Full-day kindergarten, e-sports among school budget boosts

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This article was published 15/03/2024 (625 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba school boards regained the ability to raise education taxes this year and in Winnipeg, trustees took full advantage of the NDP government’s pivot.

Property owners can expect increases to local fees ranging from two per cent to 7.5 per cent — before accounting for a 50 per cent rebate via the province.

The additional revenue is slated to address everything from growing school utility bills to lower elementary student to teacher ratios.

Here’s a roundup of what students, staff and families can expect in 2024-25:

Winnipeg

• Average home: $246,700
• Property tax increase: $51* (3.4 per cent overall)
• Mill rate: 13.93

Manitoba’s largest school board has fully endorsed its draft budget and approved a tax increase that matches Canada’s 2023 inflation rate.

Under the direction of a new chief superintendent, administrators and trustees in the Winnipeg School Division began actively collecting feedback to inform financial planning for next year in the fall.

There were about 10 hyperlocal meetings organized before the draft document was released on Feb. 26.

The $480-million budget phases in no-fee lunch supervision and supports the launch of R.B. Russell Vocational High School’s “career lab” — a partnership with Red River College Polytechnic and North Forge to increase hours of operation and programming at 364 Dufferin Ave.

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Pembina Trails

• Average home: $436,889
• Property tax increase: $69* (3.5 per cent overall)
• Mill rate: 10.42

School trustees in Fort Richmond and surrounding suburbs voted Thursday to hike taxes higher than planned following public outcry about a proposal to reassign teacher-librarians.

The Pembina Trails School Division’s final budget adds 72.5 full-time equivalent teachers to address surging enrolment and lower elementary class sizes.

The $223.5-million plan will bolster staffing inside its two newly opened buildings in Waverley West, Bison Run School and Pembina Trails Collegiate.

It also funds Ignite 3, a summer enrichment program for elementary schoolers, and maintains teacher-librarian capacity.

Previously, the draft budget redeployed junior high and Grade 9-12 teacher-librarians to classrooms. The initial plan raised taxes by three per cent and added 58.5 classroom teachers, reassigned librarians included.

The final document guarantees older students access to certified teachers who are media literacy experts. It also ensures families will continue to be able to purchase seat-sales for school charters to and from south Winnipeg and Waverley West.

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River East Transcona

• Average home: $330,200
• Property tax increase: $106* (6.4 per cent)
• Mill rate: 11.82

Transcona school trustees are calling their newest budget a “status quo” document.

That means current levels of staffing, student services and programs will remain unchanged if enrolment projections prove accurate, per the River East Transcona School Division.

Administration is expecting upwards of 500 students to join RETSD, meaning its total population will reach nearly 19,000 next year.

Elected officials approved a $251.1-million financial roadmap on Monday to account for that influx.

The division continues to be among the fastest growing in the province.

It welcomed 785 students between September 2021 and 2022, the largest number any school division recorded during that period. (Manitoba Education has yet to post last year’s enrolment statistics).

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Seven Oaks

• Average home: Roughly $400,000
• Property tax increase: $53 (two per cent)
• Mill rate: 15.11

Seven Oaks homeowners will see their school tax bills grow next year after all.

Trustees in the Seven Oaks School Division revealed Feb. 26 they were planning to maintain programs at status-quo levels without raising fees.

Following that presentation, officials were briefed on the status of École Mino Pimatisiwin School in an up-and-coming suburb in northwest Winnipeg.

The final budget totals about $190-million and includes an overall tax increase of two per cent to address “unanticipated construction delays.”

“We were optimistic about a 2025 opening for the new school. It looks like that has faded away,” said Tony Kreml, superintendent of SOSD.

Kreml said the extra revenue will cover costs related to busing about 400 students from Aurora at North Point to existing schools and retrofitting those sites so they can house instruction until the new building opens.

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Louis Riel

• Average home: $381,300
• Property tax increase: $150* (7.5 per cent)
• Mill rate: 12.52

The Louis Riel School Division will become the only one of its kind in Winnipeg offering universal full-day kindergarten next year.

Elected officials approved a $247-million budget, which expands so-called FDK to 21 elementary buildings, on Tuesday.

Francophone kindergartners have long been able to access full-day “maternelle” via the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine.

In English-language boards, access has been limited historically. In recent years, some city boards have reduced their offerings to find cost savings.

In order to account for an expansion and overall growth, LRSD’s final budget accounts for the hiring of roughly 59 teachers, 35 educational assistants, two clinicians, and five additional support staff.

The document allocates $14 million to deferred maintenance projects and upgrades to aging buildings.

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St. James-Assiniboia

• Average home: $317,700
• Property tax increase: $70* (4.1 per cent)
• Mill rate: 12.45

St. James-Assiniboia School Division is continuing current programs and making minor investments in vocational education, student services and e-sports.

In a recent news release, board chairwoman Holly Hunter said a 4.1 per cent tax increase “was the best way to maintain the programs and services that students and their families have come to expect from SJASD.”

The division’s official $130.2-million financial plan is anticipated to maintain class sizes, free lunch supervision and a Grade 3 swim program.

New projects for next year include a $30,000 expansion of vocational programming to John Taylor Collegiate and the $15,000 launch of a divisionwide e-sports initiative.

Funding has been set aside to hire an additional student services coordinator.

*Excluding the province’s 50 per cent education property tax rebates

 

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca