The Grand Erie District School Board (GEDSB) gave a progress report update to Six Nations Elected Council on the 2022/23 school year on Tuesday and noted that senior students are still being impacted by the pandemic.
The update is part of the Education Services Agreement the school board has with Indigenous Services Canada, however, GEDSB says they feel its important to share the information with council given that most of the students tracked in the report are from Six Nations.
GEDSB broke down where the Six Nations students are attending high school: Mackinnon Park Secondary School (170) in Caledonia was where the majority of the student population on Six Nations were attending, Hagersville Secondary School (116) was next, followed by Brantford Collegiate Institute (77), Tollgate Technological Centre (23), and Pauline Johnson Collegiate & Vocational School (21).
The school board says that, currently, Six Nations high school students have a lower graduation rate than the rest of the combined student population of GEDSB.
Kevin Graham, GEDSB Superintendent of Education, spoke on this and says the school board is focused on continuing its work to meet the needs of its students.
"We do know there is some continued next steps in terms of supporting students as they navigate graduation," he said.
"As each student comes into the school, every student has a different story, every student has a different background. And part of what we're doing in Grand Erie is to ensure that we're meeting the needs of each student. so supporting them through our staff, supporting them through the district itself in terms of what each student needs, is that next step and we know we have some continued work to do."
The report detailed that Six Nations students for credit accumulation during the past school year were as follows:
- Grade 9 credit accumulation success - 44%
- Grand 10 credit accumulation success - 40%
- Grade 11 credit accumulation success - 34%
- Grade 12 credit accumulation success - 45%
Graham says the Grade 9, 10, and 12 percentages have all been able to maintain a consistent level or increase in terms of the success rate. But when speaking on the low percentage of Grade 11 students, he says its important to take into account the effect that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on that group.
"Recognizing where our current Grade 11s were back when they were in Grade 8, back when they were in Grade 7, what was going on in the world at that time. We know that there's continued support around students, and one factor of course would be something such as COVID-19."
Coun. Audrey Powless Bomberry says she has sat on the GEDSB Six Nations Advisory Committee for the past seven years and spoke on the growth she's been able to see in that time.
"It's quite wonderful to see," she said.
"We've come a long way in 7 years. We have our counselors, who are absolutely amazing, raising their voices and having their voices heard. Youth are having their voices heard, and from what I can tell Grand Erie is listening to them."
Six Nations Elected Council accepted the presentation on the 2022/23 Education Services Agreement from GEDSB as information during the Oct. 24 General Council meeting.
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