In February, the provincial government announced that each school department would receive a minimum 2.5% increase in its operating budget for the start of the 2023-2024 school year.

But that increase falls far short of offsetting the growing costs of the school department Hanoverin the southeastern province, which is now seeking to cut its next-year budget by about $2.7 million, equivalent to about 27 teachers, according to board president Ron Falk.

The situation is such that psychologists, school caretakers and excursion buses could suffer cuts.

On the other hand, cuts are expected at the teaching assistant and school program levels to achieve savings.

The biggest challenge will be maintaining adequate mental health support for students who need it as demand has increased during the pandemic, Falk notes.

There will be things we don’t want to do but have tohe said.

Ron Falk says the school department was hoping to receive funding as early as this year, which should represent a 9.3% increase over last year, but the actual increase is 1.8%.

The puzzle is also complete for the Interlake School Division, north of Winnipeg.

Schools chief executive Alan Campbell said the equivalent of 5.6 full-time apprenticeships must be eliminated.

According to him, the school division has been forced to part with its kindergarten and further education offers in recent years. In addition, the organization was forced to postpone the acquisition of new buses.

Campbell, who is also president of the Manitoba School Boards Association, says the school division is contracting.

We are in this awful situation where we are relieved to have one social worker for one school group and another social worker for another school group.

vigilance of certain school departments

Some school departments are monitoring the situation and cannot say for sure at this time whether or not they will make any cuts.

Officials at the Seine River School Division say a 6 percent increase in funding this year has allowed schools to sustain programs and staff without cuts.

But things could change, and the school department is relying on ongoing contract negotiations with teachers and other school staff to hopefully stay the course.

If salaries rise beyond expectations, says Scott Carleton, the school department’s secretary and treasurer, administrators don’t rule out making cuts and leaving the school much fear to administrators.

All-day kindergarten and transport options could suffer as a result for students who live more than 800 meters from the school instead of the 1.6 kilometers required by law.

We’ve made decisions and prioritized these things as a department, but that’s probably where we should look first.laments Mr Carleton.

Cheryl Sinclair, chief executive officer of the Upstate Kelsey School Division, says there is no talk of downsizing just yet, but the budget is tight, even with the additional $600,000 received from the province this year.

In an email to CBC, she says inflation and “years of chronic underfunding make it difficult […] to meet all needs” of his department.

Improved for other school classes

Amidst the gloomy picture, the school department has hope Western school division from the Morden area of ​​southern Manitoba.

In a presentation on its website, it states its intention to increase the number of teachers and other staff and then invest more in information technology equipment to support learning.

Schools department superintendent Stephen Ross said in an email that the organization had experienced significant growth and was building a new school.

There Brandon school departmentin southwest Manitoba, says in a press release that it is also considering adding teaching and support staff positions.

The organization also wants to restore four jobs that had been cut in previous budgets, including that of a psychologist.

In addition to Manitoba’s rural school departments, the challenge in urban areas remains the same for many provincial school organizations.

A first draft budget prepared by the Division scolaire franco-manitobaine indicated that the budget for the 2023-2024 school year would show a deficit of US$3.3 million.

The school department seven oaksin Winnipeg, is also considering reducing the number of teachers and programs next school year due to its budgetary difficulties.

With information from Caitlyn Gowriluk