Accountability and communication highlight School District 58’s renewed local education agreement with the Upper Nicola Band.
“Over the years we’ve pointed the finger at the school district that we have to do things differently at the school district level, and in this agreement we’re also looking at ourselves,” Upper Nicola Band Chief Harvey McLeod said.
He said the agreement calls for council and parents to be involved in their children’s education, and asks for accountability from all sides — parents, the school district the band and students themselves.
“It’s not only the responsibility of the school district, we have a responsibility in this as well,” McLeod said.
Representatives from the band and SD58 signed off on a five-year agreement at the N’Kwala School in Upper Nicola on Wednesday.
The local education agreement (LEA) goes into effect immediately, replacing the previous agreement that expired after a two-year shelf life.
The band and SD58 will meet quarterly to review the LEA progress and student data, something that wasn’t done under the old agreement.
The new LEA is the longest the two parties have ever signed, and that length is critical to having a plan in place long enough to get some results.
SD58 chairman Gordon Comeau said the previous agreements were traditionally only two years long and were already being renegotiated before ever being implemented.
“This agreement also encompasses responsibilities on both parties,” Comeau said. “What will they be doing here with their kids to ensure their successes and what can we do with their kids to ensure that success is accomplished.”
In order for the school district to secure federal funding for on-reserve students, it must develop a LEA with the local bands on how they’ll implement service.
Comeau said he thinks this renewed agreement allows them to better focus government funding earmarked for supporting aboriginal students.
The new agreement aims to have goals that are achievable, and promotes communication.
Goals include improving the literacy and numeracy of students between Kindergarten and Grade 4, include the band in the hiring process for staff and increasing the knowledge of local Syilx language and culture.
Other tasks in the LEA are informing and asking for consent from parents when a student change courses, ensuring students are being provided academic counselling that’s brought to the parents attention and dealing with attendance issues in a timely fashion, SD58 superintendent Steve McNiven said.
Communication between the band and the school district is a mandate of the LEA, which calls for the two parties to support each other in handling problems when on-reserve students are struggling in school.
SD58 students who live on the Upper Nicola reserve are a 45 minute drive away from Merritt, which makes supports difficult to provide.
“They just can’t stay after school, so those types of things are going to be given consideration, and there is funding for that type of stuff,” Comeau said.
McLeod said the two parties are committed to quickly identifying student that are struggling in school.
“We want these kids to be succeeding at a high rate,” McLeod said.
The band wants their students to be graduating at a higher level, which is also one of the goals outlined in the LEA.
“They are graduating, but we are losing some,” Mcleod said.
In 2014-15 the Upper Nicola Band had 43 students attending SD58 schools. That breaks down as 17 high school students, 18 intermediates and eight at the elementary level.
