Changing schools can be tough for a kid.
Losing friends, trying to make new ones, getting up to speed in the classrooms are just a few of the challenges a student might face when they move.
The challenges can be even more difficult when the student is in foster care.
It's one of the reasons six school boards, along with Dilico Anishnabek Family Care and the Children's Aid Society, signed a protocol Tuesday morning that will help make education easier for more than 600 kids in the district who are in care.
The agreement comes after two years of work by the local Crown Ward Education Championship Team.
Coordinator Gail Quirion said it's all about realizing that kids in care have unique needs and social agencies and school boards can work together to meet them.
"This protocol is going to give us guidance and what steps to follow and what to do if there are challenges," she said.
Dilico child welfare director Carmela Magbanua said sometimes when a child moves foster homes they also have to move schools. That can cause a disruption that may hurt the student's education.
Through this protocol they might not have to thanks to transportation agreements.
"So it's flawless for a child if they're moving," she said.
If the child did have to change schools, the protocol allows for an education plan that could go between school boards.
Quirion said it's all about making sure kids in care are successful students. Currently only around 42 per cent of wards graduate high school. It's important that this protocol help kids get through grade 12 and maybe even beyond.
