School division mergers favoured

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This article was published 07/09/2019 (2239 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A majority of Manitobans are in favour of cutting the number of school divisions across the province, a new Free Press/CTV News Winnipeg poll has found.

The poll by Probe Research found that 68 per cent of Winnipeggers and 52 per cent of residents outside the city would support reducing the province’s 37 school divisions through amalgamation.

When asked whether it was OK to merge the school division they lived in with another, 58 per cent of Manitobans were in favour, with 24 per cent saying they were strongly in favour.

Mary Agnes Welch, a principal at Probe Research, said the numbers show “generally, there is support for amalgamating school divisions… It’s not massive, but it is two-thirds of Manitobans.”

The poll also separately asked Winnipeg residents whether they wanted to reduce the number of school divisions in the city (currently six).

When asked whether they would like to see a single school division for the entire city, 57 per cent said they would support that, with 28 per cent strongly in favour.

But when asked if they would like to see four school divisions, divided in four quadrants in the city, support jumped up to 66 per cent, but only 20 per cent were strongly in favour.

However, Alan Campbell, president of the Manitoba School Boards Association and vice-chairman of the Interlake School Division, and Brian O’Leary, superintendent of Seven Oaks School Division in Winnipeg, said the public may have the wrong idea when they think about the benefits of amalgamation.

About two decades ago, the province reduced the number of school divisions down from 54, and local school boards, which work closely with their communities, always look at how much programs will cost when creating budgets, Campbell said.

“The last round of forced amalgamations was in 1999 to 2001, and every piece of published evidence points not only that there were no savings, but there were additional costs, including having students bused further,” he said.

“In school divisions, less than half a cent of every dollar is spent on boards, and three cents of every dollar goes to administration,” he noted, adding the rest pays for teachers, counsellors, social workers and maintenance workers.

“School boards are acutely aware of the government’s push for austerity, and we are aware of being fiscally responsible to our communities.”

O’Leary agreed: “I think there’s strong evidence that it won’t do what people think it could do: save money. Studies after the last amalgamation show it didn’t save money and it didn’t reduce administration.

“I appreciate the public’s sentiment, but it is a bit of an illusion.”

Other key findings of the poll: men (67 per cent) were more supportive of school division amalgamation than women (57 per cent); Manitobans without children at home were 65 per cent in favour, compared to 57 per cent in agreement among people with children under 16; and Manitobans earning $100,000 per year or higher were 69 per cent in favour of amalgamation.

When it comes to which political party the respondent supports: 73 per cent of Manitobans who said they align with the Progressive Conservatives were in favour of amalgamation, a number that dropped to 47 per cent of NDP supporters.

Asked if they were OK if their local school division disappeared under amalgamation, 58 per cent of respondents said they would support such a move, with 24 per cent strongly in favour.

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Welch said she’s glad the pollster asked that final question.

“Even with that question, the numbers stayed pretty consistent,” she said. “It wasn’t a case where it is fine for the other guy, but not for me. People are saying, ‘Nope, it’s fine for me.’”

Because Probe Research conducted an online survey of 1,200 Manitoba adults (756 Winnipeggers and 444 from outside the city) Aug. 13 to 24 using participants from the company’s online panel, as well as a national online panel, no statistical margin of error can be given.

The polling company says a “probabilistic sample” using 1,200 participants would have a margin of error plus or minus 2.8 percentage points, 19 times out of 20.

kevin.rollason@freepress.mb.ca

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Kevin Rollason
Reporter

Kevin Rollason is a general assignment reporter at the Free Press. He graduated from Western University with a Masters of Journalism in 1985 and worked at the Winnipeg Sun until 1988, when he joined the Free Press. He has served as the Free Press’s city hall and law courts reporter and has won several awards, including a National Newspaper Award. Read more about Kevin.

Every piece of reporting Kevin produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.