This is a joint release with the Department of Education, the First Nation School Board and Elections Yukon .
Information on the process for other schools to join the First Nation School Board is now available. Between January 5 and 30, 2023, school councils can submit a resolution – or school communities can submit a petition signed by 20 per cent of eligible electors – to request their school join the First Nation School Board.
In school attendance areas where resolutions or petitions are submitted, a referendum vote will follow in February 2023. The referendum process provides the broader school community with the opportunity to vote on whether or not the school will join the First Nation School Board in the 2023–24 school year.
Elections Yukon will oversee the referendum and voting process on behalf of the Minister of Education.
Resolutions and petitions can be submitted directly to the Minister’s office or to the Department of Education’s School Council Liaison, Lori Choquette (lori.choquette@yukon.ca). School councils and school community members can also reach out to the School Council Liaison with questions about the resolution or petition process.
Our government is committed to ensuring school communities have the opportunity to choose if their school is administered by a school council or a school board, as per the Education Act. The Department of Education continues to work with Yukon First Nations and the First Nation School Board to advance reconciliation in meaningful ways, create strong learning opportunities for First Nations children, and increase access for students in all Yukon schools to gain valuable skills and experiences through learning about First Nations ways of knowing, doing and being.”
Minister of Education Jeanie McLean
The trustees of the First Nation School Board look forward to working closely with school communities that choose to join our school board. We are proud to offer a student-centered, academically-robust, community-controlled alternative to the status quo that helps promote reconciliation by offering BC Curriculum through programming and assessment methodology grounded in Yukon First Nations worldview. Already, we are seeing the positive effect on student outcomes in our FNSB schools.”
Chair of Trustees First Nation School Board Dana Tizya-Tramm,
Referendums provide an opportunity for electors to have direct input into a decision. Elections Yukon is pleased to administer the referendum vote this February 2023 for those schools which look to join the First Nation School Board. Eligibility to vote in an attendance area is the same as for a school council election. Check out electionsyukon.ca for more information. Your vote matters.”
Chief Electoral Officer Max Harvey
The Chiefs Committee on Education conceived of the First Nation School Board as a way to promote reconciliation and improve student outcomes for all Yukon students, no matter their ancestry. Yukon First Nations leaders and chiefs had long been asking for a collaborative approach to education where Yukon First Nations share authority over education – and in the First Nation School Board, we now see all children thrive under this inclusive, child-centered and holistic approach to education.”
Ta’an Kwachan Council and Co-Chair of Chiefs Committee on Education Chief Amanda Leas
The Agreement Respecting Education and the Establishment of a First Nation School Board in Yukon was signed by 10 Yukon First Nations in June 2021 and allowed for the creation of a First Nation School Board using the processes outlined in the Education Act.
The First Nation School Board was established in February 2022 and operates eight schools in the Yukon.
Five trustees were elected to the First Nation School Board in November 2022.
The Minister of Education will accept resolutions or petitions requesting a school be governed by the First Nation School Board until 4 pm on January 30, 2023.
Elections Yukon will oversee the referendum process from February 16 to 27, 2023.
Where referendums are held, electors will be able to vote by mail, in-person at their school, with the local Referendum Officer, or at the Elections Yukon office. Additional details on the referendum process will be made available after the January 2023 submission period closes.
Renée Francoeur
Cabinet Communications
867-334-9194
renee.francoeur@yukon.ca
Erin Scott
Communications, Education
867-332-6481
erin.scott@yukon.ca
Katharine Sandiford
Communications, First Nation School Board
867-333-4011
katharine.sandiford@yfned.ca
Colleen Madore
Assistant Chief Electoral Officer, Elections Yukon
867-667-8683
colleen.madore@electionsyukon.ca