At a meeting held March 4th, 2024, the Winnipeg School Division (WSD) Board of Trustees approved a budget for the 2024/25 school year that will improve student success, create "sticky" schools where students persist to graduation, and focus on community supports.
The Board of Trustees held over ten budget consultations with school communities and surveyed all families electronically to identify priorities for consideration as part of the upcoming budget process. The feedback collected from families gave clear direction on priorities such as:
- Smaller class sizes
- Improved classroom instruction
- Greater academic engagement
- Increased attendance and higher graduation rates
- Better math and literacy achievement
- More learning support teachers in schools
- Implementation of universal nutrition programs
- Phased-in no-fee lunch supervision
- Replacement of playgrounds annually
- Building powerful neighborhood schools
- Enhanced school safety measures
- Improved settlement services for newcomers and expand adult EAL
- Developing the R.B. Russell Career Lab.
Baseline WSD funding increased by one percent, or $2.4 million, which does not cover the rising costs experienced by WSD. Pressures include salary contract settlements, service agreement inflation, and current program and resource inflation. Despite identifying almost $4 million in administrative savings for the 2024/2025 budget, additional revenue is necessary to meet the diverse needs of school communities effectively.
In public consultation, families supported a 3.4% increase to the property education tax. This increase aligns with the rate of inflation and would enable WSD to maintain current programs and services while fully funding nutrition and food programs and allowing the allocation of $2.6 million toward budget priorities identified by the community.
The final budget submitted to the Province of Manitoba is $480,349,100. The municipal levy increase of 3.4% on the average home in WSD of $246,700 equates to a $51 annual increase before the provincial rebate of 50%.
"This budget reflects the programs and services that will support our students and families to be successful, be engaged in school, and have the means to a decent life," says Dante Aviso, Finance Committee Chair, WSD Board of Trustees. "Our community has spoken, we have listened, and we have a pathway to ensure all learners flourish."
