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Independent review panel publishes first status report in Department of Education review

Monday, 13 July 2026 12:51

By Stuart Cardinal Bonell

The Department of Education headquarters in Whitehorse. (Photo: S. Cardinal Bonell)

First Nations School Board and former educator share their thoughts on the findings.

The Yukon External independent Review Panel has published its June status report for its review of the Department of Education.

The status report focused on four main areas between March 17 and June 30: norms and culture within the Department of Education, relationships and communication between the Department of Education and schools, organizational structures in the Department of Education, and accountability.

The review panel found significant concerns within each of these areas, and confirmed the Government of Yukon’s position that the Department of Education needs to be overhauled.

Speaking with CHON-FM, former Yukon teacher Jason Cook offered some insight into the concerns the panel found with norms and culture. He said that none of the issues noted by the panel stand on their own.

“What stands out to me is that the findings are all connected in the review,” said Cook by phone. “Culture, burnout, mistrust, turnover, classroom complexity, political responsiveness, lack of support. They’re not separate problems. They all feed each other.”

“When the teachers feel unsupported, students lose support. When staff are afraid to speak honestly, leadership stops hearing the truth. And when the system reacts only after public pressure, the damage has already reached the classrooms.”

Cook says he has had personal experience with all of these problems while working as a teacher at Porter Creek Secondary School. He compared the experience to that of an abusive relationship, in which teachers feel powerless to address the issues they face every day.

Cook went on to say that the issues can be addressed, but that it won’t be easy.

“It’s going to take leadership,” said Cook. “It’s going to take someone going in, who knows what they’re doing, knows education, and does the job. And I think what’s recommended in the report is a great idea, and having those separation of powers is a great first start.”

In addition to Cook, First Nations School Board Executive Director Melissa Flynn is also sharing her thoughts on last week’s report.

Speaking with CHON-FM, Flynn said that the First Nations School Board was happy to see what the panel had to say in its first status report.

“We were thrilled,” said Flynn by phone. “It’s really affirming, what we heard from the review. I think across the Yukon, as the panel very clearly stated, that the challenges had been very similar, and I think there is a lot of people that are thrilled to see the recommendations that this review panel put forward.”

In the report, the panel discusses concerns about organizational structure and the relationship and communication that the Department of Education has with partners, such as school boards.

In particular, Flynn says that she can see the confusion that schools and the Department can have through several layers of bureaucracy, based around what decisions are being made and by whom.

Flynn says that FNSB suffers this to a lesser extent, due in part to the space it has from the Department of Education.

“We certainly have a flexibility and an agility under a board to be able to work faster, and we have the authority to do so,” said Flynn. “We’ve certainly been enjoying that authority; being just separated a little bit from the Department of Education, being able to change our literacy plan very quickly in response to learner’s needs, being able to hire staff in our rural communities in a different way.”

“I think [that] moving the authority of schools away from the Ministry of education – I think that’s a great idea.”

In the report, the review panel recommends several immediate actions to address the challenges identified during phase one of the review, and shared upcoming priorities that include beginning phase two.

In statement accompanying the report, Minister of Education Scott Kent said that he has reviewed the status report, and will advance its initial recommendations as soon as possible.

The panel’s first status report is available below:

 

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