School districts consider cuts to trustees

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This article was published 12/03/2018 (2768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — The Fort La Bosse School Division has proposed a cut to board trustees — from 10 to six — as part of a cost-saving measure in this year’s budget.

Chairman Garry E. Draper said the division suggested the reduction in order to meet the province’s 15 per cent cut to the administration cost cap, announced last month.

“We had no other choice, because that was the only line in the budget that we had some flexibility,” Draper said.

“Our division office is not overstaffed, so we did not have the luxury of reducing any staff in our division office to meet the administrative cap. So, the trustees’ line was basically the only way.”

Rolling River School Division has proposed a similar measure, which would see its list of board trustees trimmed from 10 to six as well. Fort La Bosse is set to approve its final budget tonight.

While he isn’t completely opposed to the move, noting some divisions work with just five board members, Draper said there will be fewer voices at the table making decisions.

Should Fort La Bosse approve its budget as proposed, Draper said one trustee will be removed from each of the division’s four wards. The appointed representative from Canupawakpa Dakota First Nation will remain on the board.

Beyond the suggested cuts to trustees, Fort La Bosse is expected to lose two per cent in funding from the provincial government overall, due to reductions made to the formula guarantee and the Tax Incentive Grant, which was given to divisions that held the line on property tax increases.

The formula guarantee was put in place by the previous NDP government and ensured that school divisions would receive the same amount of funding as the previous year, regardless of changes in enrolment or property values.

Fort La Bosse is not expecting any large increases or decreases to its student population, but the provincial government plans to cut the formula guarantee by two per cent this year, just as it did in 2017.

Despite this, Draper said no staff are expected to be lost in either the classroom or in administration.

Fort La Bosse will increase its special requirement — a form of property tax that factors into the overall mill rate — by the provincial limit of two per cent this year, but rising property values mean the mill rate will also drop by 0.18, down to 7.72.

“However, next year could be a different story if we’re reduced in funding again and we’re obligated to meet a two per cent requirement,” Draper said.

“Budgeting will be much, much tougher next year.”

Rolling River will vote on its budget Tuesday, and if it’s passed, the division will start a review of all wards and consider how they may reconfigure under the change to trustees, a process that would finish before school board elections take place in October.

The mill rate in Rolling River is also expected to decrease to 11.4 this year, from 12 last year, and the division has budgeted in a 1.2 full-time-equivalent increase to instructional staff as a result of a slight bump in student enrolment.

However, provincial funding is expected with drop by two per cent compared to last year — a reduction of $196,185 — due, in part, to cuts to the formula guarantee.

Southwest Horizon School Division approved its $23,562,228 operating budget Wednesday, which will also see its board reduced by one member, down to eight.

The mill rate will also drop slightly, from 10.55 last year up to 10.4 this year.

Turtle Mountain School Division approved its $13,805,857 operating budget on Wednesday as well. Its mill rate will drop from 12.03 to 11.68.

Beautiful Plains School Division passed a $20,494,000 operating budget Tuesday, and its mill rate will dip from 11.9 to 11.3.

The Park West School Division has yet to approve its budget, but the board is wrestling with the prospect of losing its vocational programs.

The Brandon School Division will vote on a final budget tonight.

— Brandon Sun