Province signals openness to school funding formula review
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 07/04/2025 (192 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The Manitoba government is committed to ensuring rural school divisions, including those in Westman, have a seat at the table as it reviews the education funding formula, Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt told the Sun.
The Brandon School Division and several other school boards in the region have called for increased provincial funding and stronger rural representation in the funding review process. Division officials have raised concerns that the current model does not adequately reflect enrolment realities, leaving rural schools at a disadvantage.
The province has already made changes to how enrolment is factored into funding decisions, Schmidt said.
Education and Early Childhood Learning Minister Tracy Schmidt says the NDP government will continue to ensure it consults with rural communities as the funding formula review continues. (File)
Traditionally, school divisions were funded based solely on the previous year’s enrolment numbers, she said, but that has changed. the province is now allowing divisions to use the most favourable enrolment figure.
“That’s one of the changes that we initiated to the funding formula this year,” the minister said. “We’re allowing all the school divisions to use sort of the best of the last three years to address fluctuations and we think that should benefit school divisions like Brandon.”
There is a need for a revised funding formula that considers rural divisions’ unique financial challenges, like transportation, which are not particularly of concern to larger urban divisions, BSD board chair Linda Ross told the Sun.
“I think the committee the government appoints to review and come up with a revised funding formula must have rural representation on it,” Ross said.
Schmidt acknowledged those concerns and emphasized the government’s intention to include rural perspectives as part of its broader consultation.
“We’re going to continue to make sure that we’re consulting with rural communities and all communities as we do this important work,” Schmidt said.
She added the government remains focused on building a funding model that is both equitable and predictable, to provide stability for all school divisions across the province.
The province’s review of the education funding formula, she said, comes as part of a broader effort to modernize how public education is funded in Manitoba. While no timeline for completing the review has been set, Schmidt said the process will continue in collaboration with stakeholders, including rural divisions that seek greater representation.
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