After years of consultation, School District 27 and Tsq’éscen’ First Nation have signed a Local Education Agreement (LEA).
The LEA was signed on Feb. 21 by representatives of SD27 and Tsq’éscen’ including education senior manager Michelle Archie, Tsq’éscen’ councillors Edward Dixon, Maryanne Archie, and Delores Archie, SD27 superintendent Chris van der Mark and Grant Gustafson district principal for indigenous education. Under this new agreement Tsq’éscen’ and SD27 will work together to provide the best possible education outcomes for indigenous students.
“It’s been nice to see all that work come to fruition. It’s a pretty special occasion when you see both organizations working so closely,” van der Mark said. “It’s more than an agreement, it’s more about the relationship and it’s really quite a powerful opportunity to be down in the community and hear from members of council about what changes they’re seeing and that they’re for the best. Together we can do more still.”
Discussion of the LEA first started in 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined it for several years. In recent months Michelle and Gustafson have worked tirelessly to ensure the agreement follows Tsq’éscen’’s core values of mutual respect, consensus building and maintaining a focus on the goal of academic and personal success for Nominal Roll students. This includes members of Tsq’éscen’ living both in the community and those living outside of it attending SD27 schools.
Gustafson was happy to sign the LEA with Tsq’éscen’, noting there are 11 bands throughout SD27 he works closely with. He said the LEA works on the philosophy statement of “making a difference, together” in line with the United Nations Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous People.
“I look at my role as making sure every indigenous student in the district graduates with dignity, purpose and options. I work with different communities and establish relationships with the principals to make things better for indigenous students,” Gustafson explained.
van der Mark noted that when he took on the superintendent role at SD27 five years ago they only had one or two LEAs signed with local First Nations. Tsq’éscen’ marks the eighth LEA they’ve signed with a First Nation.
“There are some nations who don’t want them but where they do want them our team is working hard to make sure that it happens,” van der Mark said. “While the agreement is with the school district, so much of that work is still between the school, the family and the community. What is really making a difference it the schools embracing and leading into the relationship with their families and students, that is what will ultimately make it work.”
On a practical level an LEA lays out how both the school district and community can work together to improve educational outcomes for Tsq’éscen’ students, Gustafson explained, with the ultimate goal being they graduate with a full Dogwood Diploma.
Gustafson said Tsq’éscen’ will have input on the curriculum for their students and the hiring of staff. The LEA also serves as an accountability document with provincial funding for Tsq’éscen’ students now flowing through the band to SD27.
“There are some unique key parts we negotiated in. For example, Eliza Archie Memorial School teachers are now entitled to use our indigenous resources and curriculum we have,” Gustafson remarked.
As part of the LEA Gustafson and Michelle will meet at least four times a year to go over the progress of the students reviewing their course completion and attendance. If changes need to be made to better support students they will be done at that time.
Michelle thanked the education team for the work, commitment and dedication they put into drafting the LEA. She noted that this LEA will last until June 2026, with a new LEA to be negotiated during the next two years.
“I think it’s a very exciting time to be in education and I’m happy to be a part of it. I’m very happy Michelle Archie is such a wonderful person,” Gustafson said. “Tsq’éscen’ is lucky to have her working in that role because she advocates well for their school and kids.”
