Back-to-school supply lists will be reviewed: minister
Posted Aug 20, 2010 05:58:47 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The provincial Department of Education says officials will meet with school boards about their back-to-school supply lists.
The comments from the minister of education follow a plea from the Parker Street Food Bank this week, saying its list of families looking for help with school supplies has grown longer than ever.
Minister of Education Marilyn More says the department will meet with school board program directors to review policies on school supplies.
“Just to ensure that they are in line with curriculum needs and program needs and also with awareness of the financial restraint and pressures that many Nova Scotian families are facing,” she said.
School supply lists are made by individual school boards, and in Halifax they’re left up to individual schools.
More says the government will help fund school supplies for anyone already on social assistance, and notes some schools will also provide another level of assistance to make sure kids have the supplies they need for the school year.
“Some school boards actually do bulk purchasing of school supplies and parents pay a minimal fee to take advantage of cost systems,” she said.
More says the bulk-buy system is very effective in the regions that use it, but adds it’s up to each board or school to decide what works best for them.
“That certainly is a decision of the regional school boards and that’s not something that would ever be forced or mandated by the provincial government,” she said.
The Parker Street Food Bank announced this week that the number of families seeking financial help with back-to-school shopping was longer and donations had dropped.
