INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES OF THE MEETING HELD Tuesday, January 22, 2019 @ 11:00 a.m. Schumacher Board Office – with v/c to NLBO Committee Members Present: Howard Archibald - First Nations Trustee – DSB Ontario North East and Chair of IPAC Arline Chasle - Director of Education, Timiskaming First Nation (v/c NLBO) Rose Thomas - Education Officer, Matachewan First Nation (t/c until 11:33 a.m.) Neil Iserhoff - Education Director, Taykwa Tagamou Nation Val Fuller - Trustee, DSB Ontario North East (v/c NLBO) Committee Members Absent: Cathy Naveau - Education Director, Mattagami First Nation Lynn Mongrain - Representative, Temagami First Nation Margaret Edwards - representative, Wahgoshig First Nation Steve Meunier - Trustee, DSB Ontario North East Administration Present: Lesleigh Dye - Director of Education, District School Board Ontario North East (v/c NLBO) Lisa Innes - Vice Principal, Indigenous Education Administration Absent: Pearl Fong-West - Superintendent of Business and Finance Resource Persons & Guests Present Anne Commando-Dube - Education Partnership Liaison, Wabun Tribal Council Audrey McLaren - Education Partnership Coordinator, Timiskaming First Nation(v/c from New Liskeard Board Office) Jack Solomon - Executive Director, Kapuskasing Indian Friendship Centre Resource Persons & Regular Guests -Absent Bernice Brunette - Executive Director, Ininew Indian Friendship Centre, Cochrane Chris McKay - Wawatay First Nation James Wesley - Director of Education, Kashechewan First Nation Derek McKay - Student Success Coordinator, Mattagami First Nation Marcia Chum-Sackenay - UAHL worker, Kapuskasing Indian Friendship Centre Mickayla Bird - Executive Director, Timmins Native Friendship Centre Kim Drouin - Co-Executive Director, Timmins Native Friendship Centre Irene Tomatuk - Director of Education, Mushkegowuk Council Recording Secretary Susan Allen, Executive Assistant to Lesleigh Dye, Director of Education (v/c NLBO) Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee Meeting 2019 01 22 – Minutes Page 2 1.0 Call to Order The meeting was called to order at 11:09 a.m. by Howard Archibald, Chair of the Committee. Introductions were made from both locations. Director of Education Lesleigh Dye acknowledged the meeting on the territory of the Nishnawbe Aski Nation. 2.0 Smudge With only 5 Committee members present in the Schumacher Board Office, the decision was made to postpone the Smudge to a future meeting. 3.0 Approval of the Agenda ADD, under Other Business, item (iii), DRAFT 2019-2020 School Year Calendar MOVED by A. Chasle seconded by N. Iserhoff THAT the Agenda be approved as amended. CARRIED 4.0 Minutes of November 9, 2018 MOVED by A. Chasle seconded by R. Thomas THAT the minutes of the IPAC meeting held November 9, 2018 be approved. CARRIED Director Lesleigh Dye indicated that, further to items discussed at the last meeting, she and Howard will be working on the Policy and Procedures for IPAC and on further delineating our Indigenous community partners. 5.0 Business Arising from the Minutes 6.0 Education Services Agreements (ESAs): Howard shared that communities will be working on their Education Service Agreements (formally called Tuition Agreements); With all Agreements now expired, Lesleigh and Lisa Innes will be reaching out to all communities with a template to share with Councils; Lesleigh noted that some communities are not up to date with payments; Howard noted that First Nations’ communities have access to templates from their Tribal Council and/or the Chiefs of Ontario Office; the template is a guide that can be amended with specifics for each First Nation; Education Service Agreements should be worked on together before signed; today, he asked those communities working on them to send him their potential effective date … either he or Lesleigh can assist with the documents before Chief and Council sign them; funds are received from Indigenous Services Canada (ISC, formerly Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada or INAC); some agreements are 1-2 years, others are 5 years; others can be done annually, all as per what works best for the individual First Nation; Lesleigh added that, with this in mind, she and Lisa Innes are looking forward to hearing from each FN community to ensure all ESAs are hopefully signed by the end of June 2019, adding that, as a Board, we welcome 2-3 year agreements which could be reviewed annually; Howard informed all members present that one topic at Ontario Public School Boards’ Association (OPSBA) Public Education Symposium (PES) will be Education Services Agreements… he is hoping to receive information/resources at the sub-meeting of the Indigenous Trustee Council later this week in Toronto to share with our IPAC member communities. 7.0 Future Community Visits: Howard suggested that, once weather improves, we will discuss having our IPAC meetings hosted in one or more of our communities – any thoughts or comments on proposed Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee Meeting 2019 01 22 – Minutes Page 3 dates (in April, May, early Fall), and whether meetings would be in person or by v/c to the community are welcome! 8.0 Indigenous Portfolio News/Updates: i. Teacher Professional Learning Lisa Innes reported some sessions have commenced as we partner with different portfolios to support teacher learning (supporting students writing the Ontario Secondary School Literacy Test, digital story-telling, reconciliation through Collaborative Inquiry for elementary teachers Board-wide with one day in each if February, March, April). ii. Upcoming Student Support sessions (Lisa I) There will be mentoring of new teachers, especially in Kirkland Lake DCS February 15th - Mental Health & Well-Being event will be hosted in Kapuskasing Friendship Centre with secondary students (9-12) attending from Cochrane HS & KDHS – Cody Sackenay will be guest (originally from Timiskaming First Nation) - feedback has included how to align the “5 ways to well-being” program with 4 teachings of the Medicine Wheel. iii. New staff for Indigenous education (positions to support Timiskaming First Nation, Wahgoshig First Nation, additional Indigenous Student Advisor for COCPS, new staff for the Timmins area) (Lesleigh) Lesleigh shared the Board approval of additional support for Indigenous students, including adding an Indigenous Student Advisor (ISA) at RMSS, having an ISA working in the community of Wahgoshig FN, and adding an elementary ISA at Cochrane Public School; For Temiskaming FN, support will include 2 additional sections being added for students who may have attendance problems in attending at TDSS. iv. Kevin Lamoureux – Kevin will be the guest speaker for staff and guests on the April 8th, 2019 Professional Activity day, from 9:00-12:00 Lesleigh reminded all IPAC members and FN community members may attend in person at Timmins High or by v/c from the nearest high school; IPAC members will be sent another reminder email and are asked to reply to Susan of the location they and their community members will attend. v. Grad Coach Pilot Project (Lesleigh) Lesleigh was happy to report that the Ministry has provided funding for some school boards, including DSB1, for a Grad Coach Pilot Project… the funding under this pilot project allows for the hiring of a Grad Coach for Timmins High (noting the school location was determined by Ministry) to work with grade 11 & 12 students who are not currently on track to graduate and to assist with their credit accumulation and grad requirements; this will allow our current ISA at THVS to focus on Grade 9-10 students and their needs; The Ministry summarizes the Grad Coach Pilot Project background and responsibilities as follows: o The Indigenous Graduation Coach Pilot will provide intensive supports to Indigenous learners with the goal of obtaining an Ontario Secondary School Diploma and successfully transitioning into post-secondary education, training or labour market opportunities. o A key component of this pilot is the presence of an Indigenous Graduation Coach (hereafter Coach) who has deeply rooted experiential ties to the Indigenous community(ies) and their culture(s), working in close collaboration with the School Administrator and Student Success/Core Team, supportive structures crucial to the success of the pilot. The Coach acts as a mentor and an advisor to students, facilitating Indigenous Peoples Advisory Committee Meeting 2019 01 22 – Minutes Page 4 access and referrals to academic supports and community resources. The coach also plays an essential role as an advocate for each learner with teachers, other school staff, and families. o This pilot is primarily modeled after the Indigenous Graduation Coach model adapted in Ontario by Keewatin-Patricia District School Board (KPDSB) in 2014 to address the long- standing graduation gap between self-identified Indigenous students and all students in KPDSB. o The KPDSB model shares similar components with other graduation coach models including the dedicated space and parent/guardian engagement elements, but is distinct in the following ways: . The model is grounded in a caring adult developing a trusting relationship with the students and understanding the strengths, needs and interests of each student and then making connections to support their successful transitions throughout their high school journey; and . The monitoring and tracking of students’ progress through utilizing real time data collection and communication tools enables the model’s supportive structures to be better informed of the specific