Seine River School Board proposes tax increase

The Seine River School Division has presented its proposed budget to the public and Board Chair Wendy Bloomfield says they are leaning toward an increase in the Education Tax Levy. 

“We are considering a tax hike in the neighborhood of around 5%. It has not been 100% finalized, but that's the general area,” she says.

(Proposed budget information from srsd.ca)

The school division is projecting it will be in a $5.8 Million accumulated deficit by the end of the current school year. 

Bloomfield says the proposed budget will include cuts that will help them get out of that deficit within three years. 

She says the Kids at Play program (KAP) will be discontinued at the end of June. Although the program is seen as a valuable way to prepare children for full days of school, Bloomfield says it is not funded and the division is not in a financial position to continue offering this program. 

Busing for non-funded K-4 students living between 0.8 and 1.6 kilometers from school is maintained, but on a fee for service basis. The cost will be $500 per household per school year or $50 per month, says Bloomfield.

SRSD looking at ways to reduce spending for the 2024-2025 school year. (srsd.ca)

 Around 80 people attended the public budget information meeting which was held in person and online. 

“We did also get some feedback from participants that were in person,” Bloomfield adds. “We had some small group discussions, and the people that were online were invited to answer the same questions and submit it to directly to the division. So, we are compiling that information as well. We're pretty close to finalizing the budget.”

Proposed budget details for the Seine River School Division can be found at srsd.ca