Lack of teachers forces Gull Bay school closure

A newly elected council on the Gull Bay First Nation is grappling with not having any teachers for close to 30 children.

The chief of the community, located about200 km north of ThunderBay,said getting the Gull Bay's school re-opened is one of council's top priorities, as it has been closed since the Christmas break.

It's illegal for the community not to provide education to its children, Wilfred King said.

A post on a Facebook page administered by the chief stated Gull Bay council is looking at having an altered school schedule one that would run through the coming summer to make up for time missed.

"We don't have any qualified teachers there right now," King said.

"Essentially the school's been closed down, and the Indian Act is very clear that there has to be education for the children."

'Nothing ... for the kids'

A receptionist and teaching assistant at the elementary school said teachers weren't getting enough support.

"They didn't get the textbooks, they didn't get school supplies there was nothing in the school for the kids," Brandy King said.

"They're supposed to have those A-B-C's on the wall, everything. The teachers had to buy them themselves."

Even when the school was open, there were only two teachers one for Grades 1-3, the other for Grades 4-8. She noted there hasn't been Kindergarten at all this year.

As a result, she's been home-schooling her two school-aged children this year.

Wilfred King said his newly-elected council is working on a plan to help. The council which was elected on Sunday found a financial mess left over from the outgoing chief and council, King added.

"There'd have tobe an assessment of the school right off the bat to see if this building fit to house children for education," he said.

"[The] second step is to start hiring and recruiting qualified teachers and making sure we have that school up and running that's so important."

CBC News contacted the department of Aboriginal Affairs about the situation, but no one was able to provide a comment.

Wilfred King said he is meeting with Aboriginal Affairs on Friday about the state of the community.

Former chief Miles Nowegijick couldnt be reached for comment on Wednesday.