Tax hike will help support Seven Oaks students, division says

Property taxes will be raised in theSeven Oaks School Divisionin order to maintain its levels ofteaching staff and student programs, the division's board says.

Without an increase,"we were going to have to cut somewhere between 25 and 50 teachersto balance things," Brian O'Leary, the superintendent of the northwest Winnipeg school division, said Tuesday.

"The alternative is toraise taxes, and that's the decision we've made."

The division's plan is still "very much a bare-bonesbudget, but we are increasing taxes so that we're able to maintain services to kids," he said.

The superintendent said the latest provincial budget didn't adequately account for the increasing number of students expected to enrol in the division.

"Our provincial funding amounted to a revenue increase of 2.1 per cent, [while] our enrolment is going to go up three per cent or better next year," he said.

Seven Oaks received the lowest funding increase of any school division in Winnipeg, O'Leary claimed, sayingin comparison,Pembina Trails will see a 9.5 per cent hike while River East Transcona will get 7.5 per cent.

The funding increase of $3.3 million for Seven Oaks "has been touted as a 3.8 per cent increase by the province,"the division said in a Tuesday news release, "but when coupled with a tax freeze, it translates to only a 2.1 per cent increase."

In light of growing enrolment, "we were really in a bind," said O'Leary.

The Maples area is "growing tremendously," he said, withfour large residential construction projects underway and a large number of newcomers moving into the neighbourhood, including roughly 250 children from families fleeing the war in Ukraine.

"We are a prime landing spot for immigration in Manitoba," he said, adding he believes other school divisions are getting more of a boost than Seven Oaks.

"I think [the province]made some errors in the distribution," he said. "Some growing divisions, like SevenOaks, Hanover and Steinbach didn't really get what I I think people would acknowledge would be fair."

Seven Oaks held a meeting with parentstwo weeks ago to discuss its budget dilemma, where it suggested the possibility of laying off dozens of teachers andcutting popular programs like Learn to Swim and Learn to Skate.

The division said the tax hike will bring its overall budget increaseto 4.95 per cent. Itexpects homeowners to see an average annual tax increase of $118, but said thatwill be offset by Manitoba's 50 per centeducation property tax rebate.

Seven Oaks saidits lunch supervision and recreational programs will continue as before, while its transportation policy won't see any significant changes, butits spending plan "will still reduce staffing levels and freeze school budgets."

"We're certainly not enhancing any programs," said O'Leary. "Our pupil-teacher ratio will increase a bit with the increased enrolment, but we still think we can keep class sizes pretty reasonable."

Thesuperintendent said hehopes students won't notice much of a difference.

"I hope they still are well known by their teachers, and the kids who need extra attention get it."

Students were top of mind when the budget decisions were made, O'Leary said, as young people continue to get back inthe swing of things following years oflearning disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Healthy activities with friends, seeing their friends daily now's the time to keep school stable, solid, predictable, and healthy for them."