Western School Division (WSD) officials are expecting a nearly five percent boost in funding from the Provincial government, or approximately $542,000.

"It will certainly help, but when you reflect on our continued growth... there's a lot of challenges in staffing for that with the dollars we have to work with," WSD Secretary Treasurer Carl Pedersen explains.

The increase is in part thanks to the division's nearly eight percent increase in student enrollment together with equalization funding which assists school divisions with lower assessment per pupil to help cover costs over and above the level of provincial funding.

However, he notes the division is also capped at a two percent increase in the Special Requirement, an amount used to calculate the Special Levy and mill rate. This being a reassessment year, the mill rate is expected to decrease to offset assessment increases.

"That makes things a little bit difficult because we don't have a lot of extra money to work with to try and staff and prepare for all the kids coming in," Pedersen says.

Block funding for students with exceptional needs has also been frozen for the last four years. He notes they're seeing a rapid increase in students with exceptional needs that are new to the division.

"We're seeing a lot of increased pressure and unfortunately funding has not adjusted to our level of enrollment of students with exceptional needs... that's a problem we're really running into, especially this year."

"It's another place where the money stays stable but the costs keep going up, and we don't have other places that we can draw from. It makes budgeting very difficult."

A draft budget for 2020/2021 will be released at the Public Budget Exhibition at 7:00 p.m on February 26 in the Morden Collegiate gymnasium.

Pedersen says the evening includes a trade show format that demonstrates some of the many innovative programming that is offered across the division.

"It gives the public a chance to learn what the $21 million in spending goes towards and how we're reaching and helping kids succeed in school."