Students continue to leave Peigan schools

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Lack of leadership and the inability to follow policy is why some say the Peigan Nation's two schools have been losing students in large numbers to neighboring communities over the past three years.

A former principal and two former school board members charge that petty politicking combined with the lack of understanding of school programs and board procedures have nearly crippled the once strong Peigan Board of Education schools.

And that exodus of students is continuing. Reserve students entered the public system in Pincher Creek at such a rate this fall that Matthew Halton Secondary School had to refer them to the town's Catholic school system.

"It's been three years now," said Catholic school principal Marc Belliveau, "that there's been a mass exodus from the reserve [schools]."

"When I arrived, [the school system] was at its peak," said Donna Crowshoe, who served as principal of Piikani High School from 1994 to 1997. "It was recognized as being one of the better functioning schools in Indian Country. But I could see it going down."

Crowshoe charged that members were making uninformed decisions, "not knowing the roles or responsibilities of the board."

Internal politics really affected the school, said former board member Roberta Yellowhorn, who got her seat on the board in a by-election in 1997 but ran unsuccessfully for re-election in 1998.

Running of the schools should be "policy driven" said Yellowhorn, but often the board ignored policy when making decisions and followed personal agendas.

"I believe one person can't be effective," she said. "It was very frustrating. It would be split three on three. We were deciding based on policy, the others just made decisions."

Darryll Crowshoe faced this same brick wall before Yellowhorn. After serving two years on the board, Crowshoe tendered his resignation in 1996, citing in a letter that "my view of decision making. . . greatly differs from that of the majority of current board members."

Following his resignation, Crowshoe became active in the Peigan Board of Education Society and was instrumental in bringing to the reserve residents' attention his concerns with the PBE. These surfaced in a petition circulated in May and June of 1997, with such concerns as unlawful termination of staff members (which resulted in PBE having to pay settlements to five teachers); refusing to meet with parents expeditiously to discuss children's education; and misleading financial information being given out. The petition called for the resignation of PBE chairperson Leland Strikes With A Gun and director Noella Little Mustache.

In its May 28, 1997 meeting, in minutes obtained by Sweetgrass, the board declared the petition invalid "as the allegations are unfounded."

Parents began to take action and started pulling their children from the reserve school. In school board minutes, once more obtained by Sweetgrass, a delegation consisting of Pam and Frank Wolftail, Albertine Crowshoe and Pearl Crowshoe made a presentation to the board on Feb.26, 1997. The four noted that infighting at the school and low student morale left the parents with little choice but to look for alternative schooling for their children.

It was September 1997 that Peigan students seeking education off reserve rose to a number higher than those going to schools on the reserve. The Sept. 30, 1997 figure indicated that 307 students were being educated off reserve compared to 290 on reserve.

When the petition failed, said Darryll Crowshoe, the Peigan Board of Education Society had its hands tied. With no money to take the board to court, the society decided to enlist the help of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC).

The society asked INAC to carry out an administrative audit and a full financial audit. Neither was done because INAC felt there was no need.

However, in 1998, with INAC told that the enrollment had declined considerably on the reserve, department officials attempted to verify student numbers. INAC's nability to get those numbers, due to what Norm Brennand, manager of southern Alberta field services until INAC reorganized in May this year, referred to as Little Mustache's "dismal" and "very unprofessional" attitude, prompted a scathing letter from Brennand.

In the letter, dated March 2, 1998, Brennand stated, "For many years Peigan Education was not only the pride of the Peigan Nation, but also viewed as a leader for all First Nations throughout Alberta. . . unfortunately that is not the scenario today."

Four months later, Brennand clarified his position in a letter addressed to the acting band administrator, stating his sentiments applied to Little Mustache alone and not the reserve's education system. Little Mustache, who could not be reached for comment, resigned as director at the end of the 1997-98 school year.

With the declining enrollment came a $300,000 reduction in INAC's school funding for the 1998-99 fiscal year. The school board is presently running a deficit of $400,000, a harsh figure considering in 1996, when Darryll Crowshoe left the board, the budget included $200,000 in reserve and another $104,000 put aside from teacher roll backs.

INAC provided financial help for the failing Peigan Board of Education in 1998, with $200,000 to allow for new programming and computers at the schools. But that's as far as INAC has gone. And for Donna Crowshoe that hasn't been far enough.

"If INAC had monitored and evaluated the situation, it could have been prevented," she said. "A few of us recognized this was happening. We took a big chance. We just wanted a little bit of help and someone to intervene.

But when [INAC] knew this was what was happening, they just stepped back."

"It's a community concern," said INAC director of communications, Glenn Luff.

"They run their own education system.We're not going to walk in just because we're a funding agency. We won't be paternalistic."

And Yellowhorn agrees.

"It has to be a community-based thing," she said. "The comunity has got to begin to care again. We have to have more interest in our children's education."

That concern, said Darryll Crowshoe, means not simply putting their children in schools off the reserve, but working to build up the schools on the Peigan reserve.

"[The Peigan Board of Education] needs to respect the rules first before they can fix the school," he said. But he's not optimistic about a quick fix.

"It'll take another 10 to 12 years for the school to get back to the good place it should be."

"A spiral turns on a twist," said Brennand. "It takes time to get that turned around. Indian Affairs is on record that we have confidence in the present regime."

But what steps that present regime is taking to reassure parents is unclear as those at the head remain tight lipped.

While confirming enrollment had declined, Daniel Delorme, who's been director of the Peigan Board of Education since 1998, would offer no answers, saying only that some of the concerns regarding the schools "related to legal issues, some to political questions."

Chair Margaret Jackson refused comment.

There is a school board election scheduled for early November.