School District 51 receives Indigenous funding
Province to provide $125,000 per year over two years
Alberta Environment and Parks Minister and Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips announced an additional $125,000 per year over the next two years on Monday in grant funding for urban Indigenous students who attend Lethbridge School District No. 51. The money will be spent to help with literacy initiatives, school-to-work and school-to-post-secondary transition and success coaches for those struggling to make the grade.
“This is something the public school board has asked us to do for a couple of years now,” said Phillips, who made the announcement at the Lethbridge SD 51 Education Centre. “And the province is now responding in terms of evening out some of the funding between the Catholic and Public School division in terms of the number of off-reserve Indigenous students they serve. This is just another way the province is making sure we can serve all students’ needs, regardless of the school system they are enrolled in.”
Statistics tend to show Indigenous students lag behind the rest of the province in terms of getting good grades in high school and diploma completion. SD 51 superintendent Cheryl Gilmore hoped the grant announced Monday would help make up for some of the gaps in funding apparent between Indigenous youth who study on reserve versus those who live off-reserve and attend school in Lethbridge.
“What has been falling through the cracks with respect to that funding has been our urban Indigenous youth who are not identified as being on reserve,” she confirmed.
While the timing was coincidental, Phillips acknowledged the money being announced during Reconciliation Week in Lethbridge was appropriate.
“It is a time for Albertans and Canadians to think about where we have come from and where we are going,” Phillips said. “The grant today is about where we are going, It’s about making sure that students have the right tools to start their lives as citizens, as folks looking for employment or preparing for post-secondary education — all of the things the public school board does. We need to make sure they have the right tools to do it.”