First Nation Grand Chiefs and members of First Nation Education Authorities across Alberta should consider the creation of a Treaty-based Attendance Board as a way to help raise Alberta aboriginal student academic and attendance levels. Under this proposal, the Grand Chiefs may wish to ask the federal and provincial government to fund a Treaty-based First Nation Attendance Board to hear appeals brought by each First Nation school authority.
This proposal for a fully funded First Nation Attendance Board would put teeth and resources to the historic February 23, 2010, Government of Canada, Government of Alberta and the Assembly of Treaty Chiefs in Memorandum of Understanding for First Nations Education in Alberta. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) provides a common vision for strengthening learning and educational success for First Nation learners in Alberta. The MOU provides a framework for collaboration to support a range of education-related issues including parental and community engagement, Treaty and cultural awareness, and on-going work on tuition and education service agreements. If the MOU is to bring significant change in local First Nation classrooms, resources and mechanisms must be considered to deal with endemic issues such as student truancy, bullying and youth in trouble with the law. Without concrete strategies that directly impact on classroom and school practices, the tripartite MOU may do little more than provide for leaders at all three levels of government to meet for photo opportunities and grand press releases.
The Attendance Board proposal is meant to empower local classroom students, teachers and education authorities. The lower attendance levels of First Nation students when compared with their provincial peers is a major contributing factor to lower performance and academic acquisition levels and an abnormally high rate of drop out levels among First Nation school students. So many of our Alberta First Nation students are absent from schools that by the time many reach junior high and high school too many students have missed from 180 to over 360 instructional days or the equivalent of one to two years of schooling.
Absenteeism has a particularly negative impact on the acquisition of mathematics and science skills since these disciplines demand sequential mastery of key concepts. In the humanities, English and Social Studies, the impact is the same since absenteeism contributes to the steady decline in student performance levels from as early as Grade 3 onward to Grade 12. Each First Nation School and the Alberta Regional Offices of Northern and Indian Affairs have access to the deplorably low attendance levels. The annual efforts of isolated First Nation school authorities to raise attendance levels could be helped if each Treaty Area had an Attendance Board to hear appeals related to repeated and systematic truancy, absenteeism due to parent lack of involvement or follow-up. Currently, unlike their provincial counterparts, local First Nation school authorities have no recourse for follow-up beyond their local community school level. The various strategies and incentives have short term impacts but do little to deal with the annual truancy and long-term efforts to combat absenteeism. Further, due to the extended family systems, limited local school resources and lack of inter-school authority jurisdictional coordination, the more severe cases of absenteeism are not being dealt with in other than an ad hoc manner.
Researchers have repeatedly shown that truancy is often the first visible sign of other problems a student may be experiencing. In most cases, truancy problems are resolved at the local school level where students, parents and school board employees can work together before there is a need to involve an application to a provincial Attendance Board. Where a truancy problem cannot be resolved locally, this proposal argues that a First Nation school authority should have a mechanism for referring the matter to a Treaty-based Attendance Board for assistance and a ruling.
Who Is On The Attendance Board?
The First Nation Attendance Board and panels of specialists drawn from it should be made up of aboriginal elders and professionals recommended by the Grand Chiefs and approved and funded under the current Memorandum of Understanding signed by the three Alberta Grand Chiefs, federal and provincial governments. First Nation Members (elders and professionals) may come from many walks of life; they may be First Nation parents, lawyers, school board employees, school directors of education or superintendents, members of the general public with experiences in dealing with First Nation youth, retired aboriginal educators, business people and other professionals. Attendance Board panels of two to five members should be convened to hear an attendance case referred by a First Nation school authority and dealing with youth between the ages of 6 to 16 years.
When a student who is under 16 years of age fails to attend school as required by law, the local First Nation school authority may ask for a panel of the First Nation Attendance Board to deal with the matter. This is currently available to public and separate school boards and should be extended to all students attending First Nation administered schools at each Treaty area. |
The Authority of This FN Attendance Board could be a Modified Model of the Alberta System
The Treaty-based Attendance Board and the panels drawn from it should have teeth and authority. By this, I mean the same power as the Court of Queen's Bench to summon witnesses and obtain information and records as is provided by its provincial counterpart. The panel may direct the student to attend school or to take an education program or course funded by the federal government beyond the current nominal roll provision and September 30th deadline.
Under the proposal, this impartial Treaty-based First Nation panel may direct the parents to send the student to school. And, the panel may even impose a graduated schedule of fines on parents not exceeding $100/day up to a maximum of $1000. The panel may give any direction to the student, parent, or school that it considers appropriate and enforce that ruling by registering its order in the Court of Queen's Bench. The order then becomes an order of the Court. Failure to obey the order may result in contempt of court charges being brought against the student or others. By creating an impartial and graduated system of consequences it is hoped that parents and students would dramatically decrease repeated incidents of truancy between the ages of 6 and 16. Also, pressure will be put on school officials to demonstrate that they have documented and followed-up on incidents of truancy, individualized student academic rescue plans, bullying and major repeated misbehaviors. By dealing with student and family support issues early, it is hoped that all stakeholders can lower the unacceptably high rates of truancy and student misbehaviors that impact on the delivery of quality learning and teaching opportunities.
What Does A First Nation Attendance Board Panel Do?
A Treaty-based First Nation Panel, acting in a quasi-judicial capacity, will subpoena the truant student, parents, social worker, school administrator, counselor, teachers and anyone whom the panel feels can shed light on why the student is not attending school. The panel may also subpoena documents such as the student’s school record, psychological or medical reports, etc. On a date set for the hearing, the panel will question the parties and witnesses and study the documents. After obtaining all the details of a particular case, the panel will explore options and strategies, decide what the best course of action will be, draft an Order and order the student, parents and other local authorities to obey this decision.
What Rulings Are Issued by a FN Attendance Board or Panel?
The First Nation Panel may decide that the student will return to the same school as originally attended. Or the panel may direct the student to attend a different school or, with the agreement of the parents, a home education program. The panel may order through a referral under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act that a local Children’s Services branch intervene in some way, or that other agencies become involved: for example, a First Nation Tribal or provincial AADAC agency. The Attendance Board panel will decide, on the basis of all the facts before it, on an education program or direction which is in the best interests of the student.
If First Nation leaders and education authorities want further details related to this proposal please contact me. The First Nation Attendance Board proposal is a way to assist local First Nation school authorities with a formal back-up appeal and remedial system that is adequately funded. It is a new tool for having First Nation role models in Alberta work collaboratively with federal and provincial governments as provided in the Memorandum of Understanding.
As we approach our fourth decade of Indian Control of Indian Education, there are many First Nation role models, professionals, experienced elders and retired FN teachers and administrators whose experiences can be brought to bear to lower repeated incidents of truancy, drug or alcohol abuse or school bullying. A proactive approach will contribute to raising First Nation high school completion and graduation levels and may even lower incidents of students in trouble with the law.
