The Richmond School District is hiring 45 additional custodians and 35 additional teachers with federal funds meant to help school districts during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The school district received more than $7 million from a total of $242 million province-wide, and, in addition to custodians and teachers, they will use it to support students in Grades 10 to 12 and vulnerable students.
Schools re-opened Monday after two orientation days last week, and the school district is in the process of hiring teachers to help with students in kindergarten to Grade 9 who have opted for at-home transitional learning, which will begin next week.
“Our challenge right now is actually being able to find teachers to fill all these vacancies and getting them into positions quickly and getting them started,” explained Scott Robinson, superintendent of the Richmond School District.
Before the start of the year, the school district was expecting 35 per cent of elementary students and five per cent of high school students to opt for transitional learning.
The federal funding is allowing the school district to also offer transitional learning – where students learn at home supported by teachers on a temporary basis – to Grade 8 and 9 students as well.
Robinson said there are about 200 students in both Grade 8 and 9 who have chosen this option.
The majority of students are doing in-person learning, Robinson explained.
The board of education also approved in June an additional $1.5 million for custodial work in its 2020/21 budget
