With student enrollment growing at record rates, Western School Division (WSD) has submitted a revised five-year capital plan to the Province of Manitoba, highlighting urgent infrastructure needs to accommodate the rapid population increase.
WSD Superintendent Stephen Ross says the capital plan is essential in identifying and requesting support for major school projects, including classroom additions and mechanical upgrades.
“If we do not get that addition in place for the start of the next school year... we will already have a modular classroom at the new school in Morden.” - Stephen Ross, Superintendent
“The five-year capital plan is an important document for the division that we submit to the province of Manitoba. For our facilities that would focus on things like school additions, [and] key mechanical components that need replacement - that are very costly, that the province supports financially,” Ross explained. “We’re constantly updating enrollment projections... and looking at developments in the community to try and determine what our space needs are going to be in the future.”
Expansion needed due to community growth
Despite the recent opening of Discovery Trails School, the division is already asking the province for design approval on an eight-classroom addition to the brand-new building.
“One of those major design approvals, that we needed yesterday, was an 8-classroom addition to the new school,” Ross said. “If we do not get that addition in place for the start of the next school year... we will already have a modular classroom at the new school in Morden.”
740 high school students and counting
Also on the urgent list is the need to begin planning for a new high school in Morden. The current high school already has 740 students and will need four portable classrooms next year. By 2029, projections indicate enrollment could surpass 1,000 students.
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“We just know, having gone through the new school, that [the] design process can take a year and a half and then the build is going to take another year and a half to two years. So, we really do need the design approval for both of these projects as soon as possible,” Ross said.
Ross emphasized the importance of getting design approvals early to avoid delays and challenges similar to those experienced in neighboring divisions.
“Otherwise, we're a year and a half behind... [our] neighbors at Garden Valley went through that experience. They had an [entire] portable community at GVC while they waited for NPC to be built.”
Hopeful additions
Beyond immediate needs, the plan includes a proposed classroom addition at Minnewasta School, a stand-alone daycare in south Morden where none currently exists, and several mechanical upgrades like roof replacements, boilers, and air conditioning systems.
“If it's -40 in the winter and the boiler goes down, then there's no school,” Ross said. “The last project that we had done on a boiler at Maple Leaf School was about $1.6 million.”
“We always have good conversations with the province, and they're supportive of trying to make things work." - Stephen Ross, Superintendent
As for funding, Ross said the division is looking to the province for support, as is standard across Manitoba.
“These are projects that the province needs to support because they're supported elsewhere and that's how these projects get built in Manitoba,” he said. “We are just looking for the design approval to get the formal final designs done for the addition and then to begin a design process for the high school.”
Presenting the case
The division is scheduled to meet with provincial officials next week to present its case.
“We always have good conversations with the province, and they're supportive of trying to make things work. Ultimately these projects will come down to the big fiscal provincial picture, and how much money there is to go towards things like this,” Ross said.
With a fast-growing community and enrollment already stretching capacity, Ross says now is the time to act.