SRSD asks province for portable classrooms after previous denial

Seine River School Division has asked the province for portable classrooms for next school year after Manitoba’s decision to deny the division’s similar request last year.

Superintendent Colin Campbell told school board trustees Tuesday night the division has requested eight units for the 2026-2027 school year for schools in Ste Anne, La Broquerie, La Salle and St Adolphe.

“These are legitimate needs that we need, like today. It’s important that we are given a fair shot to receive these modular classrooms,” Campbell told The Carillon.

He pointed to the rapid enrollment growth across the division, adding up to roughly two schools’ worth of students, as the biggest need for the extra space. Seine River School Division reported its enrollment grew by over 800 students for all schools from 2020 to 2025, with last year seeing 140 new students joining the division as of November.

The Carillon previously reported in September 2025 that the province rejected the division’s request for 10 portable classrooms to address rising enrollment and growing class sizes throughout the schools. Manitoba told the division at the time its request was denied because no mobile units were available across the province.

Campbell said the division is asking for eight next year because administration is assuming the province will give a few portables based on the division’s previous request. If those aren’t approved, he said the total of portables needed could rise to 12.

The division has already taken actions in converting library spaces to address the needed classrooms.

Renovations were completed at the Arborgate School in La Broquerie and at the Ste Anne High School prior to the 2025-2026 school year’s start, with two classrooms created from each school’s library.

Book shelves that were previously stored in the Arborgate School library line the school’s hallway, Campbell said. Maintaining library spaces are necessary to helping students improve literacy levels, he added.

“When we talk about building literacy skills and love for reading and the optics are, we’re cutting it up for a classroom space, I don’t know if that’s a strong message that we’re sending our students, but it’s the only message we can send right now,” he said. “I think it’s not sustainable.”

If the recent ask for classrooms isn’t granted, he said the previous library renovations will mark the start of more spaces being converted into classrooms.

Campbell said few existing classrooms are available to address the growth and spaces, such as teacher meeting areas, may be considered to switch into classrooms.

However, he remains hopeful the province will send the classrooms needed because it’s not a “wish list but a critical need.” The province has only said “soon” when asked for a timeline on an answer, he said.

School board chair Christine Roskos shares Campbell’s optimism

“They see our enrollment growth, and I think they see that we’ve made cuts where we can, but to the point where we no longer can make cuts without the services and our students being affected,” she said.

Growth isn’t a unique challenge to Seine River School Division as it’s a provincewide issue, Roskos added. The division needs an quick answer from the province on whether or not portables will be granted as budget planning is underway for the next school year, she said.

“I think the province recognizes, and the department recognizes that all school divisions require some time to finalize those plans, and without knowing what those numbers are, we can’t plan accordingly,” Roskos said.

Manitoba Education Minister Tracy Schmidt said her department is in “close communication” with the division regarding classroom spaces.

”We know how deeply families value safe, welcoming learning environments, and we share that commitment,” Schmidt said in an email statement.

All requests for portables are reviewed and prioritized based on existing school capacity, space usage and enrolment trends, she added.