School District 57's parent advisory councils are gearing up for the annual influx of gaming grant money. This year the region will see almost $259,000.
"It helps the schools a great deal," said Sarah Holland, chair of the Prince George District Parent Advisory Council. "A lot of people think that PACs are fundraising organizations and they're not."
Parent Advisory Councils (PACs) are meant to be advisory organizations, she said.
"What this gaming money can allow for is less emphasis on fundraising and trying to get money to do these extras and more just... discussing educational issues and how parents can make a difference to a school," she said.
The district-wide group received the $2,500 base rate, as it did the year before, while each school was allocated $20 for each student enrolled.
"In the high school world, that's where most of the funding comes from, because the schools typically get this fairly large amount of money that comes to them because they have so many students."
For Prince George secondary school, that works out to $22,180, followed by Duchess Park secondary school with $18,940 and Kelly Road secondary school with $15,660.
Much of that money goes towards sports, she said, but schools will also spend the money on musical instruments, playground equipment and field trips.
"Extra things really," Holland explained.
For example, for years Heather Park elementary's PAC has been working on raising funds for an inclusive playground that is accessible to all abilities.
The schools with the lowest funding were all rural. Giscome elementary's PAC will get $420, while Hixon elementary will see $640.
That comes as no surprise, given the district's Long Range Facility showed those schools were at 47 and 30 per cent capacity last year, respectively.
The money can only be used for non-curricular things, said Holland, noting the gaming branch has "strong beliefs over where this money is meant to go. It's not meant to go to anything the Ministry of Education should be funding."
B.C.'s education minister Mike Bernier said in a statement the grants "provide significant funding to local parent advisory committees so they can purchase playground and sports equipment, and musical instruments while supporting other important learning opportunities for students."
"Parents play an integral role in their children's education, and we thank them for the amazing work they do as part of PACs and DPACs," Prince George-Valemount MLA Shirley Bond added.
"These funds will help them plan the types of activities that make for active, engaged and well-rounded students," said Bond in Tuesday's release.
Holland said the list may not be quite complete, so parent groups can still reach out to the gaming grants staff if they think they've been missed.
"They work with schools. If a PAC makes a mistake and purchases something that shouldn't be purchased with this money, they assist, they help," she said.
"Their goal is to get this money out to the kids."
The local funding was part of nearly $11.1 million handed to 1,400 parent groups across the province. Visit www.pgcitizen.ca for a full breakdown of funding, by school.
