By Cheryl Jahn

UPDATED: Lheidli T’enneh and McLeod Lake Indian Band seek audit

Feb 1, 2021 | 11:22 AM

PRINCE GEORGE – The Lheidli T’enneh and the McLeod Indian Band want a forensic audit of where School District has spent the money for Aboriginal Education.

Both Nations have Local Education Agreements that require SD57 to report annually on how funds were spent.

However, they allege, to date, this requirement has not been adhered to. LEAs cover the education and support provided to on-reserve students.

They note that “graduation rates in SD57 are proving to be extremely low for all students. Over the last five years, the graduation rate for Indigenous students has ranged from 39-52%. Comparatively, over the same time frame, the graduation rate for non-Indigenous students has ranged from 67-79%. The Nations think that the funding they provide to SD57, should be going to educational supports for their students to produce better graduation outcomes and student success.”

“Our communities and SD57 will then be able to clearly see where things need to improve or change,” says Dayi Clay Pountley, Chief of the Lheidli T’enneh. “This is about trust. This is about the relationship between SD57 and First Nations. Our job as leaders is to support our students in every way possible. We need to assure our members that when they send their kids to school, every support possible is given to their children to help them succeed.”

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He says, based on the graduation rates, if all of the dollars allocated are being spent as they have been assigned, then clearly, they are not being spent well.

In a statement issued today, Chair of the Board of Education writes:

“On January 15, 2021 School District No.57 (Prince George) Board of Education received a joint letter from the Mcleod Lake Indian Band and the Lheidli T’enneh Nation requesting that a forensic audit report be provided related to all targeted dollars and annual Local Education Agreement (LEA) dollars. Each year, the District’s annual financial statements are subject to an audit and are submitted to the Ministry of Education. In the past few years, additional reporting has been prepared and submitted to the Ministry of Education specifically in relation to the targeted Indigenous funding received by the District. At this time, the District is working to determine the scope and nature of the request as well as to establish who will cover the expenses attached to this endeavour.”

While the Acting Superintendent of School District 57 writes:

“School District No. 57 Prince George, acknowledges the gap between Indigenous and Non Indigenous student graduation rates is of concern. The highest 5-year completion rate for Indigenous learners is 55%; this is in comparison to Non- Indigenous learners at 84%. As part of our analysis, we examine the 6-year completion rates. The six- year completion rate is the percent of grade 8 students who graduate within 6 years of starting high school. Our 6 –year completion rate for Indigenous learners has been as high as 66% and continues to be within that range.”

“We know we need to do better, thus we focus our initiatives and planning on specific goals aimed towards improving the results of our Indigenous learners at all levels. We acknowledge that increasing graduation rates depends on working collaboratively with our local First Nations and greater Indigenous communities. ”