Board of Trustees 
Virtual Budget Town Hall—Q&A, ThoughtExchange, and PowerPoint (Jan. 25, 2024)
On January 25, 2024, the Board of Trustees held a Virtual Budget Town Hall to provide an overview of the current financial situation of the division, the budget process, and 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 and the results of the board’s recent ThoughtExchange (see bottom of this page). 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.
Thank you and remember to attend our second Virtual Budget Town Hall on February 29, 2024, from 7–8 p.m. More details will soon be made available on our website home page.
INFRASTRUCTURE
Why do so many schools operate without air conditioning?
Why do expensive projects, like building additions and elevators, continue when the division says it’s broke?
FUNDING
What has the board done to advocate for more funding?
What can we do as parents to help with funding?
PROGRAMMING & SERVICES
Given the financial situation the division says it's in, what type of innovations have you been able to do?
Our goal for our children is for them to be provided with quality education that will have them on a better footing when they seek higher education. With budget cuts, like scrapping the IB program, how does RETSD plan to prepare promising students for the competitive world? Will there be more cuts? (Hopefully, you’re also not cutting the AP program.)
If the province doesn't come through with better funding for the upcoming year, are there specific programs at risk of being cut?
What is the annual cost of the lunch program for the division? And how many students pay into the lunch program (given how many are bused to school now and do not pay into the program)? If no funding is allocated to this program, will its funding model be re-evaluated (i.e., fees for all students)?
Was it a budgetary decision to end booking outside venues where Grade 12 students could graduate together—as an entire class at one time versus being broken into groups—as has been the case over the past two years?
Do you think the current way you decide to allocate educational assistant hours works for supporting students with additional needs? It seems like schools were able to apply for additional staff in the past as they learned the needs of students. Something changed a few years ago and that doesn’t seem to happen anymore. How do you decide this piece of the staffing?
