Community Budget Information Meeting—Q&A (Jan. 29, 2025)

On January 29, 2025, the Board of Trustees held a virtual Community Budget Information Meeting to provide an overview of the budget process, and the next steps in the budget deliberations among the Board of Trustees and senior administration.

Attendees were provided an opportunity to ask budget-related questions during the event. In the spirit of open, transparent, and honest communication with our public, below you will find responses to the questions posed, as well as the PowerPoint presentation that was shared. Please note: We have combined similar questions. If you submitted a question during the budget meeting and you do not see a response below, please email: info@retsd.mb.ca.

• What has the Board of Trustees done to advocate for more funding?

• Given the financial situation the division has been in the last few years, what type of innovations have you been able to accomplish?

• With such large enrolment increases in recent years and more expected, what are the plans for school expansion?

• Is the increase in enrolment affecting the transportation budget? How can you buy more buses when you have no money?

• When you need to add teachers throughout the school year due to increasing enrolment, how does that affect your budget?

• When we look at the percentage split for salaries, can more money be put into educational assistants? There are more and more students with additional needs every year.

• Is there funding being put towards building upgrades, like air conditioning?

• How does the Board create a well-thought-out budget so quickly? It seems odd that it needs to be completed by March 15, and you don’t have the information from the government yet. Is this normal?

• Our high schools are so full. My child is having trouble getting into the classes and programs they want. Will a new high school be built soon? Or are there other ways you plan to address this issue?

• I was pleased to hear about the nutrition funding being implemented in schools this year. Are there any plans to reduce extra school fees for things like lunch programs?