Applying For Funds

Explore a variety of professional development opportunities tailored to your needs. Whether pursuing individual growth, collaborating in small groups through special project funds, or participating in larger initiatives, there are options to support and enhance teaching practices.

Whole Staff Pro-D Funding supports professional development activities that involve all staff members at a school or site. This can include workshops, seminars, or training sessions that are planned and attended by the entire staff, focusing on topics relevant to the collective professional growth of the group. This application requires pre-approval from the STA Pro-D Committee. Application forms will be reviewed by the STA Pro-D Committee on the 15th of every month.

The STA will provide up to $1,000.00 to small schools (20.000 FTE and under) on a first-come, first-serve basis to pay for external presenters/speakers for a Whole Staff Pro-D day.

Up to $100 of Pro-D funds may be used for a maximum of two professional resources, per member, per year. The resource must be related to a member’s teaching area and must be used to support a specific professional development activity. In addition, it must be a professional resource and not a teaching resource (resources that will be used directly with students, such as a book primarily composed of lesson plans, activities, or blackline masters) or a learning resource (books that students will use themselves). Application must be pre-approved by the STA Pro-D Committee before purchasing any resources.

A maximum of $150 per TTOC per school year may be available. TTOC’s will be treated as a “school unit” and must apply to the STA TTOC Rep for funding approval. To be eligible for STA Pro-D funds, TTOCs must have worked at least 20 days in Surrey in the 3 months (not including July or August) prior to the date of the event. TTOCs on indefinite or long-term assignments of more than 50%, should apply first to their base school. Pro-D funds may not be used to cover the cost of lost wages while attending a Pro-D event.

The Special Projects Pro-D Fund is a fund for small groups of teachers to access once per school year to pursue professional growth opportunities in addition to regular opportunities for STA members. Any group of 2 or more STA members may apply. Group members do not all have to work at the same school. A group can apply for up to $350 times the number of members in the group. The $350 is designed to cover one release day (TTOC cost) for a regularly scheduled work day for each member of the group, plus any necessary resource for the experience to be carried out. For example, if a book needs to be purchased for the group members, this could be covered from the fund. Possible professional development opportunities for the use of the fund include reciprocal teaching opportunities; sharing/collaboration for instructional practices, management techniques, or intellectual connections; or a book study pertinent to the teaching experiences of the group.

Local Specialist Associations (LSAs) offer Pro-D funding tailored to specific subject areas or teaching specialties. STA members can access LSA Pro-D funds and even apply for the Annual LSA Pro-D Special Projects Grant of up to $4,000 to support larger initiatives. To qualify, you must be a member of an existing LSA or establish one. Learn more about LSAs and how to form one on the Local Specialist Association page.

ALL STA members are entitled to apply for the Professional Development Funding Draw, including TTOCs and FTTOs. Successful applicants may reapply after four years – all others may apply annually. Each year, six grants of up to $5000 of Pro-D funds will be awarded. To be considered, completed application forms and accompanying documentation must be received by the STA office before 4:00 pm on the first school day in May. Names will be drawn from eligible applicants at the end of May Annual General Meeting.