It was a choppy start for the monthly School District 27 (SD 27) Board of Education meeting which took place on Oct. 22.
Four of the board’s seven trustees attended the meeting virtually, some cutting in and out including Mary Forbes, who said she was attending while in the forest with her cousins.
Trustees voted in Angie Delainey as the board’s new chair during the meeting and Mary Forbes was elected as vice-chair. Angie Delainey is also a councillor for the city of Williams Lake, which also has its meetings on Tuesday evenings.
Superintendent Cheryl Lenardon gave a preliminary update on student enrolment numbers, and the district’s director of instruction Sean Cameron presented data on student attendance rates. As of October, about 69 per cent of students in grade 12 did not meet the school’s “aggressive target” of 90 per cent attendance in a full year, but a recent two-week snapshot shows more positive results.
Cameron also invited Grant Gustafson, the district’s principal for Indigenous education, to speak at the October meeting about Bill 40, new provincial legislation requiring all districts in B.C. have an Indigenous education council. While SD 27 already has a committee of the board called First Nations Education Council, Gustafson said the council needs to be changed to a standalone body.
The district’s secretary-treasurer Brenda Hooker gave updates on current projects, noting the Lac La Hache playground’s soft surfacing would be installed in the following week and the Columneetza daycare/cafeteria project is en route to end by Dec. 31.
Members of the public were invited to address the board on items related to the agenda at the end of the meeting. One parent spoke about safe transportation to schools, while another spoke about the integration of Indigenous content into the curriculum. A few parents spoke out against racism and bullying in schools.
Three other parents were present at the meeting to feel things out and are hoping to facilitate access to extracurricular activities for students.
The Tribune is working on stories to follow up on the public’s concerns.
