The Prince Albert Catholic School Division dealt with several food insecurity matters at their recent meeting.
The board of education voted to begin engagement on a new three-year National Food School Food Program.
The division is also receiving more funding through the Child Nutrition Development
Program through the Ministry of Education.
“Food security is always something that’s top of mind in our world around us,” Education Director Lorel Trumier said. “We do know more children have a shortage of food, or lack of food.”
The province and the federal government have reached an agreement on the NSFP which will complement the Child Nutrition Development Program. The division was advised on Aug. 25 that the NSFP has allocated $98,385 for the division.
“There was a federal provincial agreement that’s been struck and what it meant is additional dollars to support and enhance food options and programming in our school division. Now clearly the information just came to us late last week. We’re still in the process of determining how we are going to deal with it,” Trumier said.
Although the Division is still finalizing their plans, Trumier said there’s no doubt the issue is concerning.
“Food security is a problem for our children and so we want to serve as many children as we can with the dollars that we have,” she said. “Certainly (it’s) good news and welcome dollars. It’s also less dollars that would have gone to food from our operational budgets. If we can focus on teaching and learning and using those funds, then what this does is help subsidize that growing need of food and cost.”
Funding allocations are based on projected enrolments for the 2025-2026 school year. The $98,000 allocation is an estimate and will change enrolments are finalized on Sept. 30. A funding agreement will be sent in September along with criteria for use of funds.
The program will complement the $95,000 Child Nutrition Grant and the $40,000 partnership with thee Catholic Education Fund. The division will receive $40,731 in grant funding in their joint submission to expand school food infrastructure as announced last year.
Trumier also updated the board on the funding from the Child Nutrition Grant which will see the division receive more funding for 2025-2026.
“With the child nutrition programming which we’ve been receiving that funding from the ministry here for a few years and this year another $2,000 over what we had received last year is very positive because of the growing costs of food,” Trumier said.
The division will receive $94,971 from the already existing provincial Child Nutrition Fund. That’s an increase of $2,766 over the last school year.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
