Trustees for the Garden Valley School Division (GVSD) have approved an operating budget of $50,031,617 for the 2017/18 school year.  That's an increase of $2.54-million from the current year's budget.

A big part of the increase in expenditures comes as a result of increased enrollment. "As you know we've been growing, and the addition of 100-plus students means we need more teachers in the classroom, more classroom space, busses, and bus routes," said Board Chair Laurie Dyck. "Those all quickly add up to a significant part of that increase."

Despite there being an increase in expenditures for the 2017/18 school year, there will be no school tax increase for ratepayers in GVSD. Of the total expenditures, taxpayers will be left to cover $15,790,781.  The board is keeping the mil rate the same at 15.99 mils.  Added to the fact we are not in a re-assessment year, means school taxes will not change.

Expenditure highlights for 2017/18 include $40,500 for additional occupational and physiotherapy services, $30,000 for a classroom renovation at GVC Tec for the Diesel Tech program, as well as continued funding to support the board's strategic goals related to literacy and numeracy. "We've basically pulled away on doing capital projects, leaned down the budget, and put the money toward our strategic plan," noted Dyck.  "We're talking about classroom libraries and professional development time for teachers."

Dyck said the board also continued its support for the Winkler Family Resource Centre, and the Imagination Library.  The resource centre will get $17,000, while the Imagination library will receive $10,000.  "Their initiative (Imagination Library) of putting books in pre-schoolers' hands is fantastic and supports our literacy initiative, and we're seeing that as these students come into kindergarten."

The board also put $200,000 into a capital reserve for a new K-8 school in Winkler's Pine Ridge area, west of 15th Street.  "We've been told by the provincial government that our needs have been heard that we do need a new school here," said Dyck.  "So in preparing for the possibility of that announcement of a school coming, we decided it's important to get at least $500,000 into a capital reserve fund."  The board also allocated $300,000 in its last budget to the capital reserve.