teacher collective agreement settlement and, earlier this year, establishing a new school food program to ensure that every student who needs a square meal is able to feed their minds in addition to their bellies.” Additional opportunities and improvements remain on the near horizon.The Manitoba Government has, for instance, committed to implementation of a new funding model for public education scheduled for release in early 2025. Many stakeholders, including school boards, anticipate that this new funding model will promote responsiveness to growing needs.“The new funding model must allow us to use existing investments more flexibly, by eliminating red tape surrounding how that funding can be used and we look forward to reviewing it early in the new year”, says president Nemeth. School capital investments are also important.“Our capital footprint is currently valued at over $14.6 billion and all partners are exploring new multimillion dollar investments as needed to welcome growth across the province through new schools,” emphasizes president Nemeth. With a nearly three per cent increase to the province’s population over the past two years alone, this has set a modern day record not seen for over 40 years. Ensuring that 372 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 07, ISSUE 02
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