Exshaw School with 99% Indigenous population saved from closure

A school west of Calgary catering almost entirely to Indigenous students that was facing possible closure due to a budget shortfall can stay open after all, officials announced on Thursday.

Exshaw School is a kindergarten to Grade 8 facility located in the hamlet of Exshaw, west of Calgary. Of the approximately 200 students who are enrolled, all but two are Indigenous.

The school has been funded with federal dollars since 1973. Under the current agreement, the Canadian Rockies Public Schools (CRPS) authority educates Stoney Nakoda First Nation children outside of that community based on requests from parents.

But in late August, the school authority received word from the federal government that the agreement would be terminated and a new agreement would need to be negotiated with the Stoney Education Authority and the government.

School officials told CBC News the proposed interim funding from Indigenous Services Canada would have been inadequate and the school faced closure.

On Thursday, the Stoney Education Authority and Canadian Rockies Public Schools said in a joint statement that they had struck a new three-year funding agreement with Indigenous Services Canada.

"This commitment will enable Exshaw School to continue to provide a quality education to families from the Stoney Nakoda Nation who choose to send their children to Exshaw School. Additionally, the commitment will support students from the Stoney Nakoda Nation who attend other CRPS schools to continue on the education path they have chosen," the statement said.

Rick Wilson, federal minister of Indigenous Relations, said the funding will keep the school going to the end of the 2023 school year.

"Exshaw School teachers won a 2019 Governor General's award for excellence in teaching last year," Wilson noted in a release. "It is this type of extraordinary work we look forward to seeing continue in the halls of the school for the 200 Indigenous pupils it serves."