Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council

School Maintenance Training Program

The School Maintenance Training Program (SMTP)

The School Maintenance Training Program (SMTP), was set up under the Dakota Ojibway Tribal Council (DOTC) to assist in the development of the Maintenance personnel within the member First Nation's schools, so that they can effectively operate and maintain the school's facilities. The School Maintenance Training Program is dedicated to increasing the knowledge and capacities of First Nation School's Maintenance, Maintenance Personnel, and its facilities.

It is SMTP's obligation to ensure that the schools, teacherages, and grounds are maintained to a safe and healthy standard, so that their full potential and longevity can be reached. It is SMTP's goal to assist the school's personnel to become efficient and to have the confidence to work at a standard that ensures the facilities are operated and maintained properly, and the health and safety of users and beneficiaries are taken into consideration.

Objective of the Program

The objective of the program is to identify existing gaps, assess needs as they relate to building and maintenance personnel at the community level, and to help ensure that the school's facilities remain a healthy and safe place of learning. This training program is meant to compliment current technical support, by providing training support for the maintenance personnel of these facilities. When working with these member communities, gaps in the effectiveness of the current community maintenance program has to be taken into consideration; many of these communities deal with lack of resources, lack of support, maintenance personnel skill levels, remoteness of the community to an urban centre, lack of access to skilled trades and financial resources other than those provided by ISC.

Our Staff

SMTP has three (3) dedicated staff members. Angie Prince-Smoke joined the Program September 2021, as the new Program Manager, Doug Bogue is our experienced and highly qualified Technician/Trainer, and Nathan Fagnan is our Administrative Assistant, who will eventually be transitioned to assist as a Technician/Trainer.

SMTP is responsible for forty-two (42) schools, from thirty-two (32) communities within Manitoba.

We offer training such as: GHS/WHMIS, Fall Protection, Confined Spaces, Aerial Platform Lift, Skid Steer, as well as Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC). It is SMTP's obligation to ensure that staff is trained on basic fire safety, maintenance and proper handling of fire extinguishers, hoses and pumps. We are currently in the process of being able to offer certified First Aid/CPR/AED Training to our member schools and staff members, training that would be provided by our own Training Team.

SMTP is constantly looking at Grants and Programs that may be able to assist our member schools, and we forward this information to them.

SMTP is constantly looking at more training we can provide to our member schools to assist them and give them the confidence to provide a safe and healthy school environment for their children and staff.