(File photo/northeastNOW)

By Cam Lee

NESD school year

Busy school year in North East School Division comes to an end

Jun 27, 2025 | 6:00 AM

The school year has wrapped up in the North East School Division (NESD), and the Director of Education is outlining some of the year’s highlights and a look ahead to the fall.

Stacy Lair said this time of year is special as everyone is reminded of the hard work of the students achieving their goal of moving on, whether it’s graduating high school or kindergarten or the success of students between those years.

“Focusing on students is something that we are all about and I think in that we’ve seen some really good work through strong relationships with students, with family, from staff, and really a result of our staff commitment to be focused on students,” Lair told northeastNOW.

She said that includes school staff, facilities staff, bus drivers, and many others.

Some of the stresses at the division have eased over the year, according to Lair. That includes the challenges faced by the transportation department, as they now have a full slate of mechanics to work on buses and other division vehicles.

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“Our recruitment efforts in that regard have been successful.”

The division has seen some bus routes that were previously cancelled restart now that they’ve found some new drivers. However, Lair said the division is still looking to hire casual bus drivers to bring back even more routes. Anyone interested can contact the division office. Meanwhile, an order of new buses that had been delayed finally arrived and they have already been put to use across the division.

Star City School will see a significant change in the fall, as they go from a K to 12 school to a K to 6 school. Students in Grades 7 through 12 will either go to schools in Melfort or Tisdale. The community held a celebration looking back at the success of their K to 12 program Thursday night. The decision was made, in conjunction with the School Community Council (SCC) and residents, to drop Grades 7 through 12 in the fall.

“[I] appreciate the community’s perspective in really looking forward and still, though, reflecting backwards and celebrating that community together,” she said.

Lair added the division will continue to go forward with a long-term strategic plan to support student wellbeing through self-regulation. According to Lair, the division has already seen less anxiety and more learning focus from students.

“I think that’s all a result of the really good work that teachers are very intentionally and thoughtfully executing to enhance student wellbeing through that self-regulation lens. All of the ways our School Community Council are supporting that work has been fantastic…families are really starting to use the same language and get on board,” Lair explained.

The division has also noticed a positive trend as it comes to early years literacy. Lair said divisions across the province noticed a decline in results during the pandemic, and since then the effort to engage students has paid dividends in boosting rates post-pandemic. Lair said another goal of the division is to work with families and students to improve attendance rates to ensure student needs are met.

Another goal for Lair and the division centres on career education development, as they are hearing through Grade 12 exit interviews, parents, and SCC that students would like enhanced support for career education. Lair said it’s important to investigate what that could look like, how families could be involved, and what supports the division could give.

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com