Deputy minister gets firsthand look at crowded Ste Anne schools

Manitoba Deputy Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning Brian O’Leary was in Ste Anne to see the crowded situation after the province put a halt to a new vocational high school in town.

The NDP government stopped the project that was in its planning phase with trustees discussing what classes should be offered when it was cancelled. The current government said the previous PC government did not set aside money for it.

The NDP government first put a pause on the Ste Anne school and others after being elected last fall, saying it did not like the P3 (public-private partnership) model and wanted time to study how to build them. There has been no replacement for construction of the schools, including Ste Anne’s.

O’Leary’s visit on Nov. 8 came after a first scheduled visit on Oct. 17 was cancelled.

“He got a good impression. And of course he knows that Ste Anne was one of the communities to get a new school (before they were cancelled)… so none of the data or realities of the circumstance have changed since we’ve had a new government,” said Seine River School Division (SRSD) superintendent Reg Klassen.

“He will take that back and report to the Minister of Education, and we hope that they are able to find funding and hope we are able to get this project going quickly.

“Some of what we need desperately is a facility that allows us to run more technical vocational programming because we have very few technical vocational programs in our school division. And other school divisions that do have it are full and our students can’t access those programs,” added Klassen.

Education Minister Nello Altomare stepped back from the job in early October for health reasons. He was diagnosed with cancer in late 2019. His replacement as acting minister Tracy Schmidt told reporters Oct. 8 that Altomare was hoping to return in a matter of weeks. Schmidt is also Minister of Environment and Climate Change.

The superintendent sees this likely slowing things down in getting a new school.

“I suspect it may delay things somewhat,” said Klassen.

“I know someone’s looking after the Minister of Education portfolio but that means they also have got another portfolio as well. Everybody’s busy.”

Klassen said it does feel like SRSD and Ste Anne are starting the process of getting a new school all over again.

“I think it feels very much like we’re at a beginning stage,” said Klassen.

A 15-acre parcel of land had been bought for $1.3 million in 2022 in a residential subdivision off Caledonia Path east of the current school complex that houses its three SRSD schools.

The immersion and elementary school were to fill up the space left after it was renovated and the high school moved to its new facility with dedicated vocational programming space. There is a demand from surrounding communities to use the French immersion program, including La Broquerie where Arborgate School now has 449 students, up 28 from last year.

Ste Anne Collegiate is past its capacity with 413 students, up 31 over last year and 53 from two years ago according to enrolment numbers from this September. Ste Anne Elementary (276) and École Ste Anne Immersion (295) together are up 11 from last year, and 31 from two years ago.

The new school was to have had room for up to 700 students, depending on how many classrooms were included.

SRSD is under the provincial microscope as it climbs out of its deficit hole from the previous administration’s accounting error that slipped by this board of trustees until a new treasurer was hired last summer. That means costs must be considered if a new school was built.

“The deputy minister was really clear. He said to us as a division, what programs would you want? You need to think carefully about those programs.

“What programs would fit with the kind of industry that’s going on in the area, knowing full well that setting up some programs versus other programs costs more money. And so you also have to balance that,” said Klassen.

He added it was a good conversation with O’Leary, the principals, staff and trustees and it is hoped to continue in the New Year to keep things on the front burner with the province.

Klassen also used raw data to remind O’Leary of the space crunch SRSD is in.

“Government also has the data on how many square feet of total school space we have, and how many square feet per student we have in Seine River. And if you were to start to count that across the province in the school divisions, we’re one of the lowest,” explained Klassen.

“So that also provides some leverage to this argument.”