Winnipeg School Division, charity supporting inner-city programs part ways

Manitoba’s largest school board will continue to accept financial donations — just not from the charity that’s gifted $9 million for its inner-city programs over the last decade.

The Winnipeg School Division recently made the decision to part ways with the Schroeder Foundation, starting in 2026-27. Representatives from both parties have provided vague details about the rationale for their split.

Last week, in response to recent media coverage, superintendent Matt Henderson made a point of putting his stance on philanthropy on the record.

“We have many families who give to the Winnipeg School Division,” Henderson told the board of trustees at its latest public meeting on June 1.

“Many of (them) do not want to be named, but we have long-standing relationships and we appreciate that.”

He made those comments after briefing the Wall Street boardroom on internal plans to continue programs funded through the Schroeder Foundation.

Walter and Maria Schroeder have gifted millions to the division they both attended as children.

Their national foundation has paid for meal programs, scholarships and outreach co-ordinators, among other financial and in-kind donations organized by its Terra Bay Advisory Committee.

The Schroeder family took a particular interest in funding initiatives at St. John’s, Sisler and Daniel McIntyre high schools. While many donations have been accompanied by news releases and events, others — including Walter’s support for trustee candidates and offer to reinstate the police-in-schools program — were made with little fanfare.

The Manitoba government introduced new campaign financing rules ahead of this year’s school board elections after the Free Press revealed the Toronto-based philanthropist was backing nominees in 2022.

Terra Bay co-hosted a news conference on May 27 to announce a new $1.5-million commitment to bolster nutrition and outreach programming in north Winnipeg’s Seven Oaks School Division.

“Terra Bay wants to continue to support young people in ways that public education cannot and we are humbled by the warm welcome we have received from the board and the management team of the Seven Oaks School Division,” advisory committee chair Duane Brothers said in an email.

Brothers said his committee had “great relationships” in the schools it supported in central Winnipeg and remains proud of its contributions.

The foundation is pleased the Winnipeg School Division remains open to philanthropy and believes it is “a good thing” if others want to contribute, he said.

(Fort Rouge trustee Lois Brothers is his former partner; she has a declared conflict of interest with the charity.)

The Winnipeg School Division indicated its in-house charity — the Children’s Heritage Education Endowment Fund — received $3,074,507 between Jan. 1, 2025 and May 31. The Schroeder Foundation contributed more than $2 million of that sum.

“It’s been a great relationship for nine years but we want to move in a different direction,” the chief superintendent said Tuesday.

Henderson’s office previously released a statement saying its donor partnerships “are most successful when they are aligned with our values, grounded in trust and allow school leaders to determine how best to meet student needs.”

People for Public Education has highlighted inequities caused by school fundraising since a group of educators, academics and parents established the grassroots group in 2022.

“It is abhorrent that public schools are forced to take private funding to feed students,” organizer Melanie Janzen said in a statement outlining the collective’s take on recent developments involving Terra Bay.

A professor of curriculum, teaching and learning at the University of Manitoba, Janzen said school leaders searching for external funding is a symptom of “a poorly funded school system.”

Henderson told trustees last week that the division is using provincial funds to hire two outreach workers and expand its partnership with Peaceful Village, along with making other adjustments to fill programming gaps.

The division updated its school fundraising policy in 2024 to prohibit parent councils from collecting donations for textbooks, field trips and any other line items that aren’t “outside of the purview of public education.”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca