Yellowknife (Apr 25/03) - Yellowknife Education District 1 is set to provide administrative support to the Kaw Tay Whee school in Dettah.

Recently, the board voted to negotiate a contract between the district and the Dettah Education Authority.

"We don't make money off of this," Judith Knapp, education superintendent for Yellowknife Education District 1 told the board.

"We just give them our expertise ... I see this as a healthy partnership."

The Dogrib Community Service board has been providing the administrative services to the school since its inception in 1968, said Dettah Education Authority member Berna Martin.

The service board is pulling out at the end of June because the education authority needs the services and resources a larger school district like Yellowknife No. 1 could provide, said Martin.

The education authority would receive government funding for administrative costs and Yellowknife No.1 would bill them for their services, said Knapp.

Services include hiring, firing and managing teaching staff.

The working relationship is a natural one, said Greg Cummings, chief executive officer for the Dogrib Community Services Board. Cummings said Dettah students go to Yellowknife No. 1 high schools. The contract would provide "continuity" for students, he said.

The present Kaw Tay Whee school was built in 1998.

It's a one-room school with 10 students between kindergarten and Grade 8. But it has had as many as 25 students, said Cummings.

The contract would provide similar administrative support the district has been doing for the past five years at Ndilo's Kalemi Dene School.