Second delegate on regional education council and more money for bus service among demands
Derek Neary
Northern News Services
Fort Simpson (Apr 13/01) - Fort Simpson has requested a second delegate at Deh Cho Education Council (DEC) meetings.
Shane Thompson, chair of the Fort Simpson District Education Authority (DEA) said Fort Simpson has nearly half of the region's student population, yet the community's education concerns aren't adequately addressed with only one of eight seats at the regional table.
Fort Simpson suffers from being tied into the Department of Education's regional funding formula, resulting in unacceptable teacher-pupil ratios, he said.
"There has been discussion that maybe we could look into our own DEC, as Hay River has done," Thompson said. "We just don't feel that we're getting our fair shake from the government."
Allan Landry, chair of the DEC, noted that Hay River's attempt to get its own DEC hasn't been successful. He said the Deh Cho's regional council has offered to help get the GNWT's attention for Fort Simpson's concerns.
"They've got to remember that we're a region here. We've got to think like a region," Landry said.
As for getting an extra delegate at the DEC, the DEA has to petition the minister of education with support from the DEC. But Landry noted that no other education council in the NWT has allotted two seats to a single community, and the idea didn't seem to be acceptable to delegates at Friday's DEC meeting.
"'If they get one then we want another one,' other communities said that," Landry noted.
He also pointed out that the DEC has designated $217,000 over budget for Fort Simpson's schools, which he said is proof Fort Simpson is not being overlooked.
"Two hundred and seventeen thousand is not peanuts," he said.
Thompson said the extra money is appreciated, but statistics indicate the Fort Simpson is still being shortchanged.
Transportation issues
The Fort Simpson DEA is also contending that the Department of Education's funding formula for student transportation grossly underestimates the costs of providing the service.
The GNWT used to administer transportation expenses, but that was turned over to the Deh Cho Education Council, which has been covering cost over-runs ever since, according to Landry. The service is to be further off-loaded to the Fort Simpson DEA when the bus current contract expires in three years. However, the proposed $26,196 per year isn't nearly enough, Thompson said.
Landry replied, "It's getting to the point where the DEA's got to take responsibility and make some hard choices."
Nearly 60 Fort Simpson students ride the bus on a regular basis, 30 to 35 per cent of the school population.
At Friday's DEC meeting, Landry said council decided to table the issue until the Fort Simpson DEA submits an alternative plan, as its letter to the DEC indicates it would do. Thompson said that plan is in the works.
