Should helping a parent, guardian or grandparent harvest wild rice or helping in the “sugar bush” be counted against an Ojibwe student if that assistance in that traditional activity causes the student to miss school?
“No,” said Cook County High School Principal Adam Nelson to the mother of an Anishnaabe student who asked the question. “Not if the student gets his or her homework first and did it responsibly. I have no problem with that.”
That question was part of the discussion about Local Indian Education Committee (LIEC) concerns at the School District 166 board meeting at the Grand Portage Community Center on October 23.
Superintendent Beth Schwarz said the LIEC asked the district to review its requests—and the district’s response—for the previous three years in the following areas.
Changes to graduation credit recovery program
Credit recovery is a way to keep students who have missed too much school or failed classes on track to graduate. “The biggest hurdle in the current credit recover program is attendance,” Schwarz said.
In the spring of 2010 and through 2011, budget cuts forced the district to transition from an in-house teacher to lead the after school graduation credit recovery program to an online system. Schwarz said the initial move was to PLATO learning, which after a two year trial was proved to not be effective.
Those concerns led the district to try Odyssey, another online learning program. After four months, said Schwarz, “It is functioning much better for all students.”
She said Grand Portage purchased laptops with cameras for the Anishinaabe Academic Center, which has allowed students to communicate with online teachers. Over the last summer, eight students in Grand Portage earned 11.5 credits. “I’m really happy with that,” Schwarz said, adding, “But we still struggle with attendance. I would encourage the LIEC to work with students to get better attendance. To increase student success in credit recovery and graduation rate, the district needs help from the Grand Portage community.”
A place at ISD 166
Schwarz said in 2011 the district offered an Ojibwe classroom, “in a remote part of the high school.” At that time, the Indian education counselor was located in a very small office.
Currently the district provides a full-size classroom for the Anishinaabe Academic Center as well as an additional half classroom for counseling and space for the Grand Portage American Indian Education Director.
Staff development increased
Schwarz said in 2009-2010 there was little, if any, staff development directly related to American Indian education. Since then she had attended the American Indian Summits in 2012 and 2014 and the Minnesota Indian Education Conference in 2014. She said the principal attended the 2012 Undoing Racism workshop and faculty attended a presentation by Thomas Peacock in 2012. A special education teacher and school social worker attended the Reclaiming Youth International conference in 2014.
Students Together as Allies of Racial Trust (START) and follow up meetings were held in 2013-2014.
Policy and procedures being updated
The school district is in the process of completely reviewing its policy and procedures regarding Indian students who reside on Indian lands, said Schwarz. “A draft will be shared at the next LIEC meeting. The timeline is to have LIEC and school board feedback by the November meeting and adoption at the December 18 regular school board meeting.”
Bullying, discipline, and equal treatment
“The district has been working hard on this issue. We have added a second principal to help ensure fair and consistent enforcement of school policies,” said Schwarz, who noted there were still concerns that need to be addressed.
“It is important to note that all students are adjusting to the increased enforcement of rules and some feel the rules are oppressive. Attendance, both full day and being tardy to class, is an on-going concern with a handful of students.
“Students who have concerns about bullying, discipline and equal treatment should share their concerns with Principal Carman, Principal Nelson, Anishinaabe Academic Staff, Superintendent Schwarz, and Haley Brickner. Reports should be specific in nature so that the issue can be thoroughly investigated,” said Schwarz.
Attendance issues revisited
Schwarz said that in 2012 the LIEC recommended the district take a more assertive stance on attendance. “Over the past two years we have implemented truancy action steps and followed through on consequences for tardies. Attendance has been improving, however, there have been parents of all races who do not agree that consequences should be implemented,” said Schwarz.
“The district needs Grand Portage’s assistance in helping parents understand that consequences for unexcused absences and tardies are not the result of racist behaviors, rather we are truly concerned about students’ attendance. The rules are being enforced for all students.”
The district is still in the process of implementing a policy to address excessive excused absences, but that should be completed within the next 12 months, said Schwarz.
When asked about keeping kids after school for detention, High School Principal Nelson said he was inclined to keep kids with bus rides longer than 15 miles in-school for detention over lunch, rather than after school which gets to be too long of a day.
Steps taken toward culturally inclusive education
“The district recognizes the value and importance of truly integrating diversity for the success of all students in the expanding economy. We are making significant gains in this area, but we still have a long way to go,” said Schwarz, who then listed 15 steps the district has taken to accomplish this goal. Examples are Exploratory Ojibwe class offered in middle school, implementation of Howard Zinn books into the social studies curriculum, teaching Ojibwe seasonal lifestyle in elementary school, and bringing in noted American Indian speakers who address all grades.
Help requested with district self-assessment
The LIEC asked the district to perform a self-assessment on the integration of American Indian culture, pedagogy, curriculum, etc., but Schwarz said, “The district has asked for help with this assessment as we do not feel we have the expertise to conduct such an assessment on our own.
“Reflecting on the lack of progress on the issue, a suggestion would be to develop a survey with the LIEC which would be distributed to faculty and follow this survey with a walk through the school with two or three tribal elders,” suggested Schwarz.
Taking proactive measures
Schwarz said this has been a challenging topic for the district, but she cited several areas of progress. She said the school board took the lead on the Columbus Day/Indigenous People’s Day discussion. The school made quick arrangements recently to send four American youth to observe the White Earth Youth Tribal Council organizational meeting. The school reached out to Grand Portage Headstart to enhance Early Childhood Family Education opportunities for Grand Portage families.
Considering financial resources
“It is difficult to pinpoint an exact number, due to the complexities of school finance, but there are a variety of areas where the district spends dollars to address the achievement gap which exists in several groups as well as assure all children are receiving an excellent education,” said Schwarz.
Depending on how one breaks out the services, Schwarz said the district contributes between $300,000 to $500,000 in resources for educational programs for American Indian students.
Going forward
Schwarz said over the last three years participation and attendance at LIEC meetings by administration and now a teacher representative has increased; communication between parents and other Grand Portage community members has improved as well as collaboration with the Indian Education Department. She said afterschool programming has been implemented, along with participation by the LIEC in hiring of administrators.
At the end of her report Schwarz said, “We are committed to continual improvement and believe every child is important. I believe a lot of progress has been made and I believe we are heading in the right direction.”
In other business
. The board passed a resolution approving the state-mandated World’s Best Workforce Summary, which calls for school boards across the state to adopt a comprehensive, long-term strategic plan to support and improve teaching and learning that is aligned with creating the world’s best workforce.
Included in the summary were the results of the 2013 MCA-111 math exams (grades 3-8), which showed Cook County Public School had 15.4 percent fewer students proficient than Minnesota as a whole. Also, American Indian, Meal Benefit and Special Education subgroups also had lower percent of proficiency than the overall state.
. Board Member Ann Sullivan said that on October 16-17 she had the opportunity to attend the Minnesota Indian Education Association annual conference in Mahnomen. She participated in a variety of sessions and, “In addition, I was able to collaborate with many individuals on language curriculum and cultural materials which will benefit our students.”
. Board Chair Jeanne Anderson thanked Grand Portage for hosting the Celebrating Optimism event. She and Board Member Ann Sullivan both attended the event.
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