Ronan School District 30 opts out of PIR Day

By Alyssa Kelly

School District 30 Indian Education Coordinator Leslie Caye plans to utilize his unique position by creating an Indian Education instruction day for the district’s staff members rather than utilizing the tribes' educational resources. (Alyssa Kelly photo)

RONAN - While the Tribal Awards Banquet and drivers-ed fee wavers were hot topics during a recent Indian Education Committee meeting, Tribal Council member Carole Lankford and Tribal Education Director Joyce Silverthorne came to discuss a very important announcement.

"By request of Superintendent Andy Holmlund, School District 30 will not be participating in PIR Day," explained Indian Education Coordinator for Ronan Public Schools, Leslie Caye.

Since 1995, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Education Department has been conducting an annual Pupil Instruction-Related day for instructors and superintendents throughout the reservation, to learn and discuss the significance of Indian Education.

Spending over $23,000 in expenses and staff cost for a day full of events, the Tribes provide schools with free classroom resources, contact information to various tribal departments, and first hand instruction through guest speakers, all in the pursuit of creating strong working relationships between the reservation schools and the Tribes.

"PIR Day is the Tribe's gift to the schools so they get a sense of feeling for Native American life. They bring it back into their classrooms and both Indian and non-Indian students benefit. Indian students get a sense that they are relatable and have a higher success rate because of it. Non-Indian students gain a broadened worldview of where they live," says Silverthorne.

After receiving an unsigned school board agenda item briefing school district 30's plans to exclude themselves from the '08 PIR Day, Tribal Education's Scholarship Officer Penny Kipp, attended a school board meeting held on March 10 in hopes of creating dialog on the decision. "There was nothing to discuss. The school board announced that: 'due to the recommendation of Indian Education Coordinator Leslie Caye, school district 30 would not be participating in PIR Day.' When the school board makes a decision it's final," she says.

Although Caye is employed by the Ronan School District, the Indian Education Committee created his position and his salary is provided by a combination of Title VII and JOM money, which the Committee has responsibility over.

During the committee's April 2 meeting, Caye's announcement came as a seemingly upset surprise to the entire group, which is made up of Native American parents and instructors. Although Caye claims to have informed the committee of this decision in January, there is no supporting documentation by the committee's secretary.

"I feel like he should have informed us of this decision before taking it up with the School Board. As members of the committee and parents of Native American children in the school's system, we should have had a say. He is the Indian Education Coordinator and it's his job to serve as a liaison between us and the school," says Vice-President of the committee Shelly Fyant.

Both the Tribal Education Department and the Indian Education Committee's concerns are valid as School District 30 houses the reservation's public school majority of Native American students. Overall there are 1,052 students enrolled in the district and 57 percent of those students identify themselves as Native American.

While Caye neither confirmed nor denied authorizing the school's decision to refrain from attending PIR Day, he offered the following explanations:
    1. Although documentation proved there was minimal negative feedback from last year's PIR Day teacher evaluations, which are anonymous, Caye says the school gave instructors an internal survey that concluded: "Teachers said PIR Day wasn't beneficial and the content wasn't transferable to the classroom," says Caye. Documentation of this survey was not released to CKN.
    2. Although planning for PIR Day begins a year in advance to make room for necessary schedule and content changes, Caye says the event's scheduled date conflicted with the calendar's consistent school days. "We would have rearranged the schedule to accommodate the district's needs if given the chance," says Silverthorne.
    3. Caye says he and transitional Curriculum Specialist Andrea Johnson were asked to gather transferable materials specific to Indian Education. The schools plan to use Rubicon Atlas, which is a curriculum management tool, in the near future and it requires material ahead of time for assessment reasons.
    4. Although Caye is still early in the planning process, he has arranged to host a PIR Day "specific to the needs of the District." At this point, Caye can only confirm that he and his wife will host paid workshops for the administration. "I used to work for Tribal-Ed and I helped plan a PIR Day so I know the components of the PIR Day very well. I understand the needs of the district and how to develop on those needs. I've worked with the curriculum coordinator and I worked with the staff in the past for the process," he says.

While Silverthorne commends the district for recognizing its individual needs in Indian education and fostering to those needs, she is disappointed in the lack of a negotiation process. "I thought we had a gentleman's agreement with Ronan public schools to work with each other in improving Indian education. It hurts that they would choose not to participate in our annual PIR Day and not so much as notify us or give us an opportunity to meet their needs. We've worked on our relationship with that school for several years," she says.

In response to Silverthorne's disappointment, Caye stated: "We sincerely appreciate the last decade of Tribal-Ed's programs. We feel we have the ability to provide a PIR Day for the specific needs of our students and staff."

He later went on to say: "My role as an Indian Education Coordinator, being the only Indian Education coordinator on the reservation, I feel like I have a unique responsibility to the District to meet the needs of students and staff. I feel like developing this is an opportunity. We've enjoyed the past PIR Days and now we want the opportunity to provide our staff with our own."

While Caye feels he is qualified to create a successful PIR Day, there is plenty to take into consideration, such as funding. Ronan School District receives nearly a million dollars in funding through the Impact Aid Program, which is financial assistance to schools on land that the government either owns or has been removed from the local tax rolls - including Indian lands.

The Impact Aid is designed to benefit Indian communities served by school districts. The funding ensures equal participation of Indian children in the education programs of their school and encourages communication between the schools and Indian communities. Should they fail to do so, school districts could lose the funding.

Another factor in Indian education that both Silverthorne and Caye feel to be important is the family's role and involvement in their child's schooling. The Indian Education Committee is meant to represent the parents of Native American students in the district and ensure that their needs are met efficiently. Yet, members were notified of the school's approach of serving the Indian Educational needs, long after decisions had been in place.

"However this situation may turn out, the main focal point should always be what is best for the students," says Silverthorne.