Western School Division (WSD) has approved it's final budget for the 2017-18 school year. The budget for the next school year is now set at $20,611,464, which is an increase of over $300,000 from last year.

"We are a little lucky this year I think. We got an increase from Government, which not all school divisions got," said board chair Brian Fransen. "We worked together to make sure we put the needs of the school division and the staff in there and put together a good budget I believe."

For the ratepayers in the WSD catchments area, this means a house valued at $275,000, will see an increase in school taxes of $76.72 ($2055.49 per year). A million dollars worth of farmland in the RM of Stanley will experience an increase of $161.20 ($4318.60 per year) and a $500,000 business in downtown Morden will have an increase of approximately $201.50 ($8810.75 per year).

As it stands WSD received funding from three places. The Provincial government is responsible for 64% or $13,130,506 of this budget, the City of Morden and RM of Stanley cover 34%, or $7,068,608, and the residual 2% or $412,350 is from the school cafeteria and international education.

"We also needed to increase or services and programming this year, because we are a growing Division," explained Fransen. "We wanted to make sure we were able to meet the strategic goals and plans we have in place for the next couple of years. We made sure that we kept the programming in place, that's working well, to reach those goals. We also looked at adding some staff time to improve some of our goals."

The Board has attempted to balance the pressures of enrolment growth with the need for fiscal responsibility. The approved budget allows for the continuation of high quality public education in WSD with a continued focus on the Board’s Priority Plan focusing on the following priority areas:

1. Improve Student Learning
2. Provide an Invitational School Culture
3. Cultivate a Culture of Leadership
4. Encourage Adventurous Achievers
5. Community Engagement
6. Develop and Implement a New Governance Structure