Alberni District Secondary School in Port Alberni has a new Indigenous Education Council, now front and centre on the school’s official homepage. The council is made up of representatives from Nuu-chah-nulth nations and the Alberni-Clayoquot Métis Society, and it will oversee programs and funding meant to support Indigenous students at the school.
The creation of the council follows a provincial rule that came into effect in 2024. Bill 40, the School Amendment Act, was passed in 2023 and requires every school district in British Columbia to establish an Indigenous Education Council. The councils are meant to give Indigenous communities a direct voice in how education is shaped for their children.
Jaime Hansen, an Ahousaht member and Director of Indigenous Education for School District 70, said the council has real authority. It must approve how targeted grants for Indigenous students are spent, including money from the Indigenous Education Targeted Funding program.
At ADSS, 34 per cent of the roughly 1300 students identify as Indigenous, and about 60 per cent of those are from a Nuu-chah-nulth Nation. The school district has seen Indigenous high school completion rates climb from 34 per cent in 2010 to 81 per cent in 2024, though non-Indigenous completion is at 90 per cent.
The council also guides the work of Indigenous Support Workers at the school, a program that started after the Nuu-chah-nulth Education Worker program ended in June 2024. That long-running program wrapped up when federal funding was changed. The new support workers now help students under the direction of the council. More details are available on the school’s Indigenous Education Council page.
