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Friday, Sept. 4, 2026

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Beautiful Plains School Division

charts its’ future course

Superintendent Jason Young outlines growth, regional school plans

By Eoin Devereux

Photo info: An aerial view of the classroom expansion on the grounds of Neepawa Middle School.

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Just before the start of the school year, the Superintendent for Beautiful Plains School Division had the chance to educate the general public.
Jason Young, who has served as superintendent over the past 17 years, spoke with the Neepawa Rotarians on Wednesday, Aug. 26. Young’s presentation highlighted all the significant changes and challenges the Division has faced in recent years.
One change has been the increasing diversity of the student population. Young said approximately 65 per cent of BPSD students in Neepawa currently have English as an additional language.
As for challenges, there’s the rapid student enrolment this past decade. Some grades now have five or six full capacity classes, which has placed tremendous pressure on classroom space. Young said nine portable classrooms are currently being used in Neepawa.
The province has asked the Beautiful Plains to give up some of those portables, but Young explained to them that is not possible because every one of them is in full use.

Some relief has arrived, however, as a new classroom addition for Neepawa Middle School was completed earlier this summer and officially opened for the new school year. The new building accommodates six Grade 6 classes and is providing some much-needed additional space.
One other item of note Young emphasized was that beginning next school year, Hazel M. Kellington School will serve students in kindergarten through grade 3, while Neepawa Middle School will accommodate grades 4 to 8 and Neepawa Area Collegiate Institute will serve students in grades 9 to 12.

What about the
new high school?
Young also provided an update on the division’s plans for a regional school in Neepawa, on a 23-acre site, close to the new regional hospital.
Planning for the concept began in 2019, with that design stage receiving approval in 2023. It was originally planned as a P3 model, which involves a public/private sector hybrid. That plan, proposed by the former Conservative government was quashed by the NDP led government after the last provincial election.

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