Planning has come to a standstill for the new vocational high school in Ste. Anne. 

In March of last year, the P.C. provincial government announced approval for the new school with a completion date of 2027. 

Seine River School Superintendent Ryan Anderson says the planning schedule was put on hold when the new NDP government was elected in October. 

“I think the government is reviewing or evaluating the P3 model and whether or not it will continue with that model or go back to the way that they did it prior to that,” he says. 

Anderson is referring to the Public-Private Partnership model approved by the P.C. Government for building new schools in Manitoba. It has been criticized by the N.D.P. and the new government is now looking into this model to see if there are benefits in building new schools with this plan. 

The Seine River School Division had meetings planned in October to work on plans with the province, but Anderson says those meetings were postponed when the new government was elected. 

Meanwhile, he says the division is in a good position to resume meetings with the government as soon as a decision is made regarding the building model. 

This past fall, surveys were sent out to the communities within the Ste. Anne school catchment to find out what vocations should be offered at the new school. 

Anderson says they received a strong response rate with 314 completed surveys. 

He notes there was a lot of interest in some of the typical trades. 

“Automotive, heavy duty mechanical, electrical trades, carpentry, cabinet, furniture, woodworking, plumbing, and pipe trades, welding, and machine technology. There was some fairly consistent interest in those, all of which would represent new vocational programming if those programs could be or would be introduced in the new school.” 

Anderson adds there was also a strong interest in human ecology and childcare, as well as culinary arts, cooking and baking. 

Trustees Theresa Bergson, Robert Rivard, and Lise Verrier are part of a sub-committee that will work on the new school plans along with senior administration for Seine River. 

“So, we’re positioned well,” says Anderson. “We’ve laid a good foundation to move the project forward once things become clear in terms of a timeline.” 

Anderson is optimistic that the new school will still go ahead, but this delay from the province might impact the completion date which had been set for 2027. 

Minister of Education and Early Childhood Learning, Nello Altomare was asked for an update on planning for the new school.

“We know we need to build more schools in Manitoba to meet the needs of communities. The previous government wanted to go down a path that was expensive, with worse results," Altomare said. "We are committed to taking a balanced approach to ensure education and healthcare can be sustainable in the long term.”

He offered no timeline for planning to continue for the vocational high school that was announced last spring.

 

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