Seven Oaks School Division reveals more potential cuts if revenue boost doesn't materialize

As many as 50 teaching positions could be cut at Seven Oaks School Division when budget deliberations wind up in March, said superintendent Brian O'Leary, elaborating on measures the Winnipeg-area division may take to mitigate what he describes as a provincial funding shortfall.

Seven Oaks is floating the idea of a variety cost-cutting measures to combat what O'Leary claims is a provincial government failure to live up to a promise of a spending hike of no less than 2.5 per cent for the coming year.

O'Leary claims Seven Oaks revenue isonly slated to rise2.1 per cent this year, while the PC government claims it has increased funding by3.8 per cent.

With a provincial budget only one week away, O'Leary claims the province has made a mathematical error while Education Minister Wayne Ewasko's office accusesthe superintendent of making errors of his own.

On Monday evening, O'Leary took to a stage at Garden City Collegiate and laid out more specifics on what could be cut at Seven Oaks if more money does not flow in time for Seven Oaks to complete its budget in the middle of March.

As an alternative cutting teaching positions, Seven Oaks may opt to eliminatebusing for students in Grades 7 to 12, charge for lunchtime supervision, charge for band trips and field trips, stop offering after-school programs, eliminate summer programming and stop offering skating, swimming and bicycle-riding lessons.

Karl Bruggeman, the parent of a Grade One student at a Seven Oaks school, said his son is very fond of the existing Learn To Skate program, which is potentially on the chopping block.

"He would be very, very disappointed and I think it would be a detriment to his education," said Bruggeman, one of a handful of parents in attendance at themeeting.

"It kind of took me by surprise. I wasn'taware funding was in flux at this point."

Aljandro Johnston, a Grade 9 student at Maples Met school, said he would suffer if Seven Oaks cancelled the after-school Tech Hub program, which involves coding apps for mobile phones.

"That would be pretty bad because I've been working with computers for such a long time now and it would be really disappointing for one of my favourite after school programs to be cut," said Johnston, one of a handful of students at the meeting.

Most of the audience at Garden City was made up of Seven Oaks employees. Several Seven Oaks board members also attended, as did two NDP MLAs and 2022 Winnipeg mayoral candidate Chris Clacio.