By KEVIN BERGER, Local Journalism Initiative
The Prairie Spirit School Division (PSSD) is receiving a massive boost in funding for school nutrition programs through the recently-announced National School Food Program — a total of $340,000, which is over 10 times what the division previously received through the provincial Child Nutrition Grant.
And as the division begins distributing that funding in early December, the benefits will likely be seen in the second half of the 2025-2026 school year, according to PSSD learning superintendent Brad Nichol.
“Prairie Spirit has now reviewed all of the schools’ Nutrition Program Plans and we plan to be moving dollars out to schools in the next week or two,” Nichol said via e-mail on November 28.
“Realistically, school nutrition programs funded by the National School Food Program will take shape in the new year.”
On November 21, the province announced the next phase of the National School Food Program in Saskatchewan, which will see the Government of Saskatchewan provide $6.4 million in federal funding to school divisions during the 2025-2026 school year to support nutrition programs.
This announcement was a follow-up to the signing of a $15.8 million three-year agreement between the Governments of Saskatchewan and Canada to fund the National School Food Program.
The federal government itself is spending $1 billion over the next five years to implement the National School Food Program, which is intended to be permanent. Annual funding of $216.6 million will be allocated to the program starting in 2029-2030.
“The National School Food Program investment will help us further achieve our goal of providing a better quality of life for Saskatchewan students, families and communities,” said Saskatchewan Education Minister Everett Hindley, in a release.
“Enhanced school food programs can provide immediate relief to families’ household budgets and significantly increase access and reach for students.”
Funding will be provided to Saskatchewan school divisions based on the pre-Kindergarten to Grade 12 distribution model, which considers factors that influence the cost of programming such as school location, enrolment and student needs.
The new federal program builds on the work being done through the Saskatchewan Child Nutrition Program, which has provided healthy meals and skill building programs to Saskatchewan students for the past 35 years.
EFFECT ON PSSD
During the Prairie Spirit board meeting on October 27, Nichol had presented the board a report on the potential local impact of the National School Food Program.
Previously, the division received between $35,000 to $40,000 through the provincial Child Nutrition Program, which was distributed to some PSSD schools.
“It’s generally a finite pie, and the more schools apply, the slices get a little bit thinner,” Nichol told trustees.
A number of schools also relied on grants and sponsorships from corporations like Nutrien to help fund nutrition programs.
As noted earlier, Prairie Spirit will receive $340,000 annually starting in 2025-2026, which can be spent on food supplies, minor infrastructure and personnel.
While the federal funding isn’t necessarily replacing the provincial Child Nutrition Program, Nichol acknowledged to trustees that the amount of funding “(is) so disproportionate to the provincial funding that it’s nothing compared to what this federal grant is.”
To prepare for this influx in cash, the division has collaborated with schools to assess their nutrition needs. They were categorized into roughly three tiers: emergent need, low predictable daily need and universal daily need.
According to some information provided by PSSD, the division will distribute the funding according to these categories to create manageable and sustainable programs. The funding will be especially valuable to those schools where students’ nutrition needs are not being currently met.
As well, the division will assist schools in monitoring and ultimately reporting on these federal funds.