SCHOOL BOARD BRIEFS

Aboriginal students closing academic achievement gap

Kamloops-Thompson School District continues to show improvement in the academic performance of aboriginal students relative to their non-aboriginal peers.

“There’s still a gap, but you see a significant improvement,” said assistant superintendent Karl deBruijn. “We’re pleased but not satisfied with that.

School trustees had a look at the trend as part of Sustaining Improvement, a report measuring all of the school board’s goals, when they met in Chase on Monday night.

“What’s really exciting to see is that aboriginal students are pretty much at par with non-aboriginal students,” said vice chair Kathleen Karpuk. “They’re only a few percentage points behind and catching up rapidly.”

In some categories, such as Grade 2 numeracy, aboriginal students are performing at par.

The report also shows that the district is coming close to its goal of an 85 per cent graduation rate. The rate stood at 85.8 per cent last year, but that didn’t count students enrolled in distance education programs. They have a lower rate, which brings down the overall percentage.

With the first-time graduation rate, females have reached 85 per cent, but their male peers lag slightly behind at 82 per cent. The aboriginal graduation rate is 73 per cent, which reflects an improving trend.

“That’s a huge difference,” deBruijn said. “Back in 2008, it was 68 per cent for aboriginal students. All the way around, aboriginal students are performing better in Kamloops-Thompson. That gap used to be horrendous.”

He attributed the improvement to efforts on all fronts, including parents and the First Nation Education Council. Karpuk said they’ve been putting a lot of extra programs in place to make sure students at the early primary level are up and running and at the same level as fellow students so that they’re ready for high school.

Trades centre opening postponed

The NorKam Trades Centre of Excellence won’t be opening until 2015 due to the pace of construction.

School District 73 had planned to open the trades-training facility in time for the start of the 2014-2015 school year in September, but opted for a solid start in the second semester instead.

They considered providing theory instruction only in the first semester, but the emphasis of trades centre programs is to offer an integration of theory and hands-on instruction. There was also concern about having students and staff in the building during construction.

The decision to postpone the opening was made in mid-April and all parents involved were notified by letter.

Meanwhile, the district is consulting with school parents over a proposed name change to NorKam Senior Secondary. The change, proposed by the school’s parent advisory council, would more accurately reflect the school’s new makeup as a grades 11 and 12 facility.

While it wouldn’t be a significant change, the district wants to be sure it has sufficient support in the community because there would be associated costs.