The Province is funding 26 projects through the new School Advisory Council (SAC) Innovation Fund.
Announced in December as part of the government's work to ensure families and other community members have more say in school operations, the fund enables new and innovative projects to support student achievement and well-being. It provides grants of up to $10,000 to test an idea, which - if shown to be successful - could be expanded to other schools.
"I am so impressed with the creativity and commitment to bettering schools that SACs showed in their applications to the innovation fund," said Becky Druhan, Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development. "The councils really demonstrated their deep understanding of their school communities and the things that get students engaged in their learning experience."
Funded projects include:
- expanding school gardens with hydroponic equipment
- building a model apartment for students with special needs to practise everyday life skills in a realistic environment
- purchasing technology and materials to create multilingual multimedia to support newcomer families and students in navigating their new school, education system and community.
Applications were open from February 15 to April 18, and the Department received 128. In total, more than $250,000 was awarded to 26 recipients.
Quick Facts:
- SACs are volunteer organizations with roles and responsibilities set out in the Education Act and supporting regulations
- SAC members can include parents and guardians, school staff (including teachers), students and members of the wider community
- projects will be featured at the first provincewide SAC conference this September and, once implemented, considered for expansion to other schools
Additional Resources:
- School advisory councils: https://www.ednet.ns.ca/SAC
- SAC Innovation Fund application guidelines: https://www.ednet.ns.ca/docs/innovationfundguidelines2024-25eng.pdf
- News release - More School Input for Families, Students, Advisory Councils: https://news.novascotia.ca/en/2023/12/01/more-school-input-families-students-advisory-councils
The projects receiving funding are listed here. More information about them is available at: https://www.ednet.ns.ca/docs/sac_innovation_fund_successfulprojects_en.pdf
