Province will cover evacuee school costs

The Brandon School Division will receive financial support from the province to cover the cost of hosting wildfire evacuees in its schools, Education Minister Tracy Schmidt told the Sun Thursday.

“We encourage divisions to track … expenses and to be in touch with our department — many of them already have — and we will work with them to make sure that those expenses are covered,” Schmidt said.

BSD currently has 64 extra students enrolled from evacuated communities, with the number spiking at 74 students earlier this month. The numbers have fluctuated as some students have been able to return home and new students have been enrolled.

As a result, the division is paying for 8.5 additional substitute teachers, a bus driver and gas for a new route, and is buying extra equipment to take on the new students, totalling a “rough estimate” of $100,000, the division said.

On Wednesday, the Sun heard the province wasn’t going to compensate the division for the costs. In an interview with Supt. Mathew Gustafson early Thursday afternoon, that was still the case.

Schmidt later in the afternoon told the Sun that the province would compensate school divisions for the incurred costs of hosting wildfire evacuees, after being asked multiple times how the province will help.

“We, of course, are always appreciative,” Gustafson said in a second interview after the division learned it would receive funding.

BSD board vice-chairperson Duncan Ross said the province’s decision was “fantastic.”

Ross said the division was initially told there might not be any funding coming from the province.

“No money was coming at all, but that there may be funding changes in future years, is what we were told,” he said.

Gustafson said the division was planning to reallocate funds for some items in its budget to pay for the extra costs. The province’s decision means that won’t be necessary, aside from how funds are reallocated every year as the division’s needs change.

He didn’t have many details about what will be covered or when money will come in, although the province has been keeping a running tally of related expenses. The province had advised school divisions in the spring to track expenses related to wildfires.

Gustafson said the division was already tight on money, and the provincial funding will help.

“We do have some financial constraints, (so) having some dollars that we can then go back into meeting some of our other needs is always welcome,” he said.

Schmidt (Rossmere) said there are currently about 200 evacuated students at schools in Brandon, Winnipeg, Thompson and The Pas.

“These are ever evolving, dynamic situations. So as they evolve, we will continue to be there to work with our divisions and support them, and most importantly, support these students,” she said.

The students in Brandon are enrolled at King George School, Riverview School, Vincent Massey High School and École secondaire Neelin High School, and are from the communities of Lynn Lake, Marcel Colomb First Nation, South Indian Lake and Pukatawagan, assistant superintendent Jon Zilkey said in a board meeting last week.

Both Gustafson and Ross said they were happy to host the students even before receiving funding, and that the division was going to help nonetheless.

Gustafson added that the experience of hosting the new students has been a positive one.

» alambert@brandonsun.com