.

“Also, having one or two mental health support staff for each for every school family, which are typically in the form of youth care workers,” added Richardson.

According to Richardson, Mackenzie, Mcbride and Valemont schools all received their own youth care worker in addition to their current staffing.

“We’ve also added two additional Indigenous education workers for our district to support those students that are struggling in this new environment,” noted Richardson.

She said that the virtual presentation of both the Remembrance Day ceremony and the College Heights Secondary School’s Capstone Projects are good representations of how SD57 is adapting to the ongoing changes to province-wide restrictions.

“There have been many other innovative strategies that we’ve seen in the last month including our virtual band concerts and parent-teacher meetings,” said Richardson.

In addition, to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in schools while the climate gets harsher in BC, individual schools have worked to solve different winter-weather issues.

This comes after BC Teachers Federation President Teri Mooring released the following statement earlier today:

Dear parents,

BC’s teachers care deeply about our students, your children. We are all working incredibly hard to make sure they are safe and receiving the best education possible during this terrible pandemic.

Nothing about this school year has been easy and all of us are feeling stress and anxiety. We’re worried about COVID-19 affecting our students, our families, and ourselves. Making sure our schools and classrooms are safe for our children and yours has been the top priority for us all. Now, as BC is gripped by this surging second wave of the coronavirus, we’re reaching out to you for some help.

While masks are not mandatory at all times in schools, we’re hoping you can help us support a culture of mask wearing. Some schools have already taken this step. The school community has come together and made mask wearing normal and expected. It really helps everyone in our schools feel safer. We need to be doing all we can to ensure we keep each other safe. No one wants to bring COVID-19 home to their families.

We know there are students and staff members who for various reasons can’t wear masks. And, there are some learning situations where masks aren’t appropriate. That’s all ok. Our school communities have a lot of experience making sure people are included and treated with kindness and respect.

By talking to your children about wearing their masks in school, you can help us create that respectful culture of mask wearing.

BCTF members, your children’s teachers, are committed to providing our students with supportive and enriching learning environments. We also need them to be safe. Please help make that happen. We encourage you to talk to your children and encourage them to wear masks.

Thank you,

Teri Mooring

The next SD57 Board meeting will be held on January 26th.