Wednesday - March 19, 2025 - Five years after pandemic start, student absences remain high

🌤 High 10C

Good morning!

A couple years ago we did a fun “When is it spring?” story. We looked at a few different metrics that might reflect when winter feels over and spring has sprung. But I have a new moment to add: when Daylight Saving Time starts. With the clock rolling forward and the days lengthening, suddenly there is time after dinner to go outside and actually do things. Yesterday, that left me playing badminton with the kids, pretty much confirming that winter is completely over. Of course, today has been spent getting shuttlecocks out of the gutter. But that’s another matter.

– Tyler

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope 

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

News

Hope needs more Indigenous educators. So does everyone else.

Yesterday, we reported on the struggles encountered by many youth in Hope and surrounding areas. Today, we look at one way educators are trying to improve support for local youth—and the challenges that can obstruct those efforts.

The Fraser-Cascades school district had a difficult time hiring Indigenous educators last year. But it wasn’t for lack of trying (or funding).

Hope’s public school system is home to about 1,700 students, about 40% of whom are Indigenous.

Delivering cultural, emotional, and social assistance (which can involve everything from helping students with behavioural challenges navigate a classroom, to incorporating cultural knowledge in a lesson, to assisting with academic work) for 700 Indigenous students is no small task.

That kind of cultural and emotional support is particularly important for students in education systems that historically have not served—and often abused—Indigenous families.

Support in a classroom is often a prerequisite for academic success for many, says Indigenous Education Principal Christine Seymour. Seymour, whose grandfather went to residential school and whose father was former BC Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point, became an educator in part to see Indigenous students thrive. (The Current profiled Seymour in 2021.)

“I've been through the education system, and it was my goal to come back and support our students on their journey and through their education journey and academic success,” she said

But hiring for vital support roles isn’t always easy.

• Today, Grace Giesbrecht writes about why Indigenous educators are coveted—and in short supply.

Related

Need to Know

🚔 Mounties say they seized more than a kilo of drugs, hundreds of pills, and a luxury car following a traffic stop in Langley last week [CTV]

🌧 A ‘parade’ of storms will hit BC over the coming week [MSN/Weather Network]

⚡ BC Hydro rates will increase by 3.75% each of the next two years [CityNews]

👉 Clients at a now-closed Langley drug rehab centre described ‘endless’ work and ostracization used as punishment [Langley Advance Times]

💰 The District of Kent is considering a 7% increase in property taxes for the coming year [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

🟧 The federal NDP has named a candidate in the Langley Township-Fraser Heights riding for the upcoming election [Langley Advance Times]

🌲 Council approved the construction of an emergency shelter in Chilliwack, but will require the operator to maintain trees being planted on site [Chilliwack Progress]

👉 The District of Hope is facing a fine for disposing of wastewater in the Fraser without proper treatment [Fraser Valley Today]

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The Agenda

School absentee rates approach 20% some days

On any given day in BC, nearly one in five students aren't showing up to school, according to provincial figures released by the superintendent of Mission's school district.

In a report to Mission's school board earlier this year, superintendent Angus Wilson writes that a lack of engagement by both students and families has remained a problem since the onset of COVID.

"The number of students missing school has spiked provincially since 2020," Wilson wrote, noting that on a typical day, nearly 20% of students are absent. His report includes provincial statistics for a week in mid-January in which 17% of BC's students were absent. In Mission, absences were slightly higher. Wilson wrote that some groups have much higher rates of absences.

But Wilson said there are also positive signs, including relatively low failure rates for mandatory Grade 10 classes like English. You can read the report here.

On Tuesday, though, the Mission Record reported that eight students from Leq’á:mel First Nation had stopped attending Hatzic Middle School because of bullying and racism. Leq’á:mel First Nation’s Patrick Kelly told the Record the bullying had been happening for years and that previous efforts to fix the problem haven’t worked. You can read the Record’s story here.

FVC gets third straight National Newspaper Award nomination

For the third consecutive year, the Fraser Valley Current is a finalist for a National Newspaper Award. Editor Tyler Olsen is a finalist in the local reporting category for his reporting on the collapse of the Black Press media empire. Tyler won the category last year for his coverage of the rebuilding of Lytton.

The Current is one of only three small news outlets named as finalists this year. Paige Taylor White of IndigiNews is a finalist in the sports category for her pieces on a women’s basketball team playing in the All Native Basketball Tournament. And the Nunatsiaq News was honoured for its coverage of the Nunavut Quest trek. Legendary Vancouver Sun/Province crime reporter Kim Bolan is also a finalist for her international reporting on the reach of BC crime organizations.

You can see all the finalists here.

You can support The Current’s journalism here.

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🗓 Things to do

Culture celebration: The Langley Arts Council hosts a series of free Caribbean, Scottish, and Persian performances on Saturday. Space is limited and registration is required. Details online.

Seniors Café: The Agassiz Library hosts its regular Seniors Café Friday from 1 to 3pm to gather, socialize, make new friends and have a coffee and snack. Visitors can play board games and cards, learn a craft, have a laugh, share stories, or just sit and relax. For more information call Kim at 604-796-2585.

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Catch up

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