A petition circulating in School District 8 is raising concerns about planned changes to Indigenous education staffing in elementary and middle schools, but the district said the shift is intended to strengthen supports for students.
The petition claims Indigenous education teacher positions are being eliminated and replaced with support staff roles, known as education assistants, and said families and community members were not properly consulted.
“School District 8 (SD8) has announced that it will eliminate all Indigenous Education teacher positions in elementary and middle schools for the 2026-2027 school year, including Trafalgar, South Nelson, Rosemont, Hume, Wildflower, WEG, and Blewett,” the petition reads.
“These roles will be replaced with support-only positions (EAs). This decision was made without consulting Indigenous families, students, or the affected school communities.”
However, SD8 superintendent Trish Smillie disputed those characterizations, saying the changes reflect a shift in service model rather than cuts to programming.
She said SD8’s approach is focused on “student belonging, cultural safety, cultural humiliy, language identify and meaningful engagement” with Indigenous students and families.
“The intention is not to reduce Indigenous education, but to broaden access to Indigenous-focused supports and increase the presence of Indigenous staff working directly with students in school communities,” said Smillie.
She added that Indigenous education teachers and support staff play “different but complimentary roles” in schools and that SD8 is seeing an overall increase in Indigenous education support.
However, Smillie did not provide specific details on how staffing levels will change at individual schools or confirm whether teacher positions are being reduced or restructured.
The petition also raised concerns about consultation with Indigenous families and school communities on the changes.
“They did not visit the Nelson schools before making this decision. No Sinixt or Nelson area representation was included in the process. The new model they have scheduled is based on a model from Creston schools. Nelson is not Creston,” the petition reads.
Smillie said such consultation occurs through the district’s Indigenous Education Council, which includes representatives from local First Nations and the Métis community and provides guidance on Indigenous education planning and oversight.
She said the council’s work, along with the school board, guides Indigenous education programming in the district.
“The IEC was enacted and they provide guidance and oversight and approval relative to Indigenous education plans, targeted funding, and reporting,” she said.
Smillie said concerns raised by families over the changes will continue to be “attended to” through ongoing communication between the district, the IEC and the board of education.
“Through that work, I know that our connections to families and hearing those concerns will be attended to. And we look forward to ensuring that we have good communication to those concerns moving forward.”
She emphasized that the petition’s messaging around “cuts to aboriginal education in SD8 related to the budget” is incorrect.
“It was suggested that Indigenous education was more a budget exercise instead of a relationship-based commitment,” said Smillie.
“It’s not related to budget, any shifts that are happening. The changes being implemented are being developed to strengthen student engagement and expand relationship building opportunities and improve culturally responsive support across schools.”
As for the upcoming school year, Smillie said SD8 will still offer Aboriginal education programs, including Indigenous education spaces in schools where they have already been in place.
“In elementary schools, they [students] may see more supportive Indigenous education staff available in their schools and in secondary schools,” she said.
“There’s been no change, it’s more of a strengthening and enhancement of Indigenous education programming across our district with a bit of a shift to prioritize language, cultural learning, and cultural safety and humility learning.”
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