LRSD looking to expand to all-day kindergarten [Video]

Universal, all-day kindergarten could be coming to schools in Winnipeg’s Louis Riel School Division (LRSD) as its draft budget for the upcoming year includes a plan to expand.

School board officials say it will help parents with child-care and students with learning; however, it does come at a price.

That’s because homeowners in the LRSD could be facing a larger than-normal property tax hike, with part of that going towards expanding to all-day kindergarten.

“We decided to go a little higher to provide something extra for our community,” said Chris Sigurdson, vice chair of the LRSD board.

The school board’s draft budget includes a 7.5 per cent tax hike or an average annual increase of $150.

This comes after the new NDP government ended a freeze on school tax hikes.

Sigurdson says most of that new money is needed just to maintain the status quo because of a deficit, inflation …