Grey Mountain Primary School Interim Community Committee

Dághą ndàsedäye ukʼèkųjē jè

The First Nation School Board is setting up an Interim Community Committee to work with school administration for the operation and management of Takhini Elementary School and to support:  

  • Ensuring the school supports students and meets their education needs and aspirations;  

  • Implementing a curriculum that is culturally relevant and incorporates use of Southern Tutchone language;  

  • Providing local participation in decision-making process with respect to the management and operation of the school; and  

  • Promoting community involvement and reconciliation in the school community.  

The First Nation School Board is seeking applications to fill the two community member seats on the Community Committee. Honouring our commitment to local Yukon First Nation’s governance, priority will be given to Kwanlin Dün First Nation and Ta’an Kwäch’än Council citizens, and then to members of Yukon First Nations.  

The Committee will meet monthly and will also hold public meetings. An honorarium will be provided. The Committee will be formed of:  

  • Two community members at large; 

  • Gilian Staveley as the FNSB Trustee Representative; 

  • Kailen Gingell, the FNSB Land and Language Connector for TES; and 

  • The YFNED First Nation Education Advocate for TES.  

The Principal and the FNSB Community Committee Advisor will also attend and support meetings. 

About the Community Committee and the Role

The Community Committee for your school is a lot like a school council. They hold monthly meetings and work with the Principal and other school administrators to plan the school’s operations. The Board of Trustees of the First Nation School Board wants to allow for agency and purpose from the Community Committees. They have committed to uphold the direction and initiatives of the Committees.

No one knows your community and your school better than you. That is why we want the community to wrap around their school, teachers and learners. So that together we can offer the best to our kids.

In Whitehorse, Interim Community Committees are being set up to offer support in school governance and planning while the FNSB works with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council toward the development of a Community Committee Agreement. Grey Mountain Primary School and Takhini Elementary School will each have their own committee. To learn more about our vision for Community Committees, you can read the Community Committee Guide, on our website.

For now, being a member of the Interim Community Committee means helping to support the school, building relationships and working to set the framework for the operations of the Committee.

Supporting the school:

The Interim Community Committee works with the Principal to develop the annual School Growth Plan, the school calendar and to support around staffing, and emerging issues. The Principal updates the Committee about what is going on at the school regularly and can use them as a sounding board. The Committee can also consult and support with field trip planning and curriculum development.

Building relationships:

The Community Committee can hold public meetings, event nights such as meet and greets or grad events and has a website an email. They can use these or other methods to consult and be available to parents and other members of the school community. They also can reach out to teachers and other staff at the school to ensure that the learners are well supported. The Interim Community Committee is appointed by the First Nation SchoolBoard of Trustees and should strive to work with the Kwanlin Dün First Nation and the Ta’an Kwäch’än Council.

Framework for the Community Committee:

Each Committee can develop its own Terms of Reference or guidelines. The FNSB is there to provide administrative support and offer advice to the Committee. This includes supporting workplans, priorities and training opportunities for the Committee. An annual calendar can be developed as well as templates for responding to certain situations. A big part of the work is figuring out how you want to work as you go. Concretely, you will meet once per month during the school year, and will hold 2-3 events with various groups in the community. There will be one to two hours of email and document review per month. Eventually, the Committee may want to set up sub-committees to work on specific issues. There is one annual two-day gathering in Whitehorse. Some months the workload may be larger than others. There are many opportunities to represent the Committee in the community and you will have access to FNSB training and events.

For more information about the FNSB’s Community Committee, please click here.

For any questions you can reach out to your school’s Principal or to Véronique, the Community Committee Advisor at FNSB.