The Prairie South School District receives about $35,000 a year from the state for its nutrition programs, but the state spends about $89,000 on such efforts.
Prairie South School District trustees are hoping the state and federal governments will provide more funding to support school nutrition programs, especially since the district’s expenses exceed its revenues.
Board member Crystal Froese asked at the April board meeting how the new National School Lunch Program announced in the federal budget would affect school districts and how much funding school districts would receive.
In response, at a meeting in May, division administrators presented a letter from the state government regarding the child nutrition program.
According to a letter from the Department of Education, the 2024-25 state budget will focus on classrooms, care and communities, with a “record $3.3 billion investment” in education, including a total of $1.3 million in increased funding for community-based organizations that provide early childhood support, life skills development and literacy programs.
“I am pleased to announce that child nutrition programs will benefit from this increase. The program’s budget for 2024-25 is $2.7 million, an increase of $77,000 from last year,” said Department Executive Director Janet Mitchell.
“If the application is approved, this increase would be included in the 2024-25 allocation and is subject to the passage of an appropriate budget by the Saskatchewan Legislature.”
Mitchell added that the department will contact applicants after reviewing their submissions.
Prairie South Superintendent Amanda Olson told the board that the division applies for state funding each year for nutrition programs and receives between $33,000 and $35,000, while the division’s annual expenses supporting those efforts are $89,000, meaning it’s spending between $54,000 and $56,000 more than it earns.
“The federal announcement is new and the province doesn’t quite know what it means yet,” she continued, adding that the province has not said whether it will provide more funding to Prairie South.
Froese noted that the department has highlighted the success of nutrition programs in some schools, including King George School, which received $15,000 from Mosaic last year.
“We know that kids in school don’t do well if they don’t get proper nutrition, especially breakfast in the morning,” she added, “and we know that teachers often have things like granola bars in their desk drawers and are trying to take care of kids that way.”
The next PSSD board meeting is Wednesday, June 5th.
