The Ford government is spending another $35 million to hire teachers and purchase new equipment for schools in areas hit hardest by COVID-19.

The money will flow to boards in Toronto, Peel Region, Ottawa and York Region.

Premier Doug Ford said the money will allow boards to pay for “more physical distancing, smaller classrooms and provide more resources for remote learning.”

Education Minister Stephen Lecce said the money will be split proportionally between all public school boards in those impacted municipalities, with the Toronto District School Board (TDSB) receiving $9 million.

He said the TDSB’s allotment could hire 120 more teachers or purchase 11,000 more computers and tablets.

School boards have purchased or distributed 120,000 computers and tablets this year to assist students in low-income households with remote learning.

As of Friday, 335 of the province’s 4,828 publicly-funded schools had seen at least one case of COVID-19 in a student