Local Education Agreements
Local Education Agreements can support accountability and effective working relationships between a First Nation and a school board or between a First Nation and an independent school authority.
As described in the BC Tripartite Education Agreement: Supporting First Nation Student Success (2018), Canada, BC, and FNESC are committed to improving First Nation student outcomes and acknowledge Local Education Agreements as an important mechanism to increase accountability and to promote and achieve effective working relationships between First Nations and boards of education, enabling them to work collaboratively to support First Nation students.
What is a Local Education Agreement?
LEAs are formal agreements that strengthen accountability and build effective working relationships between First Nations and Boards of Education. Through LEAs, First Nations and BC public school districts establish clear processes for information-sharing, collaboration, and decision-making to better support their First Nation students’ attendance, learning outcomes, and overall experiences within the public education system. LEAs outline strategies to promote greater student success including expectations related to reporting, transparency, and roles and responsibilities. LEAs are the mechanism through which First Nations transfer federal funding for identified First Nations students to school districts and non-First Nation independent schools.
Options for First Nations
First Nations who have Nominal Roll students enrolled with a Board of Education and do not have a pre-existing LEA may choose to:
Model LEA
Reflecting BC Tripartite Education Agreement commitments, legislative changes made as part of the 2023 School Amendment Act allow First Nations to apply a Model LEA where there is no existing LEA with a public school district.
Application of the Model LEA
Under sections 86.1 and 86.2 of the School Act, a First Nation with students on the Nominal Roll attending public schools and with no active LEA may, by delivering written notice to the Minister of Education and Child Care and the Board of Education, require the Model LEA to apply to their First Nation and the board. Once a First Nation requires the Model LEA to apply, the Model LEA is deemed to be a contract between the First Nation and Board.
FNESC and the Ministry of Education and Child Care developed a template letter to facilitate the process for a First Nation’s request to apply the Model LEA.
If a First Nation has a Local Education Agreement in place and wants to move to the Model Local Education Agreement, they would need to conclude or terminate the current Local Education Agreement prior to applying the Model LEA. First Nations may use FNESC’s Template Letter to Terminate an Existing LEA to facilitate this process.
The Model LEA also serves as an available precedent for a First Nation and a board, if the First Nation and board wish to negotiate their own customized LEA.
Provincial Policy on Local Education Agreements
FNESC and the Ministry of Education and Child Care developed the Local Education Agreement Policy which supports the implementation of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act Action Plan action 1.6, which commits to the co-development of legislation that requires LEAs with First Nations where a First Nation wants one, and that requires the application of the provincial LEA at the request of the First Nation.
LEA Resources
FNESC is currently revising its LEA Toolkit to better align to the current legislation and policy context as well as the application and content of the Model LEA.
For questions regarding LEAs or Model LEAs, please contact FNESC.
See also Transportation, Public Schools and BC School Act Amendments.
