Seine River School Division superintendent calls school year positive

Seine River School Division superintendent Colin Campbell calls the past school year positive and he is looking forward to the new school year which will bring some changes.

“It’s been a positive, meaningful school year for Seine River School Division. I feel like across the division, we’ve seen growth.”

He said there were a number of highlights from the past year.

Some of those highlights were College St. Norbert Collegiate’s football team winning the championship for their league, College Lorette Collegiate participating in the Le concours d’art oratoire, which is a French language public speaking competition that works on building confidence, communication skills, and French language development.

From a systems level, the division worked hard updating its priorities for the next five years into 2031. Campbell said he is most proud about the way the division did its five-year capital plan by consulting with parents, guardians, students, staff, and the community at large.

“And I think that’s the piece that really excites me is that they’ve had a lot of hands and a lot of voices in building these out. So, exciting time for our school division for the next number of years,” he said.

Ecole St Adolphe School might get a new play structure to replace the one that was removed due to safety concerns thanks to a $3 million provincial grant.

“We had to remove (the play structure) last year. And the St Adolphe School…and their parent council have been working extremely hard to fundraise money. We have applied on their behalf for the grant contribution.We are yet to hear back. It should be, to be honest, the deadline to hear back was, I believe, today. So, we’ll see what ends up happening,” said Campbell.

Part of the five-year plan, and what Campbell is most looking forward to, is the building of a new vocational high school in the Town of Ste Anne. He said that project will break ground this fall.

Something else to look forward to next year is the addition of more portables for Ste Anne (four), St Norbert (one), La Broquerie (one), La Salle (one), and St Adolphe (one). Campbell said he was able to get the portables thanks to a good relationship with the Department of Education.

“So, that really kind of brings us up to an adequate level of where we should have been prior to my arrival. But it is what it is. But we’re in a good place from that standpoint,” he said.

As to whether a new kindergarten to Grade 8 school will be built in St Adolphe, that is also part of the five-year plan, but there’s no news on that front. There is also nothing to report on whether French immersion will be offered in La Salle and La Broquerie other than there is a committee that is having discussions about the matter.

Other builds in the plan include additions of four or two classrooms, which Campbell said some of the schools have asked for as their student body is continuing to grow. He said population growth in St Adolphe, Ile des Chenes, and La Broquerie are on the division’s radar and what that might mean for school expansion.

The Carillon reported this year that the division saw enrollment increase by more than 800 students from 2020 to 2025, with 140 students entering the division as of November 2025.

In terms of finances, the division has managed to pull itself out of the $5.3 million debt it found itself in 2024 after finding accounting errors from 2022 to 2024. According to new secretary treasurer and chief financial officer Karastin Michalycia, the division saw a surplus in October 2025 of $1.78 million for its 2024-2025 operating budget. This year’s 2025-2026 numbers won’t be released until the end of October.

“Financially, we’re in an excellent spot,” said Campbell. “It goes back to our priorities that we talked about in making sure that we have responsible stewardship with our finances. And so we’re looking strong in that particular area.”

Campbell acknowledged the division’s staff, families, students, and trustees for the work that they do to make the division successful.