Divisional Growth: How Does It Impact Your Child? Virtual Presentation and Q&A

Enrolment Numbers

• How does growing enrolment affect our children who are in high school? I’ve heard that if a student fails a course there’s limited opportunity for them to retake the course due to large enrolment.

  As we consider our increasing enrolment, we know that our students are with us for 13 years and we’re carefully watching their pathways as they move through early, middle, and senior years. Our senior years schools are reaching capacity and we’re monitoring those numbers, as well. Our commitment is always to make sure our students can graduate with one of the provincial graduation pathways (English, French immersion, technical vocational, français) and that commitment will not waver.

• Will École Regent Park be expanding its grades, and will the catchment area be changing for September 2025?

  The Board intends for École Regent Park to become a kindergarten to Grade 8 school. However, due to enrolment trends, ’we're currently looking into the impact of grade expansion for September 2025. Once plans have been finalized, we’ll share this with the community. You can expect to hear from us in the next month or two.

• Will enrolment growth impact any of the language programs in the division, for example the German program?

  The school division actively monitors enrolment in all our programs across the division, even in times of stable and declining enrolment, but especially during times of increasing enrolment. If any program would be impacted, the Board would be made aware and then any necessary changes would be communicated to the community as soon as possible.

• How will divisional growth impact students with additional needs?

   For students with additional needs, the impact may be that those who require additional space for: 

  • Self-regulation may find that those spaces are no longer available, because they were changed to classrooms. 
  • Self-care needs may have to wait if there is only one hygiene room, because there are multiple students requiring its use.
  • Therapy may have to make use of a multi-purpose room, because other spaces have been changed to classrooms. 

New Schools

• Why didn’t the school division plan for new schools in advance as new neighbourhoods were being developed? Why did this issue only come to light at the last minute?

  Each year, the Board of Trustees submits a five-year capital plan to the Province of Manitoba. For over a decade, the Board has consistently requested that new schools be built in the school division. Both the purchase of land and the construction of schools require provincial approval and funding; the school division cannot act independently.

• What, if anything, can the community do to support the Board in advocating for new schools?

  The school division needs community support; we need your voice. You can make your voice heard by sending an email or picking up the phone and contacting your MLA, the minister of education, and the premier to let them know how much new schools are needed for the students, staff, and families in our division.

Capital Projects

• How many capital projects were applied for in the last budget and were any deferred to future years instead of being declined?

  Each year, we apply for at least 20 capital projects. This includes essential infrastructure improvements, such as converting existing spaces into classrooms, adding portables for additional school capacity, replacing outdated boilers and air-handling systems, installing air conditioners, and upgrading roofs. Last school year, none of the capital projects we submitted were awarded funding by the province, which is responsible for financing these endeavours.

Possible Reconfiguration

• If you need to move boundary lines, how much advance notice do families receive? Is there a set amount of time?

  There’s no required amount of advance notice that must be given during times of boundary reconfiguration. However, the Board would want to give the community as much time as possible once decisions have been made. During the transition time, we work with school leadership, staff, families, and students, to provide them with accurate and timely information and to support the movement of students from one school to another.

• When families are required to change schools, are there exceptions to rules about transportation? Can you ensure my kids can still be bused to and from their daycare?

  We understand that the reconfiguration of catchment boundaries is difficult for families, and this includes changes to transportation and child-care provisions. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions made related to transportation. In RETSD, we transport over 4,000 students twice a day, and during reconfiguration we continue to follow transportation guidelines as outlined in The Public Schools Act and divisional policies EEA and EEA-R. 

• What is currently considered the maximum ceiling for student numbers within RETSD before students may have to be shifted to other divisions?

  Despite continuing enrolment growth, there are no circumstances in which we would shift students to other school divisions. When school buildings reach capacity, we look within the division to find the spaces available and reconfigure boundaries to move students to schools where there’s space. This is why we need every seat in every classroom in every school—because we work to find the space necessary within RETSD.

Schools of Choice

• With Schools of Choice being limited, can my younger children enter a school as their School of Choice if their older sibling attends there?

  According to provincial guidelines and divisional policy, acceptance of one student doesn’t ensure acceptance of that student’s siblings.

The November 18 meeting can be viewed by clicking Divisional Growth: How Does It Impact Your Child? Virtual Presentation.