The fiscal year for all school divisions in Manitoba is from July 1 to June 30.

In The Winnipeg School Division  the Finance/Personnel Committee is responsible for recommending to the Board, budget guidelines based on estimates of projected expenditures for the budget year, estimated revenues, enrolment, staffing patterns and salary increases.

The Finance/Personnel Committee regularly reviews three-year projections of expenditures and tax levels based on various assumptions related to salary increases, grant revenue from the Province of Manitoba, and projected increases in fixed costs based on inflation factors.

The Finance/Personnel Committee makes recommendations to the Board of Trustees related to guidelines for preparation of the first draft budget by the administration. For the past number of years, it has been the practice of the Finance/Personnel Committee to request that the first Draft Budget be prepared on the basis of continuing all programs and services that are currently in place.

Once the Budget guideline has been approved by the Board, the central administration, schools and individual departments determine priorities and develop a budget for their school/department based on their anticipated needs for supplies, equipment, and materials.

In accordance with the Division’s philosophy on school-based decision-making, school principals receive advice from their school-based decision-making committees or parent councils in determining budget priorities for their school.

Overall staff allocations for schools are determined by the superintendents in accordance with a formula which is applied consistently throughout the Division, with additional resources for schools where the student population demonstrates a high level of need. Principals are able to make decisions regarding how the staff allocations will be assigned within their schools.

The Chief Superintendent is responsible for reviewing all budget requests received from the senior administrative staff, and for recommending a proposed budget to the Finance/Personnel Committee, in the form of a first Draft Budget document.

This document is made available to the public by the Board and is distributed to schools, parent councils, advisory committees and any other interested persons. The distribution of this document allows for all interested parties to become familiar with the budget document and provide feedback to the Board of Trustees.

In mid-January, the Province of Manitoba announces the amount of funding that will be provided for education in the Province, and advises each School Division of the amount they can expect to receive in provincial grants. As soon as the Division has been advised of the provincial grant revenues, the trustees review the First Draft Budget and determine whether the property tax rates required are appropriate. If the Board agrees that the tax rates cannot be supported by the Division’s taxpayers, the Budget is reviewed to determine where reductions can be made and options or position papers are distributed to schools, parent councils and advisory committees for feedback.

The trustees then review the budget and determine final budget estimates taking into consideration feedback received, the needs of the Division as a whole and a property tax rate that can be supported by the public.

In accordance with the Public Schools Act, the Board must submit its special levy tax requirements to the City of Winnipeg by March 15 which means that the total amount of estimated expenditures for the budget year, must be determined by this date.

As soon as the budget is finalized, the administration works with schools and departments to implement the changes for the coming school year.