REGINA

Sask. pushes 1st day of school to Sept. 8.; invests $40M in resources for schools

Published Saturday, August 15, 2020 1:51PM CST Last Updated Monday, August 17, 2020 7:59AM CST

Premier of Saskatchewan Scott Moe and Saqib Shahab, chief medical health officer, arrive to a COVID-19 news update at the Legislative Building in Regina on Wednesday March 18, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Michael Bell

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REGINA -- Saskatchewan’s premier took to social media on Saturday to announce $40 million in funds for supplies necessary for the Safe Schools Plan.

In a post on Facebook, Premier Scott Moe said the start of the school year is postponed to Sept. 8 to give schools more time to prepare.

The province's plan for increased safety in schools includes a new testing strategy for teachers and students who volunteer to participate.

“I’m looking forward to providing more details and answering questions about this on Monday. But for now, I wanted you to know we are listening and we are acting,” Moe wrote on Facebook.

Moe will appear with the province's Chief Medical Heath Officer Dr. Saqib Shahab on Monday to provide more details on the plan. The event will be streamed live on CTVNewsRegina.ca and CTVNewsSaskatoon.ca.

The opposition NDP's education critic said the funds announced are not enough to properly supply Saskatchewans schools.

“While any investment is welcome at this very late stage, the dollars teased today are completely inadequate to address the needs in our classrooms as teachers and students prepare to go back to school this fall,” Carla Beck said. “Even with this small investment taken into account, the Sask. Party will still be spending less per student than they were in 2016. The Sask. Party’s failure to plan is letting our parents, teachers, students and school staff down.”

Over the past few weeks, we’ve been listening to concerns from students, parents and teachers about returning to school...
Posted by Scott Moe on Saturday, August 15, 2020