The Local - Thursday, May 24, 2012 3
Aboriginal education, the Sechelt Indian Band and SD#46 have such a hard time communicating—but if we can’t book any meetings how can we develop a relationship? Our Board takes full responsibility for finding ourselves in this catch-22. Before it sounds worse than it is, I should clarify that our School District has productive staff-to-staff relationships with the Band. We have excellent cultural programs in our schools designed, administered and coordinated by both organizations. But for our Sechelt Nation and other Aboriginal students to consistently achieve better than provincial averages (which have plateaued at about a 50 per cent school completion rate for Aboriginal students), we need our entire organization engaged in improving our educational experience and services for Aboriginal students, starting with our elected Board. We made a first step by announcing in 2009 a Strategic Plan goal to build “a collaborative and substantive relationship with the Sechelt Indian Band, including a more coordinated approach to Sechelt Nation education, articulated in a signed Enhancement Agreement”. And when we were hiring a new superintendent last year, we ensured the successful candidate met
Education Matters Silas White Chair, School District #46 School Board
A
boriginal education has been on our trustees’ minds a lot in recent weeks. In late April, several of us attended the BC School Trustees Association’s AGM, which celebrated successes and best practices in Aboriginal education from around the province. Soon after returning from this event, we were publicly criticized by the Sechelt Indian Band for not consulting them before reassigning two principals. We did in fact, and rather persistently, request a conversation with the Band on staffing, but during a short decisionmaking timeframe of a couple weeks our schedules didn’t line up. So we eventually got our input—just after the decision, which is no good for either party. This situation exemplifies a deplorable reality that has been the case for at least a decade and probably forever: the Board of Education of School District #46 does not have a functioning, ongoing political relationship with the Sechelt Indian Band. If we had a relationship, we surely wouldn’t
selection criteria that emphasized experience and understanding in First Nations education. Responding to our Board’s strong interest in Aboriginal education, our superintendent has identified structural changes that need to be made for our Board and senior management to take on more direct responsibility for Aboriginal student achievement. We must be more accountable, which I’m sure the Sechelt Nation does not disagree with. We are scheduled to meet with Chief and Council this week. With renewed vigour expressed by both sides, we look forward to working towards a relationship where difficulties in setting up meetings and complaints of consultation are soon relegated to the
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