Many unknowns, lots of hope as Yukoners vote on First Nation school board

For Melanie Bennett, it's a "model of reconciliation," and it's worth a leap of faith.

She's spent the last few months as one of the most public advocates for a "yes" vote in a referendum now underway in several Yukon communities. The vote could deliver the most significant shake-up to the territory's education system in a generation.

The question: "Do you agree that this school should be operated by the Yukon First Nation School Board?"

Eligible voters — not just parents — in eight school attendance areas (two in Whitehorse, the rest in rural communities) can cast ballots this month. The voting period ends on Thursday and results are expected soon after.

"Currently, right now, we have been trying very hard to take this round-circle lens of Indigenous peoples and fitting it into this square peg called the colonial education system — and it has not worked," Bennett said.

"We're trying to create a very inclusive model. It's just led by our Indigenous pedagogies and philosophies." 

Bennett, who's from the Tr'ondëk Hwëch'in First Nation in Dawson City and is a former school administrator, now leads the Yukon First Nations Education Directorate. It was set up two years ago by a committee of Yukon First Nation chiefs, and is funded by the federal government through Jordan's Principle as well as the Yukon government. The directorate was established to push for more Indigenous control over education, and the proposed new school board has been a major part of its focus.

School boards are a fixture in many parts of the country, governed by elected trustees and tasked with operating local schools. Yukon currently has just one school board which oversees the territory's two francophone schools in Whitehorse. All other Yukon schools are operated directly by the department of education, with local school councils providing some input.

The referendum will determine whether it's time for something new. If even one school community votes "yes," the new board will be established and take over responsibility for that school — hiring staff, allocating resources, and shaping the curriculum starting next school year.

Once the board is in place, other schools could opt to join later.

'Grab the wheel and start to make the change'

Advocates for the school board argue that there's little to lose by adopting a new system, and a lot to gain. Lately they use a 2019 report from the auditor general of Canada to help make their case. 

That report painted a dismal picture of how the territory's education department was serving the needs of Indigenous and rural students. It said those students were less likely to complete high school, and more likely to drop out, and that the education department hadn't done enough over the years to understand why. 

Part of the problem, the report said, is that the department of education had not partnered with First Nations to develop effective programming.

Hearings at the Yukon legislative assembly this month suggest little has changed since that report.

According to Bennett, a new school board was seen by the Chiefs Committee on Education as a way for First Nations "to grab the wheel and start to make the change."

Bennett says the chiefs opted for that approach because it would require no legislative change. Yukon's Education Act allows for school boards, but only the francophone community has actually established one.

"This was one way we could move through this and start to work with government side by side to say, 'this is what it should look like,'" Bennett said.

"The chiefs … wanted that collaborative process and to move forward."

Darren McKee, executive director of the Saskatchewan School Boards Association, is paying attention to what happens this week. He's originally from the O-Chi-Cha-Ko-Sipi First Nation in Manitoba and he worked for many years in Saskatchewan's ministry of education. 

He says the new Yukon board would be unique, if it oversees education in several communities with different cultures and traditional languages. There are eight Indigenous languages spoken in Yukon. 

"I think, you know, across the country we'll be watching the Yukon carefully," he said. 

He's a firm believer in school boards as a way to give communities more control over their future. 

"I truly believe that education is the most important social endeavour we have, particularly as Indigenous people. And so, you know, you want to get it right," he said.

"The community becomes much more part of the education system, rather than a separate entity. The school isn't sort of just there and plopped in."

McKee also has words of advice.

"Make sure to resource the governance part effectively. Oftentimes, we don't think that it takes very much to do these sorts of things."

'Growing pains' ahead

McKee expects there will be some "growing pains" for a new board, and Melanie Bennett agrees. There will be mistakes along the way, she said.

"We have to figure that out and we have to have the room and the respect to be able to do that," Bennett said.

She's also eager to manage expectations, which she fears have become unrealistic for some. A new school board won't mean sudden, dramatic changes in the graduation rate for Indigenous students. 

It's a long road and this month's referendum is one more step along the way, she says.

Proponents describe a school board that will prioritize things like on-the-land and experiential learning, more Indigenous language instruction, and involvement of community elders, alongside the current curriculum. Community committees, set up by local First Nations and working with the trustees, will help set priorities and guide the direction of their local school.

In other words, referendum voters are being asked to support a concept, rather than a detailed education program. The leadership is also unknown — the board's five trustees will be elected later, and initially only Yukoners whose ancestors spoke a Yukon Indigenous language will be able to run.    

"We're advancing this forward. We also have to leave enough room for when the trustees are elected, that they're going to be able to design this," Bennett said. 

"That in itself is an Indigenous perspective, to say we need to wait till all the players are at the table ... and then set what the path is going to be forward."

Excitement and concerns

Under Yukon legislation, people in a school attendance area can petition the education minister to be part of a school board, and force a referendum. The vote must be held within 90 days. School board proponents acknowledge that's a tight window, and that some people have complained about feeling rushed by the process. 

Sarah Chisholm has heard those complaints in her community of Haines Junction, where the St. Elias Community School could be one of the first to join the new board. Chisholm is a parent of two young children not yet in school, and she welcomes the new board.

"I think there's a lot of excitement about the opportunity, for sure. And I also see a lot of concerns," she said.

"I hear a lot of concerns about this being a change that's moving too fast, about there not being enough information."

Chisholm herself has enough information to know she likes the idea. Her partner is Gwich'in from Old Crow and Chisholm says he grew up with a foot "in both worlds." 

"He has such a unique perspective that really is incredible. And if I can give that to my kids, I think if we can give that to all our kids and our community, I think we'll be in such a great place," she said.

Others in Haines Junction don't share Chisholm's optimism. Some online discussions have focused on who can or cannot elect trustees, and how community committees will be established. Chisholm believes the debate has revealed some deep divisions in her community.

It hasn't helped that most of the talk is online, she says. The Omicron wave prompted renewed restrictions on gatherings this month in Yukon so people have relied on social media or Zoom meetings for information. 

"I think people respond more thoughtfully and emotionally and are more empathetic to the people around them when you're actually physically in the room with them," she said.

"And I think that's a really important thing for hard conversations like this."