Louis Riel division hires province’s first Indigenous woman superintendent

The new leader of the Louis Riel School Division is a Métis teacher who has — not unlike the founder of Manitoba — dedicated much of her life to supporting Indigenous families.

Jackie Connell has been named the incoming superintendent and chief executive officer of the St. Vital-based board office in charge of educating 17,000 students.

The board of trustees announced her historic appointment, which begins Aug. 4, late Tuesday.

“I feel Indigenous women are inherently built to lead. I don’t know that education systems always see or honour that leadership,” Connell said in an interview Wednesday.

“And so, I am honestly so grateful to the board.”

The 45-year-old is currently the inaugural assistant deputy minister of Indigenous Excellence, a 21-person unit that operates in the education department.

This summer, she will become the first Indigenous woman to lead a school board in Winnipeg.

Connell is only aware of one other precedent in the province — Cree teacher Lorie Henderson recently retired as a co-superintendent in Thompson.

She noted that Indigenous teachers are often tapped for positions with “Indigenous” or “equity” in their titles.

“It is time for Indigenous people to step into roles that are also about learning, academics — chief leadership positions,” she said.

Connell is wrapping up her doctorate in educational leadership at the University of Saskatchewan. Her thesis is about the experiences of First Nations and Métis women in school leadership roles in Manitoba.

Her teaching career began more than 20 years ago in a Grade 3 classroom in the North End. Connell has worked as a high school resource teacher, guidance counsellor, vice-principal and principal in the Winnipeg School Division.

“I’ve always believed that strong schools are built through and on trust and relationships,” said the former principal of Children of the Earth and R.B. Russell Vocational high schools.

Connell was the assistant superintendent of senior years and career studies at northern Manitoba’s Frontier School Division from 2019 to 2024.

All but one trustee voted in favour of her appointment as the next chief superintendent of the Louis Riel School Division during a board meeting Tuesday.

The motion, which passed 7-1, sparked debate about whether a division known for its French programming should be led by an anglophone.

Trustee Pamela Kolochuk said someone who is tasked with leading “a division that is 33 per cent French” should be able to communicate in both of Canada’s official languages.

“I was originally going to abstain from the vote, but after seeing what I feel is a lack of thorough conversation and commitment to hiring a French-speaking candidate for the largest French community in Western Canada, I will be voting against the motion,” Kolochuk said.

Trustees Chris Sigurdson and Chipalo Simunyola both voiced their confidence in Connell’s leadership abilities.

Sigurdson said he has “absolute zero doubt” she has the expertise required to support all schools in St. Boniface and surrounding communities.

While noting she only speaks English, Connell said she is well-versed in the value of single-track French schools — a staple in the division.

Throughout her time in government, she has learned a lot from the Bureau de l’éducation française, she said.

Connell has spent much of the last two years working on an Indigenous languages strategy for kindergarten-to-Grade 12 education in Manitoba.

“I really do believe there’s an opportunity for some cross-collaboration and some learning when it comes to immersion,” she added.

Families and the division’s roughly 2,400-employee workforce were informed about the leadership change late Tuesday in a mass email signed by all trustees.

The memo describes Connell as someone who is approachable, community-oriented and “a bit of a disrupter (in the best and right way).”

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca