After a number of days to ponder last week's provincial education funding announcement and what it might mean for them, the Garden Valley School Division expects about a 2.4% increase in government money for next school year.  

Secretary-Treasurer Terry Penner said that works out to about $680,000 in additional revenue. Penner said the bulk of that increase is the result of higher enrolment.
    
Penner said they are still awaiting formal announcements on two grants, one being the Early Years Enhancement Grant, which Penner said would be quite significant and would likely top well over the $300,000 mark. "At this point, we've received word informally that funding is there and that we should be using the same levels of funding for next year that was received this year," said Penner. "It represents about $370,000 for Garden Valley and of course those funds are used to put teachers directly into classrooms."

Meanwhile, because of the extra 2.4% in funding, and higher assessments, Penner feels the division will be able to work within the 2% cap being placed on education property taxes in preparing its upcoming operating budget.  

Looking at preparing for the 2018/19 operating budget, Penner said the board is not looking at adding any new programming. He said with the forthcoming tender for the new Pine Ridge Elementary School, there will need to be a lot of attention and resources directed toward that project for the next year or two.

Another significant piece that came out of last week's education funding announcement was the province's intention to reduce the current 38 bargaining groups down to just one.  

Formal bargaining with GVSD teachers is expected to begin this spring, and Penner said in terms of the overall impact of the change, it is difficult to say right now what that might be. "There is the pending Bill 28 legislation out there, which is not proclaimed yet, but it's still a significant direction that all Manitoba employers have to pay attention to when they're bargaining," said Penner. "So at this point, the board is approaching bargaining with the Bill 28 legislation sort of running in the background." Penner said they know there will be an impact, and once bargaining begins, they will know exactly what that impact is.

As to when the bargaining groups will be reduced to one, Penner said that is still unknown. "I believe Minister Wishart did refer to engaging in a significant review of education and how it's funded and financed...certainly that bargaining process will be a part of that review."

Meanwhile, the Garden Valley Teachers' Association released the following statement regarding the announced change.

"Garden Valley Teachers' Association enjoys a very good working relationship with our board. We are disappointed that the provincial government would look to restrict our ability to negotiate on behalf of local teachers with our locally elected employer. Certainly, we have many questions about the current announcement, and are now waiting for more information as to the proposed process, as teachers and school boards have not yet been consulted by government about this drastic change in the bargaining process."