Seine River School Division board votes to strike down proposed fees for kindergarten program

The board of a southern Manitoba school division voted Tuesday to reverse course on proposed fees for a kindergarten program and student bus services in light of an accounting error that led to an estimated $1.3-million accumulated deficit which couldballoon to a shortfall of more than $5 million by the end of the school year.

The Seine River School Division says it notified parents on Friday that come January, they would have to pay $10 per day, or $190 per month, for their children to participate in the Kids at Play program.

But at a Tuesday evening board meeting, chair Wendy Bloomfield said that "due to a sense of urgency on the part of parents, and in light of the fact that we presently don't have all of the financial information to make an accurate decision, I move that the board not proceed" with the proposed fees.

A majority of six board members voted in favour of the motion, including Bloomfield.

The division, based in Lorette, also includes schools in St. Norbert, La Salle, St. Adolphe, Ile des Chnes, Ste. Anne, Richer and La Broquierie.

Its Kids at Play program offers a range of activities in the afternoon once kindergarten class lets out, which incidentally removes the need for afternoon child care for some families.

"Everyone was extremely happy with that result," parentChad Kessler, whose daughter is in theKids at Play program, said after the Tuesday meeting.

"There was a lot of cheering. There was some crying."

The proposed fees would have had devastating consequences for many parents, said Kessler.Parents in the division are now focusing onwhat the board will do next to address the budget shortfall.

"This deficit is going to be hanging over our heads forthe next year at least. We're going to be monitoring it closely," he said.

'Have to find' money:trustee

Division superintendent Ryan Anderson was among those who expressed opposition to the motion.

The division previously thought it would havea $3-million surplus for the 2022-23 school year, Anderson said. But a deficit ofapproximately $1.3 millionwas projected last week, after a financial audit that began in the summer.

Leadership changes, a new collective agreement for educational assistants, the historical design of the division's budgeting process and an error involving a provincial grant all contributed to the deficit, according to the board's Tuesday presentation.

Without any cuts, thedivision is now projected to face a $5.3-million shortfallby the end of the 2023-24 school year, the presentation said.

The proposed cutswere part of a multi-year solution to help save an estimated $3 millionby the end of theschool year, said Anderson.

About 350 students across 11 schools participate in the Kids at Play program, which has been free since its inception about a decade ago, and costs about $800,000-$850,000 annually to operate, according to the school board.

Some of that cost is covered by the province, but theprogram has never been fully covered through provincial funding.

The same is true of the bus service the division offers for students in kindergarten to Grade 4 who live 800 metres to 1.6 kilometres from their schools.

After provincial funding is taken into account, the Kids at Play program and K-4 bus service cost the division about $450,000 annually, according to the presentation.

"There's a half-million dollars that we have to find, and if we can't find it with this program, we have to find it somewhere else," trustee Gary Nelson said following the vote.

"At the end of the day, we're still not sure what the province is going to tell us," he said, adding that the division still needs to come up with a contingency plan to present to the department of education to show how it will eliminate the deficit.

'The worst thing I've ever seen'

Board secretary-treasurer Amanda Senkowski said under the Public Schools Act, the division is required to inform the province of the deficit and explain itsplanto eliminate it.

The board sent a revised plan to the education department, including the proposed cuts. Division leadership believed it had"provisional approval to proceed" with that plan,she said.

Before the board struck down the fees, trustee Marinus Van Osch said he was opposed to them, suggesting Kids at Play be cut altogether if the province did not step in to fully fund it.

"We need to start realizing that we can't be the social conscience of society. That's the government's role," he said at the meeting.

"We need to step back and say we can't do everything.This is a reality check."

Trustee Theresa Bergson said she felt the board could do better to free up money before voting in favour of the motion to strike down the proposed fees.

"I think that this is a really tough decision, and quite frankly, I've never sat in a hot seat like this before, where we've had to make such a nasty cut," said Bergson.

"This is the worst thing I've ever seen."