School COVID supply fundraiser gives rise to income-inequity concerns By: Maggie Macintosh Posted: 7:00 PM CST Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020 Last Modified: 9:32 PM CST Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020 Updates

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This article was published 02/11/2020 (1417 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The creation — and cancellation — of a public school fundraiser for COVID-19-related supplies is raising questions about emergency back-to-school funding and the fairness of allowing families to donate money for such costs during the pandemic.

In mid-October, Earl Grey School notified its community about a campaign to raise funds for its “wish list”: 40 additional student shields, technology to support remote learning, and a handwashing station for the K-8 building’s second floor.

The school proposed a chocolate fundraiser to reach its goal of $7,100 for the items.

“As we reflect on our first month, we have put together a wish list of things that will support us in continuing to provide the safest spaces possible while still following what we feel are best practices in education,” states a letter sent home to parents Oct. 14.

A parent at the school, Dougald Lamont — who is also the leader of the Manitoba Liberal Party — took to Twitter to express his disbelief about the campaign. In an Oct. 29 tweet, Lamont criticized the Pallister government for sitting on federal funds earmarked for a safe back-to-school season in Manitoba.

“I couldn’t believe it… The idea that parents are supposed to sell chocolate bars so their kids can’t get COVID — that’s Pallister’s Manitoba; that’s Pallister’s back-to-school plan,” Lamont later told the Free Press.

The day after Lamont posted the tweet, Earl Grey followed up with families about the campaign to inform them, following discussion with the Winnipeg School Division, the school was able to use existing funds to cover the costs of a handwashing station and student shields.

This is from my childrens’ school. The Pallister PCs are sitting on $85.4-million in federal money to make schools safe and I am selling chocolate bars for hand washing stations, face masks and distance learning. #mbpoli #cdnpoli pic.twitter.com/Oq1SlJUpeo

— Dougald Lamont (@DFLamont) October 29, 2020

Signed by the principal and vice-principal, the Oct. 30 note indicated a fundraising drive would still be needed to “enhance the technology in our classrooms to enrich our students’ learning experience.”

The chairwoman of the Parent Advisory Council at Earl Grey, Kathy Heppner, declined to provide comment on the matter when reached Tuesday. Betty Edel, chairwoman of the WSD board, also declined to provide specifics.

“We don’t want to comment on Earl Grey because we’re still trying to figure out what happened at Earl Grey,” Edel said during a phone interview, during which she noted there is a process in place for schools to let financial needs be known during the pandemic.

“I couldn’t believe it… The idea that parents are supposed to sell chocolate bars so their kids can’t get COVID– that’s Pallister’s Manitoba; that’s Pallister’s back-to-school plan.”
– Dougald Lamont, Manitoba Liberal Party leader

On the subject of fundraising, Edel said there is no COVID-19-specific fundraising policy, and the division does not plan to create one.

(Regular school fundraising is ongoing during the pandemic, but WSD has recommended against door-to-door sales, a practice it didn’t encourage even before the pandemic, citing student safety reasons.)

Meantime, an associate professor of education at the University of Winnipeg would like to see divisions ban fundraising for essential programming and health and safety matters during the pandemic.

Jeannie Kerr argues allowing parent fundraisers for safety items will only exacerbate the inequalities across WSD, the largest of its kind in the province.

“While everyone can appreciate parents’ desires to keep their children safe, we should not be inviting pathways for students from wealthier families to have adequate health and safety during a pandemic, while risking the health and safety of students whose families have less economic wealth.”
– Jeannie Kerr, associate professor of education at the University of Winnipeg

“While everyone can appreciate parents’ desires to keep their children safe, we should not be inviting pathways for students from wealthier families to have adequate health and safety during a pandemic, while risking the health and safety of students whose families have less economic wealth,” Kerr said in an email Tuesday.

“These current basic necessities need to be adequately funded.”

A spokesperson for Manitoba Education said Tuesday, as of Sept. 30, divisions and independent schools have reported spending $14.2 million of the province’s $100 million earmarked for back-to-school. Of which, $48 million is school division savings accumulated during the spring class disruptions.

Among the expenses: enhanced cleaning, increased bus transportation and replacement staffing costs.

Manitoba has also spent $1.5 million for face masks and shields that have been procured on behalf of schools, the spokesperson said.

“It wasn’t supposed to all be spent in September. The expectation of that, and the additional money from the federal government, is that it was supposed to be there for the school year,” Manitoba Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen told reporters during a scrum at the legislative building Monday.

To date, the province has received half of the $85.4 million in federal funding promised; the other half is expected in January.

“It wasn’t supposed to all be spent in September. The expectation of that, and the additional money from the federal government, is that it was supposed to be there for the school year.”
– Manitoba Education Minister Kelvin Goertzen

It remains unclear how this money has been spent, if at all.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau mentioned the funding for Manitoba multiple times at a Tuesday news conference.

“I know many, many provinces have moved forward in investing (the schools funding)," Trudeau told the Free Press. "We will follow up to make sure Manitoba is able to do what is necessary to keep kids safe, as they return to school."

— with files from Dylan Robertson and Carol Sanders

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @macintoshmaggie

Maggie Macintosh
Reporter

Maggie Macintosh reports on education for the Winnipeg Free Press. Funding for the Free Press education reporter comes from the Government of Canada through the Local Journalism Initiative.

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