Image: Mike Vanden Bosch / Pattison Media / A July 2023 letter from the B.C. minister of education reveals that the B.C. government did not extend additional financial assistance to SD33 in response to a request from the chair of the Chilliwack Board of Education for more menstrual products funding. 

By Mike Vanden Bosch

Chilliwack School District

Chilliwack School District sought more funding for menstrual products in 2023, but B.C. govt. didn’t budge

Feb 14, 2024 | 9:46 AM

CHILLIWACK — A July 2023 letter from the B.C. minister of education reveals that the B.C. government did not extend additional financial assistance in response to a request from the chair of the Chilliwack Board of Education for more menstrual products funding.

According to a letter dated July 24, 2023, and obtained by Fraser Valley Today, Education Minister Rachna Singh thanked board chair Willow Reichelt for her letter dated June 29, 2023 in which she asked for support in delivering menstrual products, described as “essential resources” by Singh, to SD33 students.

“Thank you for your letter of June 29, 2023, outlining the financial challenges involved in addressing period poverty, particularly in providing menstrual products in schools, and to request support in delivering these essential resources to students,” Singh wrote. “The Ministry of Education and Child Care appreciates the board’s actions in providing barrier-free menstrual products to students of all gender identities or expression at no cost and for creating safe and inclusive learning spaces where all students can be supported to thrive.”

At its meeting on June 27, 2023, Chilliwack school board members approved a motion to send a letter to the education minister and parliamentary secretary for gender equity to communicate the cost pressures associated with addressing period poverty and to ask for support in delivering these supports to students.

Singh noted in her response to Reichelt’s letter that Chilliwack School District was slated to receive $188.6 million in operating and special purpose grants for the 2023-24 school year, an increase of $13.3 million compared to the 2022-23 school year.

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Singh also said SD33 had boosted its accumulated operating surplus from $2.9 million in 2019 to $5.7 million, including $3.6 million of unrestricted surplus, as of July 1, 2022. Over the same period of 2019-2022, Singh indicated SD33 had increased its local capital funding from $1.2 million to $5.1 million.

“In accordance with the School Act, the Ministry of Education and Child Care sets education standards and provides funding, while boards of education are responsible for budgetary spending decisions regarding the operation and maintenance of schools within their district,” Singh said. “This includes decisions about the selection of resources, programs, and services offered to their students to deliver the provincial curriculum. As such, the installation and cost of additional menstrual dispensers and stocking these dispensers is a decision for the board of education.”

The cost associated with installing the menstrual product dispensers in all SD33 facilities is an estimated $80,000 capital cost, while the cost to stock them has been pegged at an estimated $40,000, an operational expense.