Stakeholders in the Border Land School Division (BLSD) had a chance last week to hear about the challenges officials faced in putting together the division's 2019/20 list of operating expenses during a pair of public consultations in Vita and Altona.

A large focus of the budget deliberations was balancing less provincial support and other funding cuts, with ever-growing operating costs and programming requirements all while keeping the impact to the local ratepayer to a minimum. 

Overall, Wiebe feels the public is pleased with the programs and services BLSD is able to provide to its students.

"Basically our funding has levelled so we had to look real hard at the budget and we were able to keep it relatively the same, if not less, than last year," said Vice Chair, Patty Wiebe. She added, however, keeping that budget line the same -after year is not sustainable. "We all know hydro goes up, transportation goes up, salary and other adjustments go up, that makes it very difficult."

Despite these challenges, the board of trustees is proposing overall operating expenses of $35.3 million in 2019/20, down nearly $52,000 from the current year.

Meantime, the two consultations provided trustees with an opportunity to gather local feedback heading into the province's education review.

Education funding and taxes took up most of the discussion.

With 40% of the cost of education in BLSD borne by local taxpayers, Wiebe agreed that the funding model in Manitoba is not sustainable needs to be examined, however, she noted it will not be included in the review.

"We understand where our farmers are coming from and we would agree that that needs to be looked, but it needs to be looked at thoughtfully and carefully because education still needs to be funded," she said.

Some suggestions were made at the Altona meeting on how the school division could shift funding priorities in order to further stretch a dollar. Wiebe agreed there are always options when it comes to cutting transportation and extra-curricular costs, but noted the first consideration trustees make when assigning dollars is how it will benefit the kids.

"And sometimes that isn't always the easiest decision to make because what's best for kids costs money," she said.

"We have been really looking at our assessment marks and our provincial math marks, and we're looking at ways that we can always improve but that costs money too."

Wiebe added, spending tax-payers dollars is something the board takes seriously and said it is important for communities to maintain that local choice when designating funds. She encourages the public to help ensure that local voice is maintained by submitting feedback as part of the province's education review.