School division error turns surplus into deficit

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This article was published 14/11/2023 (690 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

INTERNAL accounting errors are partially responsible for a $1.3-million deficit in the Seine River School Division that has led to leaders announcing a hiring freeze and wide-ranging cutbacks partway through the academic year.

“I don’t know how the mistakes of board members now have to be shouldered by the community, by the families and most of all, by the kids and their employees,” said Christine Hollyoake, a mother from Ste. Adolphe.

Earlier this month, SRSD began revisiting non-essential expenditures and revealed it would start charging for hyper-local bussing and extended-day kindergarten in 2024.

In their initial correspondence, division leaders cited a series of cost pressures, including the board’s inability to raise local property taxes and the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic, noting related “market volatility.”

Wendy Bloomfield, chairwoman of the board of trustees, has since disclosed the 2023-24 budget also contained major mistakes that contributed to the drastic reductions first announced Nov. 3.

“Over the summer, the board was advised that the budget contained accounting errors, inaccurate/unreliable projections and failed to account for certain reasonably anticipated costs,” she wrote in a Nov. 9 letter sent to parents, families and community members.

The memo, since removed from the SRSD website, noted division staffers conducted a “comprehensive financial review” upon the arrival of a new secretary-treasurer July 24.

The newly released information is a stark contrast to what was released during the spring, shortly after the 2023-24 budget framework was approved. At that time, the board announced it had a $3-million surplus.

Secretary-treasurer Amanda Senkowski said some revenue sources were double-counted, while anticipated salary settlement costs were not fully factored into the projections. The division did not release details about the situation immediately because the situation is evolving, Senkowski said.

The Hollyoake family turned down a daycare spot in September, after more than two years on a wait list, because their son became eligible for Seine River’s free, extended-day kindergarten program, known as Kids at Play (KAP).

Since the 2023-24 school year got underway, Hollyoake said her kindergartner has gone from being unable to hold a pencil properly to confidently writing all letters in the alphabet, including the notoriously tricky S.

The boy, who was anxious and shy before KAP, has learned how to make friends and play nicely with them, the mother added.

The school-readiness initiative has repeatedly proven effective by exposing young students to basic academic expectations and routines, from lineups to ringing bells, Hollyoake said, adding she fears it will be discontinued “because of the gross negligence of this school board.”

It remains unclear whether the program, which currently has a 100 per cent opt-in rate among kindergarteners, will be offered in the new year if enrolment drops significantly due to the newly announced fees.

Parents have been told it will cost $10-per-day or $190 per month, regardless of a student’s attendance, to continue with the program January to June.

Shelby Baron, a mother of two who is expecting a newborn later this year, is awaiting further information about her subsidy applications to find out if her youngest can attend KAP and her family will have access to school transportation in the new year.

“(My youngest) loves school. When he gets sick, he hates missing school because of him being sick so having to tell him that he’s not allowed to go to school is going to rip my heart out of my chest,” said Baron, who lives in La Broquerie.

When reached by videoconference Monday, superintendent Ryan Anderson said no one person or thing is responsible for the financial situation.

Anderson defended the division’s gradual release of information, saying SRSD only became aware of an accurate deficit figure last week, due to its annual audit being delayed because of financial issues flagged in the summer.

The Nov. 9 letter taken down from the website will be replaced with one that has more details, he said.

Former chief financial officer Scott Carleton, who now works for a neighbouring district, said he has been responsible for “five clean audits” throughout his career in education, including the 2021-22 review in SRSD. He did not participate in the division’s latest audit for last school year.

“Projections can be difficult and are built on informed assumptions over which there can certainly be differences of opinion,” Carleton said via email, in which he noted his job was to transparently present projections and underlying assumptions to the board for approval.

“We’re faced with a difficult situation and we’re very empathetic and understanding of the pressures that we are putting on the public but at the same time, we need to get this financial situation back in control,” Bloomfield said, speaking on behalf of area trustees Monday.

The board is slated to officially receive its 2022-23 audit report later this week.

In a statement, Manitoba Education Minister Nello Altomare said trustees need to be accountable to their communities for their budget decisions, while noting seven years of cuts and frozen education funding under the Tories put strain on divisions provincewide.

“We are aware of the concerns of parents and share their view that the introduction of additional fees part way into the school year puts increased and unfair pressure on families already facing higher costs during an affordability crisis.”

Hollyoake, who is registered to speak about her concerns at Tuesday’s board meeting, noted provincial legislation requires divisions to make available to parents “a comprehensive fee schedule” prior to the start of each academic year.

“The most upsetting thing is the fact that there’s a lack of transparency of what actually took place and a lack of collaboration with the communities, with the parent advisory councils, with just parents, in general,” she said. “We’re just being told this (at the) last minute.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca