Leadership, Service and Advocacy
A Closer Look at the Manitoba School Boards Association and its Member School Boards
Located at the heart of the continent, the Canadian province of Manitoba is home to 38 public school boards offering a wide range of programming aligned with local community choices and the requirements of a 21st century workforce. From reading, writing and arithmetic through to hockey academies, medical sciences internships, trades and technology skills development, and leading edge computer coding and programming courses, the rich diversity of programs offered across the province are designed to equip students with the tools needed for bright futures. Manitoba is also a culturally diverse community of many communities, with high demand in select school divisions for French first and second language programming, as well as German, Ukrainian, and Anishinaabe (Ojibway) immersion programs.
The Role of School Boards and Trustees in Manitoba’s Education System
Every four years, communities across Manitoba elect 297 trustees to exercise their local voice. School board trustees in Manitoba are responsible for overall governance of an education system focused on student and community success. Collectively, school boards oversee annual public investment of approximately CAN$3.2 billion for the delivery of quality programming, supports and services to the province’s 195,000 public school students, by over 34,000 school staff.
“Our school boards reflect the content and character of each community, while also maintaining an eye upon the future” said Sandy Nemeth, president of the Association. “Through the budgets we set, the consultations that we hold, and the big picture governance we provide, our superintendents and their staff translate our plans into action and in this way, we achieve healthy balance between local voices and local choices for the success of our students.”
Manitoba remains the only Canadian province where school boards retain local taxation power to fund public education, with nearly 20 cents on every dollar invested in the school system coming from residential, commercial and agricultural property levies. Sandy Nemeth is unequivocal as to the reason why Manitoba has remained Canada’s lone ranger in this respect. “Public investment in public education is critical to ensuring our schools have the resources needed to prepare our students for lifelong learning, meaningful careers and entry to the workforce– and every person and every sector in our community receives benefits through the outcomes of our system.”
Association executive director Josh Watt added “we are particularly proud of the fact that 98 percent of all funds raised for our schools go directly into classroom and school-related operations, with the remaining 1.5 percent ear-marked to pay our qualified senior administrators and the last half cent on every dollar supporting our democracy through the work of locally elected school boards in Manitoba.”
“School boards remain firm in their efforts to promote fairness and sustainability for all rate-payers, promoting Manitoba as a welcome destination for business investment by offering quality public education services, as well as an affordable cost of living for all who live here when compared to many other major urban centers in Canada and across North America,” Watt concluded.
A decade ago, nearly 40 cents on every dollar in support of Manitoba’s public schools came from property tax. Today, through the concerted and collaborative efforts of school boards and a range of partners from the business, municipal, agricultural and real estate sectors, Manitoba has cut that share down by half. As a result, Manitoba is seeing important results. Municipal partners are funding significant investments in capital and network connectivity infrastructure across cities, towns and villages, while Manitoba punches well above its weight in terms of the number of businesses hat generate in excess of $100 million in annual revenues amidst an economic climate where every cent counts.
The Association as a Collective Voice
Founded by school boards in 1907, in recognition of need for a central collective to provide leadership, advocacy and service in support of their work, this fundamental mandate for the Manitoba School Boards Association has remained unchanged.
“The work of the Association is crucial to the success of our members. Even as we advocate with governments and a host of different partners concerning the most urgent priorities facing public education in Manitoba, the association’s operations in terms of risk management, school insurance programs, pension administration for non-teaching staff in most schools, financial administration for child nutrition and school food programming, and coordination of labour relations and collective bargaining services, also deserve special mention”, affirmed president Sandy Nemeth.
A point of particular pride for the association remains in the fact that every public school board in the province is a member of the association and professional relationships are maintained with counterparts in the First Nations, private and religious education sectors. “Our staff are experts in their respective fields. This has certainly promoted our association as a go to source for information, assistance and services as required for effective and efficient delivery of public education in Manitoba,” notes Josh Watt, executive director.
“Just this year, as one example, our association served as employer agent for all English public school boards during the province’s very first round of consolidated teacher collective bargaining. We successfully negotiated a sound settlement without need for third party arbitration. This was an historic moment for Manitoba and for our school boards as well.”
From the earliest period in Manitoba, school boards have exercised one continuing and key function: to employ teachers to deliver education to students. Starting in 2022, Manitoba’s Government changed this role by requesting that the association represent English school boards as employer agent at a single bargaining table. Previously, each school board bargained one on one with its teaching staff.
“You can imagine what it took to merge thirty-seven distinct and separate collective agreements into one new document. At the end of the day, Manitoba’s teachers now stand head and shoulders above their national peers in terms of compensation, benefits, and work-life balance. When combined with our affordable cost of living, we are sending a clear message: come and teach in Manitoba,” stated Sandy Nemeth, president.
A Vision for the Future
In 2023, the association launched its very first multi-year strategic plan. Dedicated to the association’s three main pillars of leadership, advocacy and service, the plan seeks to achieve clear objectives and outcomes for the association and its members as it heads into the 2026 school board election cycle.
From raising public and stakeholder awareness of the key work and responsibilities of school boards, to diversifying the range of professional development courses and workshops offered across all work areas in support of school board members and their senior staff, the strategic plan is just that– strategic.
“Our job, both as school boards and as an association, is not to define curriculum, or direct teachers to what textbooks they should or should not be using or even to suggest school programs based on what might be working well inside or outside of Manitoba. Our primary job is to support strong governance that remains community and student focused. We enable our superintendents, teachers and non-teaching staff to deliver the good of public education in Manitoba through the resources we are able to secure for them,” commented president Sandy Nemeth.
According to president Nemeth, the association’s ongoing advocacy for these resources is needed now, more than ever. “Globally, every jurisdiction is experiencing chronic teacher shortages. Inflation sponges up any real growth in funding and exacerbates poverty in communities that need the most support. The current Manitoba Government has made many important investments in the success of our schools, supporting implementation of our new 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 multi-million 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 school capital requirements keep pace with this growth could not be more significant.
“As is true of every community across North America, our schools reflect a mix of new and older infrastructure. It is very important that we ensure our students and staff continue to learn and work in quality classrooms. It may not seem as significant as the opening of a new school, but school boards, as well as the Manitoba Government, are well aware that fixing roofs, installing ventilation systems and replacing boilers are prime for promoting quality in our classrooms,” stated president Nemeth.
Manitoba remains inviting and welcoming to all newcomers and the Manitoba School Boards Association recognizes that according to present estimates, one out of every five students in Manitoba will come from Indigenous ancestry. The association therefore also encourages and provides support to its members as they continue to promote learning spaces and places for all students.
“There is a saying that ‘education is the new buffalo.’ For generations, Indigenous Manitobans thrived around the buffalo hunt. It was what gave our people sustenance and life. Education is the new buffalo, for Indigenous and non-Indigenous students alike,” said Nicole Chaske, Chair of the association’s Indigenous Education Committee.
To provide this sustenance, the “new buffalo” itself requires nourishment. Investment is vital to support cultural and language programming, to promote authentic understanding of treaties and non-treaty peoples, and to ensure that Manitoba’s schools teach Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being. In 2022, Manitoba’s government adopted Mamàhtawisiwin: The Wonder We Are Born With—An Indigenous Education Policy Framework, setting down the foundations for the public education system to achieve these objectives. Beginning in 2023, Manitoba also recognized the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, the banner for which is that ‘Every Child Matters.’
Nicole observes, “on so many points, cultural, linguistic, social and economic, every child indeed matters. Manitoba’s public school system is one that welcomes and embraces diversity and inclusion for each of our students. Children are our province’s most precious resource. This current generation will see us through to the 22nd century. The experience, wisdom and skills they receive as children and young adults will guarantee our prosperity in generations to come.”
In closing, president Nemeth affirmed “it is exciting to be on this journey. I am proud of the work of our school boards association in creating opportunities for its members to promote educational success for every student, as this is the core strength of our public education system. Advocacy, leadership and service are means to this end and our association will strive to support our members through these essential priorities.”
AT A GLANCE
Who: Manitoba School Boards Association
What: A membership-driven and community-focused voice for public education in Manitoba
Where: Winnipeg, Manitoba
Website: www.msba.ca
