Tax hike will help support Seven Oaks students, division says

Property taxes will be raised in the Seven Oaks School Division in order to maintain its levels of teaching staff and student programs, the division's board says.

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

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

The division's plan is still "very much a bare-bones budget, 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, saying in 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, with four 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 Seven Oaks, Hanover and Steinbach didn't really get what I I think people would acknowledge would be fair."

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

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

Seven Oaks said its lunch supervision and recreational programs will continue as before, while its transportation policy won't see any significant changes, but its 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."

The superintendent said he hopes 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 in the swing of things following years of learning 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."