School District 57 Board Chair Trent Derrick presented a Local Education Agreement with Takla Nation at the most recent board meeting.
The five-year agreement was then passed unanimously after being in the works for two years.
According to Takla’s Education Councilor William Korolyk, this signing is something that has never been done before.
“We have worked with the District for a few years in negotiation to make this agreement a possibility,” says Korolyk, “it will give us a better understanding of what our Nation needs from the School District to support all our students, particularly those that are coming out of the reserve to attend schools in Prince George.”
Additionally, Korolyk says the agreement will provide opportunities for Takla Nation to band together with the District on different areas of First Nations’ student success.
Takla representatives and SD57 staff met numerous times over the course of two years to develop the agreement, detailing the commitments and responsibilities within the document.
The details surround academics, culture, language, emotional and physical learning.
This is the third LEA signed by SD57 after the district signed agreements with Lheidli T’enneh First Nation and McLeod Lake Indian Band in 2017.
New agreements will need to be re-negotiated in the upcoming school year.
“This is a joyous occasion,” added SD57 Vice-Chair Shuirose Valimohamed.