Quesnel’s School District 28 is hoping to continue a unique hiring program it began in 2004. Its Employment Equity Program has allowed the district to stipulate that certain positions be open only to candidates of aboriginal ancestry, in order to support the achievement of aboriginal students in the district by providing role models and a better understanding of their experience.
The agreement for the program is set to expire in Feb. 2019, and the school district is currently seeking to renew it.
Director of instruction – human resources Perry Lofstrom said the program was unique to Quesnel, but now has gained in popularity and is being rolled out in other districts around the Province.
“We have been approached by other districts for our template of how we’ve applied this,” said Lofstrom during a Nov. 7 Board of Education meeting.
Upon discussion with school trustees, Lofstrom indicated that all applicants, no matter their ancestry, are held to the same standard when being considered for positions.
The program, granted by the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal, has allowed SD28 to hire people of aboriginal ancestry to its Aboriginal Education Department, with all aboriginal education support (AES) workers required to be of aboriginal descent – which they currently are, according to Lofstrom’s report.
The Human Rights Tribunal also allowed SD28 to put in place a special program stipulating all postings assigned to the Aboriginal Education Department require candidates be of aboriginal ancestry. Due to the special program, the district currently has five teachers that meet the qualifications.
Lofstrom said the district is currently in the middle of renewing the Employment Equity Programs, with the applications to be completed and sent to the Tribunal in early December.
“The intent of the program is to preferentially hire people with aboriginal ancestry into positions,” explained Lofstrom.
In his memo, he wrote: “By continuing to hire aboriginal staff who are able to serve as role models and who understand aboriginal culture, the district hopes that our system will continue to become more understanding of the academic and cultural needs of aboriginal students, which will contribute to improving the aboriginal graduation rate.”
The graduation rate of aboriginal students in the district based on six-year completion rates for June 2017 is 68 per cent, according to Lofstrom, which he said in the memo is well below the rates of non-aboriginal students. Approximately 29 per cent of students enrolled in SD28 are of aboriginal ancestry.
In addition to renewing its Employment Equity Program, SD28 is a partner in the University of British Columbia’s NITEP program, an Indigenous Teacher Education Program which was started to increase the number of teachers with aboriginal ancestry, as well as address educational issues pertinent to First Nations people.
Lofstrom wrote that the district has become a partner in order attract more teachers of aboriginal ancestry to the region. The relatively low number of aboriginal teachers means hiring is competitive.
Although the exact number of SD28 employees with aboriginal ancestry is unknown, Lofstrom said during the Nov. 7 meeting that the district had sent out a recent survey to staff allowing them to voluntarily identify themselves as having aboriginal ancestry.
The memo notes that without the special programs approved by the Tribunal, the district could be subject to discrimination lawsuits filed by non-aboriginal people denied employment based on not being of aboriginal ancestry.
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