Interlake School Division had much to celebrate in 2025, with multiple successes earning high marks.
Board chair Alan Campbell points to the division-wide nutrition programming as one of these key achievements.
“Interlake School Division (ISD) has been able to capitalize on new funding from the province for nutrition programming throughout the division, building on a key partnership with Community Living Interlake on the purchasing and distribution of food to schools,” he said.
“The program has proven very valuable for students in all communities who have benefited from access to nutritious food throughout the school day. Key to the success of the program is that it is open to any student who is hungry and needs something to eat.”
Another highlight is a school division initiative to provide school supplies to all of its students as part of the 2025-26 school-year budget.
“The rollout of this program was well received across the division, as it eliminates the need for families with students in all grades to purchase school supplies,” Campbell said. “Rather, schools will supply the day-to-day essentials as part of their annual budgets, funded by the division.”
On Nov. 24, the school division hosted a divisional engagement event for parent advisory councils.
“With over 40 participants from school admin and PACs representing all school communities in addition to the board of trustees and senior admin team, we had a fantastic evening of learning, networking and information sharing,” Campbell said.
“Hosted by the board and facilitated by senior admin, PAC members had the opportunity to learn about revisions to ISD’s administrative procedures on fundraising and to share in meaningful conversation on the role of parent advisory councils. We are looking forward to continued engagement with PACs in the budget development process.”
At the same time, the school division also faced challenges, particularly related to provincial funding.
“Funding from the provincial government continues to fall far short of what ISD requires to sustain its operations, thus increasing the demand on local taxpayers to provide the lion’s share of required revenue,” Campbell said.
“With annual enrolment remaining stable, expenses associated with staff salaries, benefits and utilities costs continue to increase while provincial funding remains flat.”
Recruitment has been another ongoing challenge for the school division.
“As a carry-over challenge from the pandemic, ISD continues to face strong headwinds when recruiting both professional and support staff positions,” Campbell said. “However, for this year, there is increased interest as the division starts recruiting more aggressively and earlier.”
To start the new year, the board of trustees will host representatives from all eight municipal partners this month to share insights into the continuous improvement plan and the 2026-27 budget development.
“The evening will also be dedicated to sharing on matters of shared interest between municipal councils and the division, such as the school board and municipal elections in October 2026,” Campbell said.
One aspect of the 2026-27 budget development will focus on teacher salary harmonization costs.
“As the board and senior admin team plan for the development of the 2026-27 budget, like many rural school divisions, one of our key considerations will be the anticipated costs associated with harmonization of ISD teacher salary grids within the new provincial collective agreement,” Campbell said.
“With staff salaries and benefits already constituting over 80 per cent of the division’s annual expenses, the costs association with harmonizing teacher contracts will total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, representing a significant increase.”
When it comes to the continuous improvement plan, the senior administration and board of trustees will continue to focus on opportunities to ensure that high quality learning is accessible, equitable and responsive in all of Interlake School Division’s school communities.
“With this in mind, we have taken steps to ensure that provincial initiatives such as the school nutrition program are well supported in all schools. Additionally, steps to reduce costs for all families continue to be taken, with the school supplies initiative, ongoing reviews and reductions of curriculum-related fees and, most recently, important amendments to the funding allocated to projects such as grounds improvements,” Campbell said.
“Starting in the current fiscal year, the division has introduced a new $250,000 annual fund to be allocated throughout the division on a seven-year cycle so that new playground equipment purchases and installations, as well as other grounds enhancements, can be funded by the division instead of by fundraising by local families.”
On behalf of the school board, Campbell encourages all community members to engage with the school division during the upcoming budget development process.
“Information on options to do so will be shared in the Tribune as well as on the division’s website and social media platforms,” he added.
