You are invited to the fifth Annual Meeting on Transportation, hosted by the Ministry of Education and Child Care, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC), and the First Nations Education Steering Committee (FNESC). We strongly encourage all school districts and First Nations with students living on reserve and attending BC public schools to participate in this event. This is an important step toward building a strong, effective, and inclusive education system that supports the success of First Nation Students in BC public schools.
Topics of discussion
- Policy changes for 2025/2026
- Requests for Extracurricular Funding
- Funding available for transportation-related costs
- 2024/2025 reporting
- 2025/2026 Joint First Nation Student Transportation Plan submissions
Background
The BC Tripartite Education Agreement: Supporting First Nation Student Success (“BCTEA”) between the Province of British Columbia (B.C.), FNESC, and ISC (collectively the “Parties”) sets the foundation for further growth and changes to support the enhancement of the B.C. public education system. As a component of BCTEA, the Parties agreed to develop and implement effective measures to address existing and future issues arising from the transportation of First Nation Students to BC Public Schools.
Since 2018/2019 Boards of Education and First Nations have been asked to work together to determine First Nation Student transportation needs and to co-develop Joint First Nations Student Transportation Plans (“Joint Plans”), informed by guiding principles and criteria established by the BCTEA Parties.
As we enter the seventh year of implementation of this strategy, the central purpose of this gathering is to discuss current and updated policies related to First Nations Students’ transportation needs and answer questions for the 2025/2026 school year. Effective working relationships and collaboration between First Nations and local school districts is crucial to finding safe and reliable solutions to the transportation needs of First Nations Students in BC’s public school system.
Event Details
This year’s meeting will take place virtually on Tuesday, March 4, 2025, 10:00 am-12:00 pm PST.
We encourage representatives from each First Nation and school district who are responsible for co-developing Joint Plan(s) to attend. Representatives may include Superintendents, Secretary-Treasurers, Transportation Managers, District Principals of Indigenous Education, Chairs of Indigenous Education Councils, First Nations Chiefs and Councillors, and education directors/coordinators.
Registration
Please register by Tuesday, February 25, 2025, with your name, title/role, school district/First Nation, and email address. After successful registration, you will receive an email confirmation that includes your Zoom meeting link. Add the meeting to your calendar manually or use the “Add to Calendar” feature located in the email.
Important Dates
Signed Joint Plans are due Friday, May 16, 2025. Joint Committee approvals are dependent on timely submission of Joint Plans.
To support the Joint Plan submission process, reporting requirements, and to respond to your questions, two drop-in Joint Plan information sessions have been scheduled. Please note, representatives from First Nations and school districts are not expected to attend more than one information session, but they are welcome to do so if they have further questions. Please register for one session below:
April 1, 2025: 10:00 am-11:00 am PST – Registration Link
April 29, 2025: 10:00 am-11:00 am PST – Registration Link
Questions?
If you have specific Joint Plan questions related to policy or other related topics which you would like us to address at the Annual Meeting on Transportation, please email them to BCTEA@gov.bc.ca