Breakfast and snack items for kids in schools and gift cards for families are among the ways the New Westminster school district is using its share of the B.C. government’s affordability fund.
The Ministry of Education announced the $60-million fund in August as districts prepared for the return to school. The money is intended to be used by school districts to help families struggling with the rising costs of living due to global inflation.
School District 40 received just shy of $700,000 of that money.
The district has divvied it up into three categories: universal fees and fundraising, nutrition, and local customized supports.
A report from secretary-treasurer Bettina Ketcham Dec. 13 updated the school board on how that money has been spent as of Dec. 6.
So far this year, it has spent $120,980 of the $218,700 it set aside for universal fees and fundraising. That money is being used to offset costs for all students across the board, in areas such as supply fees and field trips.
The nutrition category, where the district has so far spent $67,800 of its $325,000 budget, covers both subsidies for its Fuel Up lunch program and a newly introduced snack and breakfast program. Ketcham noted that program, which is being offered through a company called The Lunch Lady, ensures that schools have shelf-stable breakfast and snack foods available for students as needed.
She noted they’re handed out in a “stigma-free” way, so the district isn’t rationing or counting the number of items being delivered daily. The foods available vary from school to school, depending what principals think will appeal to their community and what storage options (including refrigeration) are available.
The district has budgeted $153,453 for the third category, local customized supports, and has so far spent $96,108 of that money.
Most of the money so far has been used to purchase gift cards for vulnerable families. The money is being spent throughout the year, with one round of purchases at the beginning of the school year and another right now, leading into the winter break.
Ketcham said that money has been used to buy gas cards, Walmart cards and grocery store cards.
In response to a question from trustee Marc Andres, she said transit cards can also be provided with that money.
What exactly the “local customized supports” look like is up to each individual school principal, she said, noting school staff are generally aware of which families may need some extra support and can choose to provide that in whatever way works best for them.
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