Friday, January 15, 2016 • Vol.27 No.12 • Neepawa, Manitoba Something New!
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NEEPAWA NATIVES:
Rough week for Neepawa
Plans for children’s centre unveiled
Natives Page 12
Pulling off the tarp to unveil PHOTOS BY the new sign were HRCC Meloney and children staff Pamela Lewis, Sheena KATE JACKMAN-ATKINSON Easton Buydens, Hayden Kopytko and Jennifer Kinley, Lukas Kopp, Onyx Halashewski and Alex Ferguson.
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Friday, October 17, 2014 • Vol.25 No.49 • Neepawa, Manitoba
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Only k! For r wee d Be ul pe $99 ace Co Sp t men This pay
By Kate Jackman-Atkins on The Neepawa aNNer
HRCC has been B operating allow the centre to offer out of their current afterlocation 25 years, but as enrolment for school programs should there Parents and children has be a demand. were all increased smiles last Friday as and standards have the Happy changed, RM of Westbourne Rock Children Centre board reeve unveiled Kinley explained chair Sandi David Single sits on the HRCC their plans to build a that they have Building new daycare outgrown committee, which their current location. in Gladstone. Currently is made up of parents operat- Their current ing out the the basement as well as space has a number representatives from of the of limitations, Seven Regions Health municipal it lacks natural Centre, the light, has no kitchen facilities government and local service group has been working towards in which clubs. Single explained to prepare snacks their long-term plan that they and looked at a number of building a has an insufficient napping of sites over new facility that will area. the past two better meet “It’s years, but chose the time to upgrade,” she their needs. said. new site because Currently, the centre of its location. Having recently purchased Kinley explains that censed for eight infants, is liproperty for the new construc20 pre- tion of the centre, on schoolers new centre is two Oct. 10, children and and four school-age staff from children. three years away, depending to In addition to better the centre helped to on unveil a sign meeting how quickly they can provincial guidelines, outlining building fundraise. plans as well a new The project is expected facility will allow as fundraising goals. to cost them between $500,000 A tree was to slightly and $600,000 also planted in what increase enrolment. will be the The new and Kinley said that location, beside the playground. between savings and past elementary school, fundraisers, will also they have HRCC director Jennifer about $100,000 so Meloney helped Onyx far. a Halashewski
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MANITOBA AG DAYS
Annual farm show coming up Page 11
Beautiful Plains School Division receives new provincial funding
By Eoin Devereux The Neepawa Banner The Beautiful Plains School Division (BPSD) is receiving a little extra financial support from the province. On Jan. 5, Premier Greg Selinger announced a 2.5 per cent increase to its $1.3 billion budget for school funding. That works out to a $32.5 million increase provincially, with an estimated $475,000 of that earmarked for Beautiful Plains. “We invest in our schools so all families can see their children get a high-quality education and the skills they need to get good jobs here in Manitoba,” said Selinger, in a prepared statement. BPSD secretary-treasurer Gord Olmstead said while this additional funding is welcome, it’s still not a significant enough amount to help the division deal with it’s expanding enrolment and the personnel needs that expansion creates. He said when the numbers are broken down to a per-pupil basis, the funding increase disappears quickly. “From a percentage standpoint, Beautiful Plains is one of the fastest growing school divisions in the province. Over the past few years, our enrolment numbers have gone up at a rate well beyond what those funding numbers can cover,” noted Olmstead. “More students means more staff is required and with staffing being the largest portion of our budget spending, $475,000 will not stretch as far as you may think.” Currently, staff salaries account for between 75 to 80 per cent of the total school division budget. BPSD superintendent Jason Young said the estimated
PHOTO BY KIRA PATERSON
A recent funding announcement from the province will have an impact on the BPSD budget deliberations. $475,000 equals out to about 5 per cent of the total support the division receives from the Province of Manitoba. 60 per cent of Beautiful Plain’s total budget is covered by provincial funding, while the remaining 40 per cent is received via school taxes. Young stressed that it remains
to be seen how this new funding might affect school tax assessments. Preliminary work on school division budget began in December and a finalized budget is expected to be ready by mid-March.
Olmstead to step down as Secretary-Treasurer By Eoin Devereux The Neepawa Banner Beautiful Plains School Division secretary-treasurer Gord Olmstead has informed the Board of Trustees that he’ll be stepping down from the position later this year. Olmstead submitted his letter of retire-
ment at the Wednesday, Jan. 6 board meeting, indicating that he will resign as secretarytreasurer no later than June 30 and cease his employment with the division on Aug. 15. BPSD superintendent Jason Young said that Olmstead has been a very important part of the division and in shaping
its vision. “[Gord] has been a critical part of our senior administrative team for quite some time. His dedication, hard work and leadership is well known to everyone and will be missed by all,” said Young. Olmstead has been with BPSD since 1990. Prior to
that, he spent three years as secretary treasurer in the Turtle River School Division and over eight and a half years with the Swan Valley School Division. The board of trustees for the Beautiful Plains School Division will now start the process of searching for his replacement.
FILE PHOTO
BPSD secretary-treasurer Gord Olmstead