Schmidt meets BSD trustees ahead of provincial budget

Manitoba Education Minister Tracy Schmidt met with the Brandon School Division board of trustees last week for what both sides described as a timely but challenging discussion.

The meeting, which was originally scheduled to take place in person but was instead held over Zoom on Jan. 15, focused entirely on school funding, as the province prepares to release its education budget in early February.

All nine BSD trustees were in attendance, along with Schmidt and senior officials from the Department of Education.

A central focus of the meeting was the financial pressure facing the Brandon School Division due to the ongoing harmonization of teacher salaries across Manitoba. Salary harmonization, which aims to equalize teacher pay between divisions, has had a disproportionate impact on divisions like Brandon compared with some Winnipeg-based divisions.

Schmidt acknowledged those pressures and said the province is aware of the challenges.

“There are several factors that drive school funding, including enrolment,” she told the Sun on Tuesday. “Salary harmonization pressures are something that the Brandon School Division and other school divisions across our province are facing this year. We understand that pressure, and we’re going to work with them to make sure they can not only meet their salary expectations but also provide great programming for students.”

The discussion was part of an ongoing consultation process with school divisions across the province, Schmidt said.

“I think it was a really positive and productive meeting. These are meetings that we take regularly, certainly meetings that are important as we drive toward our budget announcement, which will happen in early February. I’m really grateful for the board’s time.”

BSD board chair Linda Ross attended part of the meeting before excusing herself due to health reasons.

“I think it’s fair to say that both the division and the province are facing challenging financial issues,” Ross said. “We were able to bring forward our concerns and ask that they be kept front of mind as the government prepares funding documents for K-12 schools.”

Trustees used the opportunity to clearly outline Brandon’s financial position to the minister, vice-chair Duncan Ross, who chaired the remainder of the meeting, told the Sun on Monday.

“The only item on the agenda was funding,” he said. “Every trustee spoke about the concerns we have in Brandon going into this year’s budget, especially with teacher salary equalization and how that affects us more than some other divisions.”

While Ross said trustees made their case, he left the meeting with limited optimism.

“We weren’t able to get any hard answers, of course, because the budget numbers aren’t finalized,” he said. “Based on what we heard, I wouldn’t say I have my hopes up. The province is clearly in a tough financial position as well.”

The uncertainty has renewed concerns about the options available to the division if provincial funding does not meet expectations: raising property taxes, cutting programs, or a combination of both.

Schmidt said the province has already taken steps to improve school funding compared with previous years.

“There’s not one school division that has seen its budget cut since we were elected,” she said. “We’ve also reinstated school divisions’ ability to raise local taxation. We believe we’ve struck a good balance, and we’ll continue to work with Brandon to respect taxpayers while providing strong educational opportunities.”

Duncan Ross said a double-digit property tax increase is possible but unlikely.

“I think that’s pretty remote,” he said. “But February is going to bring some tough decisions. It’ll likely be a mix, like last year — some cuts and some tax increase — depending on what funding we receive.

“Unfortunately, I don’t think it’s going to be a fun conversation.”

The division is facing a bleak situation, he said. An early projection shows a possible $6.8-million shortfall and a property tax increase of more than 10 per cent for the owner of a typical $301,000 home. It would be followed by about a six per cent increase next year.

The concerns raised in Brandon are not unique, Manitoba School Boards Association president Alan Campbell told the Sun.

He said boards across the province are urging the government to cover the cost of salary harmonization.

“We’ve made it very clear that we expect the provincial government to fully fund harmonization costs,” Campbell said. “If they don’t, another double-digit tax increase will be inevitable for many divisions, or boards will be forced to make staffing cuts.”

Campbell estimated the total harmonization cost across Manitoba at about $22 million and said staffing accounts for roughly 83 per cent of most school divisions’ budgets.

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