Preparations for the establishment of First Nation School Boards were unveiled Friday.

The intent is to have the new board up and running by the beginning of the next school year.

The First Nation School Board Framework was announced last June. It sets out the process for the creation of the board under the Education Act.

Five school councils have submitted resolutions to trigger a referendum on their school falling under the authority of a newly established First Nation School Board. The referenda will be held next month under the supervision of Elections Yukon.

One other First Nation has submitted a petition to have a referendum next month.

On Friday, Richard Provan, the director of policy and planning with the Department of Education, explained the opportunities for school councils to transition to school boards.

First Nations will have greater involvement in education in their communities as well as have opportunities to advance reconciliation, he said.

Provan said 10 First Nations signed on to the initiative to transition school councils to school boards.

Today is the deadline for school councils to submit a resolution to hold a referendum next month to determine if their community supports moving to a First Nation School Board.

School councils that do not submit resolutions by the end of today will have to wait a year before the next opportunity comes up, Provan explained.

“We all have a responsibility to ensure that our educational system is reflective of First Nations history, culture and languages,” Education Minister Jeanie McLean said in a statement.

“The First Nation School Board Framework Agreement provides a path to advance reconciliation and provides First Nation governments greater authority in the education of their citizens.

“A school board is an additional tool to support Yukon First Nations to meaningfully shape their children’s education and improve their educational outcomes,” the minister said.

The five school councils that submitted resolutions are:

• Chief Zzeh Gittlit School (Old Crow);

• Grey Mountain Primary School;

• Johnson Elementary School and Watson Lake Secondary School, which includes one referendum;

• Ross River School; and

• St. Elias Community School (Haines Junction).

Takhini Elementary School is filing a petition calling for a vote next month.

Voting will be held between Jan. 11 and Jan. 27, with results to be announced on Jan. 31.

Those 18 and older living in each school’s catchment area will be eligible to vote. Parents or guardians living outside the catchment area can still vote if they have a child attending the school in question.

A school board is made up of elected trustees who have the additional responsibilities of staffing, resources and curriculum used under the board’s authority.

Unlike school councils, which only participate in the selection of the principal, school boards select all school staff, including principals and teachers.

School board authority includes hiring, dismissal, discipline, transfer, promotion and demotion; subject to the act and any applicable collective agreement.

Melanie Bennett is the executive director of the First Nation directorate. She said the Yukon is an anomaly right now in moving to the school board model.

Fundamental to the board process will be collaboration and community involvement, she explained. Direction, she said, will come from the community level.

Bennett said having a board brings the ability to have local control over decision-making.

There will be a returning officer appointed by Elections Yukon to oversee the vote in each of the school districts, and the referendum officer will be responsible for establishing a voting venue.

The Education Act allows for First Nation school boards. The boards will remain under the act’s jurisdiction.

The Yukon government will remain responsible for providing the First Nation boards with funding and the general curriculum.

Bennett said provisions under the Education Act are all about promoting inclusivity.

The First Nations never wanted exclusivity, because it’s all about community, she said.

Bennett said the creation of First Nation school boards has been something they’ve wanted for many years.

It’s been almost 50 years since the release of the Together Today for Our Children Tomorrow, the document that provided the foundation for Aboriginal land claim agreements in the territory, she pointed out.