'Costs are rising': school division in Winnipeg looking at cuts to programs, teachers

Families with kids in the Seven Oaks School Division are hearing some difficult options being weighed for the divisions' schools.

The division has been cautioning parents that it is looking at removing programs such as swimming lessons, stopping buses for older students and even cutting teachers as solutions for a tight budget.

"Our concerns are significant. We've received by far the lowest funding of any school division in Winnipeg," Seven Oaks Superintendent Brian O'Leary told CTV News.

"We estimate our enrollment will go up 2.93 per cent or more next year. Our total revenue will go up 2.1 per cent. So costs are rising, enrollment is rising. We'll be facing some wage pressures."

Parents like Je Thaim are worried their kids might not be able to enjoy the things other students do in other school divisions with the potential cuts.

She said her son in grade five was able to learn how to swim through school. However, she is worried her youngest child will not get the same experiences.

"It's very hard…you want them to learn everything and experience new things."

O'Leary said he doesn't understand why other school divisions have received more funding than Seven Oaks has.

"We'd like the province to reconsider their allocation, look into it. We think they have made some errors. The possibilities we face if it's not corrected are either budgeting unrealistically and not budgeting anything for wage pressures, or we're cutting somewhere between 20 and 50 teachers or programs equivalent to that," said O'Leary.

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning Wayne Ewasko said Seven Oaks is getting a 3.8 per cent increase – more than three million dollars added to its budget. He added on average, school divisions across the province will be getting a 6.1 per cent increase in funds.

"They might not be giving the province or myself or the department the credit for actually giving them their property tax offset grants," said Ewasko about the school division.

Ewasko said he feels the school division is misleading the public and providing misinformation to parents.

O'Leary said the 2.1 per cent is the number from the province.

"They've frozen our ability to tax and confined us to working within the revenue they give us and this year, it's simply not enough," said O'Leary.

In the end, he said it is the parents and the students who suffer and hopes families aren't strapped to a tighter budget than the one they already have.

The concerns are set to be discussed during a division budget meeting Monday evening.

-with files from CTV's Daniel Halmarson and Taylor Brock