Nisichawayasihk Cree Nation (NCN) students had a late start to the 2016-17 school year, beginning classes Sept. 26 after a faulty fire alarm panel forced Otetiskiwin School to close down for two-and-a-half weeks.
The school closed Sept. 7 and replacement of the panel took longer than anticipated, said Gail Gossfeld-McDonald, the new education director for the Nisichawayasi Nehetho Culture and Education Authority Inc. (NNCEA).
Due to renovations at Nisichawayasihk Neyo Ohtinwak Collegiate (NNOC) high school, elementary and high school students are all attending classes at Otetiskiwin School for the first semester, with the elementary students going from 8:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and the high school classes being held from 2:45 p.m. to 8:45 p.m.
Gossfeld-McDonald took over as education director Sept. 6, one of numerous recent changes for the NCN education system, including a new name, a new educational bylaw and a new school board.
“It’s a brand new school year with new direction and we are optimistic it will be the best ever with even more successful graduates,” said Gossfeld-McDonald, who graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1982, and has been a teacher and administrator in several school divisions, as well as a school board trustee, a band councillor and has served on several other community boards. The seventh director of the education authority in NCN, Gossfeld-McDonald has also lived in Winnipeg and Wabowden and can relate to the challenges her students face, having struggled with poverty, domestic violence, being a high school dropout and racism and discrimination in the past.
Affiliated with the NCN education system for more than 30 years, Gossfeld-McDonald, who holds bachelors and master’s degrees in education, is also familiar with the challenges facing Nelson House schools.
“There have been many obstacles we must overcome and immediate concerns that must be addressed,” she says. “Lack of funding for all needed programs and space required for the ever-increasing attending students is critical. The design of the school has funding and functionality concerns and must be fixed. We must seek funding from Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada and other sources to provide a new high school while making the existing school safe and operational for students and staff. We must also ensure NNCEA policies and procedures are up to date.”
Given the disparity in funding for on-reserve schools and those in the provincial system – federal First Nations schools get $5,429 per student while Manitoba provincial schools get about $12,500 - Gossfeld-McDonald says it is vital that parents ensure their children are registered and showing up.
“If your child is not registered and in school on Sept. 30, educational funding dollars for your child are lost,” she says. “When school is open, it is vital to send your children to school. Student attendance is too low. Parents need to get their children to school on time daily.”
