A northern Alberta First Nation says a lack of government funding is partially to blame for poor student attendance and achievement in the Northland School Division.

Education Minister Dave Hancock fired the division's board of trustees on Thursday, citing poor attendance and a high staff turnover.

But Jeff Winsor of the Fort McKay First Nation north of Fort McMurray said the board's poor performance is due in part to a lack of government funding.

He said his band recently started using the money it's earned from the oil industry to top up the money provided to the Fort McKay School by the province.

"We allocate extra money for hiring other staff, for guidance counsellors, for support staff at the school," he said.

"We've allocated housing for teachers to be sure we recruit them and keep them in the community, and we're starting to see results. We're doing some innovative things here to try to mitigate the underfunding from the province and the school board."

He said the additional money was also used to subsidize a trip to British Columbia last year, where the students studied biology and plant life at the Vancouver Aquarium.

"It's the opportunity to get off reserve to see different things, to experience different challenges. We've seen a big influx in attendance. Kids want to get to school," Winsor said.

He said attendance has increased about 25 per cent in the two years since the band began adding money to the school's budget.

The Northland School Division stretches across much of northern Alberta and includes 23 schools and 2,885 students.