Chinook School Division 2026-27 strategic plan reflects provincial priorities

Posted on 14 October 2026 by Ryan Dahlman

By Matthew Liebenberg

mliebenberg@prairiepost.com

The Chinook School Division’s strategic plan for 2026-27 implements the principles of the provincial education plan and includes measurable targets in several areas to support learning.

The Chinook Level 2 Plan was approved during a regular Chinook Board of Education meeting, Sept. 14. The division plan is referred to as a level two plan, because it is guided by the level one provincial plan.

There are four priorities of equal importance in the provincial education plan that are incorporated into the Chinook Level 2 Plan.

The learning and assessment priority aims to improve student outcomes through effective assessment to guide and strengthen responsive instruction. The Indigenous education priority aims to implement the vision and goals of the provincial education policy framework to improve education outcomes for First Nations and Métis students.

The mental health and well-being priority aims to enhance student well-being. The student transitions priority will encourage connections for learners and their families while supporting students during their progression through school to graduation.

Chinook Deputy Director of Education Kevin Kleisinger noted that the 2026-27 Chinook strategic plan includes medium term (three years) and long term (five years) targets in addition to the short term (one year) targets.

“The Ministry asked school divisions to start reporting on three- and five-year targets after or in this current school year,” he said.

He added that the actions in the new Chinook Level 2 Plan will differ from those in the previous year.

“Every target has a series of actions and what we’re focusing on this year in each of those four areas is going to evolve and change and develop over time,” he said.

The Chinook School Division has set targets in five areas, namely attendance, reading, graduation rates, readiness for learning (primary grades), and students’ sense of safety and connection.

“We certainly align with the province requirements for targets in each of those areas,” he said. “Where we as a school division may be different is that we set targets that are unique to our Chinook School Division students.”

The Chinook targets in these five areas are aspirational and exceed the requirements of the provincial plan.

“We always want what’s best for our students and we want them to grow and develop to the best of their potential,” he said. “It gives us something to strive for and we certainly want to continue to exceed provincial numbers. … Aggressive targets allow us to work toward that and hopefully create learning conditions for our students that push them to their maximum ability of learning.”

The short-term targets for these five areas in the Chinook Level 2 plan are set for June 2027.

The attendance targets are that 87 per cent of students will have at least 80 per cent attendance by then and that 68 per cent of self-identified First Nations, Métis and Inuit (FNMI) students will have at least 80 per cent attendance.

“Our target moving out into three and five years is that at least 90 per cent of our students are hitting that 80 per cent attendance mark,” he said. “A sense of belonging and feeling that they’re part of the school community help in that attendance. When students are in the classroom, they’re obviously learning and attendance does correlates to academic excellence as well.”

The reading target for June 2027 is that 100 per cent of required K-3 literacy screeners are implemented and division baselines are established for the provincial screeners as well as for the division’s guided reading and literacy framework, known as Literacy Footprints/GB+.

The Chinook plan establishes three short-term targets for graduation rates by June 2027. The goal is that 88 per cent of students will graduate within three years of entering Grade 10, that 60 per cent of students identifying as FNMI will graduate within three years of entering Grade 10, and that 94 per cent of students will graduate within five years of entering Grade 10.

The readiness for learning target for primary grades determines that 80 per cent of kindergarten students will be in Tier 1 according to the spring early years evaluation by June 2027.

The June 2027 target for students’ sense of safety and connection is that 85 per cent of elementary students and 76 per cent of high school students will feel connected and supported at school as measured by data from the Our School survey.

“The research does show that when students feel safe in their schools, feel like they belong and feel that they have a connection with a trusted adult like a teacher in the building, they tend to achieve better academically,” he said. “Their attendance is better. They just have an easier time becoming part of that school community. So we are focusing our efforts on making sure that students feel safe and have a sense of belonging in our school communities.”

The school division will monitor progress towards achieving the short-term targets in the five areas of the Chinook Level 2 plan.

“We’ll certainly react to the data,” Kleisinger said. “We’ll be able to target students or cohorts of students that may be struggling, may need some additional support and then go in and wrap some intervention supports around them or around the classroom to support their further development.”