[Senate Hearing 115-414]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
S. Hrg. 115-414
PROTECTING THE NEXT GENERATION: SAFETY AND SECURITY AT BUREAU OF INDIAN
EDUCATION SCHOOLS
=======================================================================
HEARING
BEFORE THE
COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
UNITED STATES SENATE
ONE HUNDRED FIFTEENTH CONGRESS
SECOND SESSION
__________
MAY 16, 2018
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Indian Affairs
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COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
JOHN HOEVEN, North Dakota, Chairman
TOM UDALL, New Mexico, Vice Chairman
JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming MARIA CANTWELL, Washington
JOHN McCAIN, Arizona JON TESTER, Montana,
LISA MURKOWSKI, Alaska BRIAN SCHATZ, Hawaii
JAMES LANKFORD, Oklahoma HEIDI HEITKAMP, North Dakota
STEVE DAINES, Montana CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO, Nevada
MIKE CRAPO, Idaho TINA SMITH, Minnesota
JERRY MORAN, Kansas
T. Michael Andrews, Majority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
Jennifer Romero, Minority Staff Director and Chief Counsel
C O N T E N T S
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Page
Hearing held on May 16, 2018..................................... 1
Statement of Senator Cantwell.................................... 4
Prepared statement........................................... 4
Statement of Senator Cortez Masto................................ 26
Statement of Senator Heitkamp.................................... 3
Statement of Senator Hoeven...................................... 1
Statement of Senator Udall....................................... 2
Witnesses
Dearman, Tony, Director, Bureau of Indian Education, U.S.
Department of the Interior..................................... 5
Prepared statement........................................... 6
Firethunder, Cecilia, President, Oglala Lakota Nation Education
Coalition...................................................... 11
Prepared statement........................................... 12
Lujan, Gary, Director, Trust Land and Security, Santa Fe Indian
School......................................................... 16
Prepared statement........................................... 17
Appendix
Flying Hawk, Hon. Robert, Chairman, Yankton Sioux Tribe, prepared
statement...................................................... 38
Response to written questions submitted to Tony Dearman by:
Hon. Steve Daines............................................ 38
Hon. Heidi Heitkamp.......................................... 39
Response to written questions submitted by Hon. Steve Daines to
Cecilia Firethunder............................................ 42
Weston, Hon. Troy Scott, President, Oglala Sioux Tribe, prepared
statement...................................................... 35
Whirlwind Horse, Jon, President, Dakota Area Consortium of Treaty
Schools, prepared statement.................................... 36
PROTECTING THE NEXT GENERATION:
SAFETY AND SECURITY AT BUREAU OF
INDIAN EDUCATION SCHOOLS
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WEDNESDAY, MAY 16, 2018
U.S. Senate,
Committee on Indian Affairs,
Washington, DC.
The Committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:51 p.m. in room
628, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. John Hoeven,
Chairman of the Committee, presiding.
OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. JOHN HOEVEN,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA
The Chairman. Good afternoon.
Today, the Committee will receive testimony on safety and
security at the Bureau of Indian Education schools and
facilities. The BIE oversees approximately 47,000 students in
169 schools and 14 dormitories on or near 63 Indian
reservations in 23 States. In my home State of North Dakota,
there are 13 BIE-funded schools.
Our hearing today focuses on Protecting the next
generation: safety and security at BIE schools. All students
deserve a safe and secure learning environment, and it is this
Committee's responsibility to take a comprehensive look at the
safety and security of schools in Indian Country.
Over the past decade, the Department of the Interior Office
of Inspector General, OIG, has done a series of reports on
preventing school violence and improving emergency preparedness
in BIE schools.
A 2008 OIG report found that many BIE schools are
``dangerously unprepared to prevent violence and ensure the
safety of students and staff.'' Many BIE schools were found to
have high staff turnover, no emergency action plan, and faulty
infrastructure, such as inadequate fencing, unlockable doors,
and inadequate surveillance systems.
In fact, some BIE schools could not complete a lock-down
drill when OIG staff was on-site. These drills are commonplace
and used in multiple emergencies, including having an active
shooter on or near campus.
More recently, in its February 2018 report, the OIG found
that the BIE was not completing background checks on employees
who work with children. Furthermore, the report found a backlog
of reinvestigations on current employees.
These failures were exactly what the Indian Child
Protection and Family Violence Prevention Act, passed by
Congress in 1990, intended to avoid. Reinvestigations are
supposed to happen every five years.
Since many schools have not completed recurring background
checks, crimes committed after being hired may go undetected.
The OIG report concludes the backlog will only increase without
further guidance from BIE leadership.
In the same report, the OIG also suggested that more
oversight over tribally-controlled schools, which account for
nearly two-thirds of BIE schools, may be needed. Under current
law, tribally-controlled schools are allowed to follow their
own unique background check system, as long as it is ``no less
stringent'' than what is required for the BIE.
However, there have been multiple cases of substandard
background checks being performed at these schools. More than
this, in one instance, OIG found that background checks had
been abandoned altogether.
The safety of our Native American children is a top
priority for me and this Committee. In 2016, the President
signed into law a bill which I authored and introduced, the
Native American Children's Safety Act. This legislation has
worked to improve the safety of the tribal foster care system
by requiring background checks on all adults living in a
potential foster home.
Homes and schools need to be safe places for our youth. No
child or student should experience violence, especially in the
places where they should be nurtured and educated.
Congress and the Administration must continue to work
together to ensure safer environments for Indian children. We
hope to hear today how BIE and tribally-controlled schools are
making progress in modernizing their emergency and violence
prevention protocols to protect Indian children.
I would like to thank our witnesses here today that will
help guide this discussion. I will turn to Vice Chairman Udall
for his opening remarks.
STATEMENT OF HON. TOM UDALL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEW MEXICO
Senator Udall. Thank you, Chairman Hoeven, for working with
me to hold this oversight hearing today.
Recent events have once again led to a national dialogue on
school safety. It is crucial that schools in Indian Country be
a part of this important conversation.
Thank you to our two tribal witnesses for joining us here
today. Throughout her career, Cecilia Firethunder has been and
continues to be a great advocate for Native women and Native
education. Thank you for making the journey here today.
I want to extend a special welcome to Gary Lujan from Santa
Fe Indian School. Mr. Lujan is a member of the Taos Pueblo who
has dedicated years working as a Pueblo education advocate and
on behalf of the Santa Fe Indian School community. Thank you
and the FSIS Board of Trustees for working with me and my staff
to highlight school safety issues in Indian Country.
In March, students around the Nation took part in the March
for Our Lives. These students stood up and demanded never again
and they kept standing up for their right to attend safe,
welcoming schools.
I was proud to join the march in Santa Fe with students
from across northern New Mexico, including from Santa Fe Indian
School. I heard many young leaders talk about the need for
reform and resources. These brave students made very clear what
they needed. Now, I am doing my part to carry that message here
to Washington and to use that message to inform my work.
On this Committee, we know all too well that Native
students often have to fight for the same educational
opportunities that many communities take for granted. That is
why I worked to make sure BIE schools were a part of the Stop
School Violence Act passed earlier this year and why I am
interested in hearing from our witnesses today about what other
Federal agencies could do to help BIE improve school
preparedness.
Mr. Lujan, I understand that some Santa Fe Indian School
students may we watching this hearing in their Government and
Social Studies classes today, including your son. The Santa Fe
Indian School student body and the student-led Braves and Lady
Braves Against School Violence Group is taking on this very
important work. Let me just stay to those students, I am moved
by your tenacity and your advocacy. I hope today's hearing
amplifies your work and that of all Native students, whether
they attend BIE schools or non-BIE schools and whether they are
in K through 12 or college.
Thank you again, Mr. Chairman, for working with me to hold
this hearing. Hopefully today's discussion will do even more to
elevate the voices of Native communities in the Senate's work
to address school violence.
The Chairman. Do other Senators wish to make opening
statements? Senator Heitkamp.
STATEMENT OF HON. HEIDI HEITKAMP,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NORTH DAKOTA
Senator Heitkamp. Just quickly. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Thank you to you and Senator Udall for holding this hearing. I
think it is critically important.
After the Parkland shooting, we had a number of high
profile incidences in North Dakota, some in schools protected
by the sheriff's department and some in schools in communities
that were large enough and whose law enforcement was robust
enough to present a quick responses.
That was not true at Turtle Mountain. It was not true when
Lana DeCoteau called me the second day after she shut down her
school at Turtle Mountain because of a threat. It raised the
awareness that where are we with Native American schools and
protecting children?
We have a unique and critical responsibility. As we are
asking that question of school boards and communities across
the Country, we have to look in the mirror and ask ourselves
that question. How long is the response time to any school in
Indian Country where we are responsible as a government, in a
government-to-government relationship, for the safety of
children?
Yes, we are responsible for the safety of all American
children but we have a unique trust and fiduciary obligation to
the children in Indian Country. We are part of their school
system. We need to make sure we have the answers of how we can
better protect children in Indian Country, how we can work with
administrators like the two great administrators we have here
and work within the government.
I understand you are doing a survey and study. I am anxious
to see that. We need to know what those resources are.
Thank you so much, my friends, for coming. When we all work
together, if we have one goal, making sure when children come
to school they are safe in that learning environment, that is a
goal regardless of political party or any other thing that
divides us, we should all share.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding this hearing.
Senator Cantwell. Mr. Chairman.
The Chairman. Senator Cantwell.
STATEMENT OF HON. MARIA CANTWELL,
U.S. SENATOR FROM WASHINGTON
Senator Cantwell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will submit a
longer statement for the record.
We obviously had a very tragic shooting in the Tulalip
Marysville area a few years ago. One thing I think we need to
remember is that when we have integrated services and
information about domestic violence, or people who should not
have access to guns, we need Indian Country to participate in
that system. We need that system and the coordination of our
national database to all work together.
I thank the witnesses for being here.
[The prepared statement of Senator Cantwell follows:]
Prepared Statement of Hon. Maria Cantwell, U.S. Senator from Washington
Thank you Mr. Chairman.
No student should fear for their life while attending school.
However, students in Washington state and across the country have
too often experienced the wrenching loss and tragedy of mass shootings.
One shooting in particular is especially painful for Native
Americans in my state: the shooting at Marysville Pilchuck High School
in October, 2014.
At that shooting, a 15-year old killed Gia Soriano, Andrew Fryberg,
Zeo Galasso, Shaylee Chuckulnaskit, and wounded Nathan Hatch.
We are still heartbroken about this shooting and continue to mourn
the students we lost.
We need to do more to prevent senseless shootings from occurring.
To that end, we need to make sure our students and teachers have
the resources they need to prevent and respond to emergencies.
This includes established and practiced emergency plans, school
buildings that can safely lock-down and protect students and mental
health resources to help students that are struggling.
I am continuing to work with my colleagues to advance these
solutions to protect our children.
The Chairman. With that, we will turn to our witnesses.
Thank you for being here today.
We have Mr. Tony Dearman, Director, Bureau of Indian
Education, U.S. Department of the Interior here in Washington,
D.C.; Ms. Cecilia Firethunder, President, Oglala Lakota Nation
Education Coalition, Pine Ridge, South Dakota; and Mr. Gary
Lujan, Director of Trust Land and Security, Santa Fe Indian
School, Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thank you for being here.
I want to remind you that your full written testimony will
be included as a part of the record. If you would, please keep
opening statements to about five minutes so we have time for
questions.
With that, we will begin with Mr. Dearman.
STATEMENT OF TONY DEARMAN, DIRECTOR, BUREAU OF INDIAN
EDUCATION, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. Dearman. Good afternoon, Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman
Udall and members of the Committee.
I am Tony Dearman, Director of the Bureau of Indian
Education. On behalf of the BIE and the Department, thank you
for the invitation to appear here today.
Whether it be access to mental or behavioral health
services or ensuring classrooms are physically safe, BIE is
working every day to effectively and efficiently utilize public
resources to improve accountability and better support students
in schools.
OIG recently highlighted concerns regarding violence at BIE
schools as well as the need for increased scrutiny, background
checks and improve support for tribally-controlled schools. BIE
acknowledges we have neglected GAO and OIG reports for too
long. We are working to address both GAO and OIG
recommendations regarding safety as quickly as possible.
BIE is in the final stages of formalizing our strategic
plan to begin implementation on support specific to emotional
preparedness and facility safety as one of six mission areas
addressing wellness, behavioral health and student safety.
BIE is actively collaborating with partners across Indian
Affairs to address safety-related OIG recommendations. BIE and
Indian Affairs administered safe school audits with a 100
percent completion rate in 2016 and 2017. We are on track to
complete 100 percent of inspections for 2018 and monitoring
quality as well as whether schools have established required
safety committees.
BIE is working to improve local level emergency plans to
expand training, emergency drills and other safety measures by
adopting policies and procedures that ensure proper oversight
in Bureau-operated schools as well as improved technical
assistance to tribally-controlled schools.
Employees across BIE are responding to report
recommendations by implementing effective crisis emergency
plans such as those for armed intruders. We are also conducting
a variety of emergency drills and providing high quality
conflict resolution on bullying, gang prevention, substance
abuse, suicidal ideation, and trauma informed training so
school staff can better recognize at-risk students and provide
targeted assistance.
BIE is improving threat assessment protocols and procedures
as well as increasing access to guidance for preventing and
responding to instances of school violence. BIE collaborates
with local level staff to identify threats and manage support
activities. Further, BIE recently hired data specialists to
improve tracking and access to information regarding critical
incidents.
In 2018, BIE updated and communicated its list of mandatory
and recommended trainings. For tribally-controlled schools, BIE
reviews grant assurances to ensure compliance with legal
requirements such as background checks. However, tribally-
controlled schools are not required to follow policies and
procedures developed by the BIE.
Through partnerships at both the national and local levels,
BIE coordinates activities to improve services. For example,
Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California contracts with a
local private security firm to conduct detailed surveys,
identify safety and security issues and implement corrective
action plans. The Indian Affairs Office of Justice Services
also provides training and enforcement services regarding gang
resistance as well as drug abuse resistance education.
BIE collaborates with SAMHSA and the Indian Health Service
to address substance abuse issues and increase access to
behavioral mental health services. While challenges exist, BIE
and IHS recently met to discuss additional areas for
partnership as well as continued support for MOAs among BIE
schools and local IHS clinics to house counseling services.
When tragedy strikes, school leaders work with their staff
and families as they respond to suicide attempts and
completions by assisting with coordination of local services,
and if needed, utilizing the Department of Education's Project
SERV grant. Project SERV assists schools in returning to their
environments to pre-incident conditions as much as possible.
When I served as Superintendent of Riverside Indian School
and principal of Sequoyah High School, we knew we were the
front lines in supporting our students on a 24-hour basis. If
students experienced critical incidents or attempts to take his
or her life, the event can take a toll on the entire community.
Please know that while barriers exist, we are dedicated to
improving services so our students can learn safely and
uninterrupted.
Thank you again for inviting me today. I would be honored
to answer any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Dearman follows:]
Prepared Statement of Tony Dearman, Director, Bureau of Indian
Education, U.S. Department of the Interior
Good afternoon Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and Members of
the Committee. I am Tony Dearman--the Director of the Bureau of Indian
Education (BIE). On behalf of the BIE and the U.S. Department of the
Interior, thank you for the invitation to appear again before the
Committee to update you on our work. The Administration is committed to
providing access to high-quality educational opportunities for all
students at BIE-funded schools. As such, it is imperative that we
provide students and staff the support needed to succeed, whether it be
access to mental and behavioral health services or ensuring classes are
held in a safe, well-constructed school facility. Every day we are
working to effectively and efficiently utilize public resources and
improve accountability to better support our schools.
Bureau of Indian Education
The BIE supports education programs and residential facilities for
Indian students from federally recognized tribes at 183 elementary and
secondary schools and dormitories as well as two postsecondary
institutions--Haskell Indian Nations University and the Southwestern
Indian Polytechnic Institute. Of the 183 schools, the BIE directly
operates 53 schools and dormitories while tribes, through local
control, operate the other 130 schools and dormitories through grants
or contracts. In total, BIE-funded schools serve approximately 46,810
K-12 American Indian and Alaska Native students and residential
boarders. Approximately 3,400 teachers, professional staff, principals,
and school administrators work to support students served by BIE-
operated schools.
We recognize that BIE-funded schools face unique and urgent
challenges in providing a safe, high-quality education to our students.
As I have mentioned in my previous appearances before this Committee,
with challenges come tremendous opportunities for improvement in the
way we operate on a day-to-day basis. We are working to think outside
the box to expand best practices and address shortcomings. As such, the
BIE is in the early stages of working with state education leaders from
across the country through the Council of Chief State School Officers
(CCSSO) to determine resources, best practices, and potential
partnerships for improving safety and security in our schools. Because
BIE schools are located across 23 states, it is critical that the BIE
actively works with tribal, state and local leaders to ensure all
students at BIE-funded schools have access to educational opportunities
in a safe learning environment and the necessary mental and behavioral
health supports to assist them as they work to succeed. BIE also
collaborates with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration (SAMHSA), which has expanded eligibility in its funding
programs to include education agencies serving tribal youth. In
addition, BIE and SAMHSA have developed a behavioral health initiative
called ``Culture and Meth Don't Mix,'' a drug prevention curriculum for
middle school youth.
Strategic Performance Management to Support School Safety
As highlighted by U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
reports, a lack of consistent leadership and the absence of regular and
consistent strategic planning have limited the BIE's ability to improve
its core service delivery. In response, the BIE prepared a Draft
Strategic Plan Proposal, and on October 17, 2017, published a notice in
the Federal Register to initiate tribal consultation on the proposal.
The BIE completed five tribal consultation sessions across Indian
Country and hosted three listening sessions throughout the fall of 2017
to gather substantive input from tribes and Indian education
stakeholders.
To ensure that the Strategic Plan is effective, the BIE
collaborated with external subject matter expert organizations,
including WestED, the South Central Comprehensive Center, the Building
State Capacity and Productivity Center, and the CCSSO. These
organizations provided BIE with technical expertise throughout the
process and shared best practices in developing an effective, long-term
strategic plan that guides the work of the organization for the next
five years. As BIE works to implement the Strategic Plan and the
associated work around safety, it will provide tribes, school boards,
employees, and other stakeholders a mid-cycle status update during Year
Three of the implementation phase. As part of its effort to execute
mid- and long-term goals and strategies, including supports centered on
student safety, the BIE will implement milestones and actions with
progress tracked and transparently reported through a strategic
performance management system.
The BIE is currently in the final stages of formalizing the
Strategic Plan, which includes supports specifically centered on
emotional preparedness and facility safety as well as one of six
Mission Areas directly addressing wellness, behavioral health, and
student safety. Upon final approval, the BIE plans to aggressively
implement its safety-related strategies.
School Safety, Monitoring, and Compliance
GAO High-Risk Status and School Safety
In February 2017, GAO listed the BIE on its High-Risk Report (GAO-
17-317 High-Risk Series). The GAO highlighted a number of weaknesses
noted in prior reports that inhibit the agency from efficiently
executing its mission to serve Indian students, including safety-
related issues:
Indian Affairs' (IA) oversight of school safety and
construction, as well as how the BIE monitors the way schools
use Interior funds;
The impact of limited workforce planning in several key
areas related to BIE schools on service delivery;
The effects of aging BIE school facilities and equipment and
how such facilities contribute to degraded and unsafe
conditions for students and staff; and
How the lack of internal controls and other weaknesses
hinder IA's ability to collect complete and accurate
information on the physical conditions of BIE schools.
Recently, GAO issued three additional reports that included several
new safety-related recommendations. As I have testified previously, BIE
is committed to addressing all GAO recommendations, both outstanding
and more recent. As of May 2018, GAO has closed five GAO
recommendations. Additionally, BIE has cross collaborated with partners
from across IA to address its remaining safety-related GAO
recommendations. The BIE is committed to working with IA, the
Secretary's office, and our colleagues at the GAO to ensure that the
BIE systematically and comprehensively addresses each recommendation
for improving services.
Further, through an IA collaborative working group to address
outstanding safety issues, BIE has administered safe-school audits with
a 100 percent completion rate in both 2016 and 2017. We are also on
track to complete 100 percent of inspections in 2018 and are monitoring
whether schools have established required safety committees. We are
also working to ensure employee performance standards on inspections
are consistently incorporated into the appraisal plans of personnel
with safety program responsibilities and are on schedule to formally
require safety inspectors to document when inspection reports are sent
to schools and establish a process to routinely monitor the timeliness
of such reports. Further, we have drafted and recently implemented the
Indian Affairs Safety Health and Accessibility Inspection/Evaluation
Guidelines (Guidelines) which will comprehensively address many of
GAO's safety related recommendations.
Office of the Inspector General Reports and School Safety
Similar to addressing the GAO recommendations, there are a number
of outstanding Office of the Inspector General (OIG) report
recommendations regarding local-level emergency plans, training,
emergency drills and other safety measures in BIE-funded schools. The
BIE and its partners across IA are now working diligently to address
these recommendations. More recently, the OIG has highlighted concerns
regarding school violence at BIE-funded schools as well as the need for
increased scrutiny for background checks. As such, the BIE has convened
working groups to develop the necessary policies and procedures to
address such recommendations. To-date, employees across BIE have
responded to these report recommendations by implementing effective
crisis emergency plans, conducting a variety of emergency drills, and
providing high-quality conflict resolution, bullying, gang prevention,
and substance abuse trainings.
Safety Policies, Procedures, and Awareness
As BIE works to address the GAO and OIG recommendations and improve
security at its schools, the agency is focusing much-needed support on
improving threat assessments, protocols and procedures as well as
increasing access to guidance information for preventing and responding
to instances of school violence. The BIE utilizes its School Safety
Specialist to partner with key BIE staff in providing safety supports
to BIE-funded schools as well as to coordinate with BIE Central Office
to manage activities when threats are identified.
To ensure the welfare and safety of students and staff at BIE-
funded schools, the agency also utilizes safety personnel to provide
national protocols and guidance throughout the BIE school system
uniformly in reference to issues that are national in scope. As such,
the BIE provided guidance via a February 15, 2018 memorandum to schools
and BIE staff regarding armed intruder policy and procedures.
In the memo, the BIE called on schools and staff to review their
2009 Safe School Planning Guides and perform the following duties:
Review and update contact information;
Share emergency plan information with staff and students;
Provide current and updated information concerning emergency
response techniques and plans;
Provide re-unification information;
Highlight student needs; and
Review threat assessments.
The memo also emphasized the levels of preparedness schools can
take to maintain security, including, but not limited to, lock-down
drills; table-top exercises with stakeholders; drills with
stakeholders; and how to receive BIE technical assistance.
The BIE is also working to improve its safety procedures by
providing schools and staff guidance on pertinent mandatory and
recommended trainings to ensure that safety is the highest priority at
BIE-funded schools. The All Academic Staff Training and Preparedness
guidance was most recently updated on January 12, 2018 and was provided
to schools by BIE Education Program Administrators who work directly
with school leaders. The form lists mandatory and recommended trainings
and provides checklists for school leaders to plan and complete such
trainings. These trainings include, but are not limited to: Child
Abuse/Suspected Child Abuse or Neglect Training; Emergency Management
Plan and Procedures; Continuity of Operations Plan; Bomb Threat
Procedures; Conflict Resolution Plans; De-escalation Techniques; and
School Security Reviews. Further, as part of the implementation of the
Strategic Plan, the BIE plans to comprehensively review and update
relevant policy and procedures to improve service delivery and safety.
BIE safety personnel provide information in a similar manner to
both tribally controlled and Bureau-operated schools. However, levels
of autonomy differ among tribally controlled and Bureau-operated
schools. Bureau-operated schools are required to follow all national
BIE policy memoranda, whereas tribally-controlled schools have the
authority to create their own school policies and procedures, pursuant
to any applicable law(s). Since the majority of BIE funded schools are
directly managed by tribes or locally controlled school boards, the
BIE's ability to oversee the implementation of safety policies is
necessarily limited by their autonomy. However, the BIE does review
grant assurances to ensure tribally controlled schools follow statutory
and regulatory defined minimum requirements regarding necessary
procedures for background checks as well as other safety measures.
Additionally, the BIE regularly provides support and technical
assistance, where requested, to improve safety procedures and local
education delivery.
Safety Monitoring and Reporting
BIE utilizes a data system for tracking incidents of school
violence, including threats. BIE schools work to document incidents by
entering data into the Native American Student Information System
(NASIS), which allows the BIE to collect data from schools that submit
such information. NASIS is a centralized system for supporting
teachers, school staff, students, parents, and the BIE Central Office.
NASIS provides statistical reports based on school submissions that are
necessary for addressing the various requirements of federal programs
as well as critical incidents.
School-level employees and BIE NASIS specialists have access to the
NASIS system for reporting and tracking such issues as well as
providing pertinent information to the BIE Central Office. The
Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect (SCAN) Program Specialist collects
information through Critical Incident Reports once submitted by
schools. In addition to reporting through the NASIS system, schools are
instructed to contact key BIE personnel directly if such an issue
occurs. As such, schools are directed to complete Critical Incident
Reports, describing the issue in detail, and immediately contact the
BIE Central Office, their respective Associate Deputy Director (ADD),
Education Resource Center staff, and the SCAN Program Specialist.
Professional Development and Safety Partnerships
Professional Development
The BIE has increased focus on professional development in the last
two years to ensure BIE employees and school personnel have the
training necessary to address the various safety needs of students and
personnel in BIE-funded schools. The BIE will hold regional trainings
this summer to assist BIE employees with understanding the latest
policies and procedures for addressing local safety needs.
BIE has also provided suicidal ideation recognition trainings
resulting in an increase in identification of at-risk students as well
as the timely delivery of services. Through trainings and an increased
awareness of resources, BIE personnel have increasingly utilized the
U.S. Department of Education's Project SERV program when BIE-funded
schools respond to suicide attempts and completions. Project SERV funds
have also been used by BIE schools to hire mental and behavioral health
professionals to return the school environment to pre-incident
conditions as much as possible. Individual schools may also utilize
ISEP base funding to provide for student safety services as well as
Project SERV funds to support short- and long-term education-related
services to help students and staff recover from a violent or traumatic
event.
BIA Office of Justice Services
The BIE partners with the BIA Office of Justice Services (OJS) as
well as local and tribal law enforcement where necessary to improve
safety in BIE-funded schools. Schools like Sherman Indian School also
contract with a local private security firms in order to take the
burden off school staff in conducting detailed surveys, identifying
safety and security deficiencies, and implementing corrective action
plans. During the 2017-2018 School Year, approximately $1.8 million in
Safe and Secure Schools funding assisted in school safety audits and
supporting onsite School Resource Officers (SROs) that are hired and
supervised by BIA OJS.
In addition to OJS providing SROs, OJS provides training and other
direct law enforcement safety services to BIE-funded schools,
including:
Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT);
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE); and
Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate (ALICE) active
shooter response.
Indian Health Services
Significant challenges exist in the delivery of behavioral and
mental health services for BIE schools located in rural, geographically
isolated locations, including the lack of local Indian Health Service
(IHS) resources; lack of private practice and/or local hospital and
clinical resources; and difficulty recruiting qualified licensed
counselors and behavioral health and safety professionals. To work
toward addressing need, BIE actively partners with IHS to better
address the behavioral health needs of our schools and instances of
suicide among BIE-funded students. BIE leadership recently met with IHS
leaders to discuss areas for partnership as well as the continuation of
support for local Memoranda of Agreement (MOA) being established by
BIE-funded schools and IHS clinics to provide direct counseling
services to BIE students.
FY 2018 Funding and School Facilities
In the FY 2018 Omnibus spending package, Congress funded the BIA
and BIE at $3.1 billion--an increase of $204 million above the FY 2017
enacted level. This included $129 million in infrastructure increases
for schools and law enforcement. Through this funding, IA will work to
address the current backlog in school construction and maintenance as
well as provide local technical assistance to increase school safety.
At the end of the Second Quarter of FY 2018, total deferred
maintenance for education facilities was $547 million, including $380
million for buildings and $167 million for grounds. Deferred
maintenance for education quarters was roughly $75 million.
Additionally, the cost to replace the remaining schools on the 2016
replacement list is estimated at $292 million through a Design-Build
approach, which IA has found to be significantly more cost-effective
and more efficient in decreasing construction time.
In total, there are 72 replacement eligible schools--54 eligible
due to poor condition and 18 eligible due to school age and proportion
of students in portable units. This is in addition to the ten 2016 NCLB
schools and the three previously funded 2004 replacement list schools.
The President's FY 2019 Budget request includes a legislative proposal
to create a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund, which would help pay for
repairs and improvements in national parks, national wildlife refuges,
and BIE-funded schools. As the U.S. Department of the Interior works to
expand its energy program on federal lands and waters, this initiative
has the potential to generate much-needed infrastructure and
maintenance funding. BIE strongly supports this proposal and looks
forward to working with Congress to advance this legislation.
Conclusion
When I served as superintendent of Riverside Indian School and
principal of Sequoyah High School, we understood that, as BIE personnel
on the front lines, we were there to support the varying needs and
safety of our students--often on a 24-hour basis. Between 2016 and
2018, OJS responded to 41 threats of shootings, 19 threats of bombings,
seven lockdowns, five evacuations, and three reports of an active
shooter at BIE schools.
If students experience a threat or critical incident in their
school or a student attempts to take his or her own life, the event
creates a widespread ripple-effect on their community. Understandably,
those affected then have trouble learning at the same pace as
unaffected students. Traumatic events create a lasting and profound
experience for students and parents as well as educators and staff in
the local community. As such, we are working every day to improve
services to our schools, increase employee accountability, and
coordinate with tribal, local, state, and federal partners to increase
access to safe and secure facilities as well as guard against critical
incidents and provide the mental and behavioral supports necessary for
students to succeed.
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall and Members of the Committee,
thank you again for the opportunity to present testimony today. We
appreciate your continued dedication to our students and look forward
to working with you to ensure that BIE funded students have a safe and
secure learning environment. I would be honored to answer any questions
you may have.
The Chairman. Ms. Firethunder.
STATEMENT OF CECILIA FIRETHUNDER, PRESIDENT, OGLALA LAKOTA
NATION EDUCATION COALITION
Ms. Firethunder. [Greeting in native tongue.]
I greet you with a warm handshake with good feelings from
my heart.
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall and honorable members
of the Committee, it is a real honor to be here with you today.
My name is Cecilia Firethunder. I am the President of the
Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition representing six
tribal schools on my reservation and St. Francis Indian School
on the Rosebud Reservation. We are coordinating our activities.
Our six schools have been given the authority to be
locally-controlled by our tribal council. I would like to
acknowledge my tribal council members here with us today from
the Education Committee, Mr. C.J. Clifford and Ms. Lydia Bird
Killer and my colleague, Dr. Kostopolous with Indian education,
as we are moving ahead to understand more what we are doing.
Before I go any further, I would like to also acknowledge
that this Committee was created by Senator James Abourezk about
150 years ago. I am alluding to what a wonderful vision he had
to make this Committee a reality so all of our Indian issues
could be addressed. I just wanted to make sure we remember
Senator Abourezk.
The Pine Ridge Reservation is located in southwestern South
Dakota covering an area of approximately 3 million acres and
home to 45,000 people. Connecting tribal youth to quality
education services across these great distances is a constant
challenge for families and our tribal government.
Assuming they make it through daily safety hazards posed by
our inadequate and under-developed road infrastructure, tribal
youth have overcome the effects of years of under-funding and
under-resourcing that have left our schools woefully unfit to
address their needs.
I want to be real clear that I understand this is about
safety in our schools and what we are doing. As local control,
we are responsible to make sure within our policy and personnel
procedures we have in place ways to do background checks of
anyone who applies for a job in our schools. I think we are
doing a very good job.
When we sign assurances that we are getting money from the
BIA, we are also saying we are going to follow the law to make
sure we do the background checks of anyone who applies for a
job in our schools.
I included a chart. Under facilities are the resources we
need to hire security guards and to enhance whatever safety
items we have to install, cameras, metal detectors and all this
other stuff.
As we began to take a look at some of the issues, my school
boards want me to reiterate very clearly that it is not about
anything except the underfunding of facilities. We use our
education dollars, called ISEP, to make up for shortfalls the
Bureau does not ask for over here on this side. If you look at
ISEP, the monies we are using to make up the shortfalls, we
could be hiring additional counselors to help our children.
Facilities is a main concern that we have. However, as we
move into this hearing, an important component of my work is
the whole issue of well, healthy children. We have so many
unmet behavioral health needs.
Looking at the graph I included, this is a law enforcement
report from Pine Ridge Reservation from 2015-2017. We began to
look at the numbers. The greatest danger our children face is
not in the schools but in their homes and their own families. I
say that with a heavy heart because it tells us we have to do a
better job.
Working in my community for as long as I have, we need to
provide more therapeutic services for our children on campus.
When we began to look at learning, we took a look at the
research, adverse childhood experiences, all of those things
factor into how well our children are doing.
The other piece I want to reiterate is public safety for
Pine Ridge. On the Pine Ridge Reservation, when you call 911,
we want someone at our school quickly. Right now because of
underfunding, we do not have as many police officers to answer
that 911 call.
I want to encourage us to reiterate how important it is to
get funding for our law enforcement. In past years, when we
called 911, within minutes we had a patrol car in front of our
school to respond to whatever crisis was at hand.
When we began to look at what we need to do, it is about
taking care of our babies, providing more behavioral health
services, providing more public safety dollars. But most
importantly, Senators, we really need the BIA to ask for the
money it needs to make up for that portion of schools.
Finally is safety. We have schools on Pine Ridge that are
55 years of age. Because of the age and lack of maintenance,
many of our schools are dangerous places for our children to be
going to class. We have excessive issues, walls are falling
down.
Finally, we want to put in a plug for Wounded Knee School.
It is 55 years old. We keep beating on the doors for a new
school for Wounded Knee School.
I have so much to share with you but I hope my written
testimony can answer some of those questions. I appreciate this
time.
Thank you very much.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Firethunder follows:]
Prepared Statement of Cecilia Firethunder, President, Oglala Lakota
Nation Education Coalition
Introduction
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall and honorable members of the
Committee, wopila (thank you) for this opportunity to provide testimony
on behalf of the Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition. My name is
Cecelia Firethunder, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. I am speaking
on behalf of the Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition (OLNEC),
which represents the Oglala Sioux Tribe's six tribally operated grant
schools. \1\ The schools operate pursuant to ``Tribally Controlled
Schools Act of 1988'' (Public Law 100-297) and the Indian Self
Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (ISDEAA), as
amended. We are located on the Pine Ridge Reservation in southwestern
South Dakota. Our Tribal Council has given us the authority to be
responsible for the administration and operation of all tribal school
functions. Members of individual school boards are elected from the
communities they serve.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\1\ Little Wound School, American Horse School, Wounded Knee
District School, Loneman Day School, Porcupine Day School, and Crazy
Horse School.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
I. A Fundamental Requirement: Adequate and Proper Allocation of Federal
Funds
The Pine Ridge Reservation is located in southwestern South Dakota,
covering an area of approximately 3 million acres and home to over
45,000 people. Connecting tribal youth to quality educational services
across these great distances is a constant challenge for families and
our tribal government. Assuming that they make it through the daily
safety hazards posed by our inadequate and under-developed road
infrastructure, tribal youth must then overcome the effects of years of
underfunding and under-resourcing that have left our schools woefully
unfit to address their needs.
Indian School Equalization Program (ISEP) formula funds provide
critical support for instructional services at BIE-funded elementary
and secondary schools, including tribally operated grant schools. The
most pressing concerns we have right now are the chronic underfunding
of and constraints on existing Facilities Operations and Maintenance
accounts, which have resulted in a significant strain on our school
resources. To fill gaps in funding, our schools are using ISEP dollars
to cover non-instructional service costs, particularly in Facilities
Operations and Maintenance, which have seen a decline over the years in
necessary funding (see pie chart). This reduces an already overloaded
ISEP budget with our high costs for facilities and staff benefits. When
we use our ISEP funds to cover the costs for other programs, we reduce
available funds for teacher hires and curriculum needs in the
classroom. This, in turn, directly affects the consistency and quality
of the educational services our students receive.
The chart below provides a visual representation of how ISEP
dollars have been put to other uses at the Little Wound School during
the 2015-2016 academic year. Each of our six tribally operated grant
schools has experienced similar circumstances and continue to face the
diversion of ISEP funds to varying degrees.
Federal support for tribally operated schools needs to be
sufficient to meet our students' academic needs and to cover
administrative and facilities costs. Without adequate and properly
allocated funds, ISEP dollars will continue to be diverted to cover the
costs of emergencies, staff benefits, and other non-instructional
matters associated with operating a school. OLNEC communicates with our
Tribal Education Committee and the BIE to keep them appraised of these
matters.
II. Facilities: Infrastructural Insecurity--A Persistent Challenge in
Tribally Operated Schools
We continue to suffer negative effects from constraints on
Facilities Operations funding. For the 2016 school year, the percentage
of funds received in comparison to the need at our schools was 61
percent. As a result, we must use ISEP funding to pay for custodians,
security officers, and supplies since the Facilities Operation funding
to pay for basic costs is not sufficient to maintain our facilities.
Three of our six schools are older and require additional costs to
maintain them, and our Wounded Knee School needs to be completely
replaced.
As our school facilities continue to age, costs will inevitably
continue to increase. We note that federal regulations state: ``The
Assistant Secretary [of Indian Affairs] shall arrange for full funding
for operation and maintenance of contract schools by fiscal year
1981.'' 25 C.F.R. 39.1203 (Future consideration of contract school
operation and maintenance funding) (emphasis added). Yet, since 1981,
we have received 100 percent of funding only once; funding streams do
not meet annual need.
None of the six schools on the Pine Ridge Reservation have been
given any Maintenance Improvement & Repair (MI&R) funding in over a
year and half. Our schools continue to degrade over time. Not having
monies to repair the schools as needs arise increases overall
maintenance costs. The Wounded Knee School is at the point of being
unsafe for our students due to its age. It needs to be replaced. The
Wounded Knee and Little Wound Schools are our top priorities for
facilities maintenance and replacement. Little Wound School has 900
students. It serves 7 of the 9 communities on our Reservation with
buses bringing the students to the school. Wounded Knee has 300
students. Together, they serve over 1200 students, currently in
conditions that pose significant health and safety hazards. Dilapidated
school facilities are not only unsafe for our students, but they are
also not productive learning environments. The chart below provides an
overview of the facilities funding shortfalls at the Little Wound
School.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
YEAR CALC NEED FUNDED AMT SHORT FALL CONSTRAINT
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2000-01 $1,005,509.00 $792,482.00 $213,027.00 21.19%
2001-02 $1,005,508.00 $875,804.00 $129,704.00 13.20%
2002-03 $899,819.00 $765,354.00 $134,465.00 14.90%
2003-04 $906,861.00 $731,415.00 $175,446.00 19.30%
2004-05 $1,000,257.00 $810,507.00 $189,750.00 18.97%
2005-06 $988,056.00 $732,382.00 $255,674.00 26.00%
2006-07 $1,051,707.00 $708,229.00 $343,478.00 33.00%
2007-08 $1,036,109.00 $705,906.00 $330,203.00 32.00%
2008-09 $1,115,895.00 $742,709.00 $373,186.00 49.00%
2009-10 $1,083,684.00 $709,325.00 $374,359.00 52.00%
2010-11 $988,394.00 $723,296.00 $265,098.00 43.00%
2011-12 $1,358,458.00 $913,303.00 $445,155.00 45.00%
2012-13 $1,192,285.00 $767,303.00 $424,982.00 49.00%
2013-14 $1,177,400.00 $732,000.00 $445,400.00 51.00%
2014-15 $1,250,999.00 $800,270.00 $450,729.00 49.00%
2015-16 $1,239,750.00 $921,895.00 $329,104.00 61.00%
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTAL SHORT FALL $4,879,760.00
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The chronic underfunding of tribally operated schools--as
demonstrated by the above chart--is further complicated by the BIE's
use of Indian Affairs-Facility Management System (Maximo) to track
facilities needs. Because of the way Maximo operates, we are no longer
able to determine the shortfall percentage. As a result, we rely on the
annual BIE budget justification for such information. Regardless of the
source, the outcome is clear: tribally operated schools need increased
support. While we recognize that appropriations do not fall under this
Committee's jurisdiction, we want to share that we believe an increase
of 31.5 percent in BIE funding and a 100 percent increase for
Facilities Operation and Maintenance are urgently needed to address
facility safety concerns. We ask this Committee to support these
funding levels in your discussions with the appropriators.
Specifically, for security purposes, all of our schools need metal
detectors at the main entry of its facilities. Many of our schools have
taken steps to control who enters our buildings along with additional
resources for cameras to document any activity within the school. The
Tribe has a K-9 unit that visits our schools on both a regular and as
needed basis. But, due to the continued loss of funding for the Tribe's
Public Safety Department, we have lost manpower and law enforcement
presence for our schools. Further, given that the Tribe has only 34
officers for our entire Reservation, police response times are unduly
and unacceptably long. In the event of a student or public safety
emergency at one of our schools, it is unclear when help would
realistically be able to arrive. The lack of tribal law enforcement
officers and resources leaves our schools and thereby our students
vulnerable.
III. Unmet Behavioral Health Needs Threaten Student Safety
Senators, we are talking about the safety of our children.
Unfortunately, the greatest dangers our children face on a daily basis
come from within their families, homes, and community. The severe
underfunding of tribal public safety and social service programs on the
Pine Ridge Reservation and in Indian Country has been a chronic problem
on the congressional radar since at least the 1980s. Decades later, the
Great Plains is experiencing unprecedented violent criminal activity
and recent upsurges in drug trafficking, as well as a crisis level drug
epidemic. Tragically, these public safety threats are linked to
increases in violent crime, suicide, and child neglect.
Suicide is the second leading cause of death for Native youth aged
15-24 years old. Native youth attempt suicide at rates 3-10 times that
of the national average, depending on the reservation. As shocking as
these statistics are, the numbers may be even worse. According to a CDC
study, suicide rates for American Indian and Alaska Native youth may be
underreported by as much as 30 percent. Poverty, unemployment,
inadequate health care, and substance abuse are just the first layer of
factors affecting the mental and emotional well-being of our youth.
Underlying issues of social despair, cultural loss, and historical
trauma affect our communities as a whole.
The CDC-Kaiser Permanente Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs)
Study measures the effect of these and other stressful and traumatic
factors on tribal youth. \2\ ACEs are strongly correlated with the
development of diverse health problems including learning challenges,
substance misuse, and behavioral and mental health issues. Both ongoing
ACEs and unaddressed past ACEs affect the ability of our tribal youth
to focus on and engage in learning activities in the classroom. Our
schools, however, do not have the resources to respond to our students'
needs. We do not have the funds to support full-time behavioral health
specialists or to provide targeted programming to address the
emotional, behavioral, spiritual, and cultural needs of our students.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
\2\ https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/acestudy/about.html.
Additional information on ACEs and its use in addressing and advancing
behavioral health needs in Indian Country is available at https://
www.samhsa.gov/capt/practicing-effective-prevention/prevention-
behavioral-health/adverse-childhood-experiences.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Unfortunately, recent public safety statistics show that many of
our children must overcome numerous ACEs that directly affect their
ability to engage in the classroom. The chart below details the Oglala
Sioux Tribe's Department of Public Safety's annual report on certain
public safety offenses for 2015-2017.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Domestic Intoxication
Child Abuse/ Violence/ Sexual Abuse Liquor
Neglect Spouse Abuse Violation
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2015 870 429 84 14,225
2016 643 314 25 10,405
2017 465 281 30 5818
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I have been advised and reminded that there is frequently more than
one child in a household and/or involved in any emergency call that is
reported. Thus, the numbers above can be significantly higher, along
with the many other unreported incidents that occur each day. These
events have a significant effect on a child's well-being. Over the past
years our schools have collectively shared information and found
resources to help make our teachers and staff aware of these incidents
and the impacts of them on our students. Some of our schools have found
ways to work with children and families to help students. The BIE does
not provide therapeutic services and the Indian Health Service,
unfortunately, is not able to help because its professional staff are
primarily trained to provide therapeutic services for adults with few
trained to work with children.
The influence of ACEs on our students, when coupled with the
demoralizing effects and health hazards of our crumbling school
facilities, place our youth at unacceptable risk. Their physical safety
is compromised by crumbling facilities, their academic achievement is
compromised by understaffed school faculties, their emotional and
psychological well-being is compromised by multiple traumatic factors,
and the list goes on.. In essence, our children face threats to their
safety and welfare every time that they attend class in one of our six
tribally operated grant schools. We need to rectify this situation.
To safeguard our students and protect our next generation, we need
to address this issue from all sides. We need to provide our youth with
the support they need to learn well and live full and meaningful lives.
This means that adequate funding must be provided to support on-
reservation mental and behavioral health services, substance abuse
intervention, and PSAs to confront social forces like bullying and
abuse. Moreover, long-term epidemiological studies need to be funded to
analyze the underlying historical trauma that plagues our people and to
design and implement appropriate and effective responses to it.
Due to the level of financial poverty on our Reservation, many of
our children are covered by Medicaid. Our schools are looking for ways
to provide therapeutic healing services for our little ones and their
families. We have learned that many students and tribal members have
found healing from these experiences. We know that it works. Senators,
our old healing ways do work and many of us have benefitted from them.
We need to ensure that our students have the therapeutic services and
behavioral health treatment and counseling they need, and that these
services are readily available in our schools. Addressing these
essential needs of our students will allow them to become better
learners and provide them the foundation they need to go forth and
achieve their dreams.
Conclusion
The Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition greatly appreciates
this opportunity to request support for the many pressing needs from
our school administrators and school boards of our six tribally
operated schools. However, we also know many schools from our relatives
on Turtle Island are not here today to speak for their needs;
therefore, we respectfully request you to remember them as well as you
continue your important work.
Ho hecetu, Pilaunyapi.
The Chairman. Mr. Lujan.
STATEMENT OF GARY LUJAN, DIRECTOR, TRUST LAND AND SECURITY,
SANTA FE INDIAN SCHOOL
Mr. Lujan. [Greeting in native tongue.]
Good afternoon, Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and
members of the Senate Committee on Indian Affairs.
I bring you tidings and blessing from the State of New
Mexico and the heart of the 19 Pueblo's homelands. I also
extend a special greeting to our own Senator, Tom Udall, from
northern New Mexico.
My name is Gary Lujan from the Pueblo of Taos, Trust Land
Management Director for the Santa Fe Indian School, a tribally-
controlled 297 program.
Taking a moment to reflect on the growing crisis of school
violence, to date in only 20 weeks, we have already seen 21
reported school shootings which amounts to about one shooting
per week.
Senator Heitkamp, you asked the question, what are we
doing? Santa Fe Indian School at this juncture, has been taking
the initiative to use, within its limited resources, which
drain ISEP funding and not highly able to utilize that
resource, changing outdated surveillance systems which allow us
to have a view of our entire campus, 115 acres.
We are also working to change mass notification systems
which are greatly outdated which allow us to do drills for
school lockdowns. Speaking to lockdowns, we have been upgrading
our emergency operations plans to align with standard response
protocols utilized by law enforcement agencies nationwide.
This protocol allows us to effectively train our children
and our staff for school lockdown drills in knowing what they
are supposed to do in the event of active shooter situations.
As we discuss the challenges of providing school safety and
security for our children, I want to point out five issues of
concern which are all related and affect school safety. One is
the fiscal year 2019 proposed budget by DOI which reduces ISEP
program funding by $2.7 million.
Two is an overall proposed reduction in the facilities
operations budget reduction by $5.5 million. In a school
dependent on additional resources such as the Northern Pueblos
Agency, the law enforcement jurisdiction for Santa Fe Indian
School, they have seen a reduction in funding by $10.8 million.
As we rely on that agency for our law enforcement of
jurisdiction, they are located 45 miles away from our campus.
On a good day, the standard response time is 30 to 45 minutes.
We rely on our school resource officer to be at that location.
However, because of staff shortages within the Northern
Pueblos Agency, he is often pulled from his place of duty.
Throughout each school day at any given time, we do not see our
SRO for up to four weeks due to shortages elsewhere.
Speaking to the importance of law enforcement on our
campus, a program which has greatly affected the partnership we
have established with Santa Fe Indian School is the Northern
Pueblos, Taos Butterfly Healing Center. It is a partnership
which helps us to deal with a restorative justice program which
helps to move away from punitive approaches, trying to bring
back and nurture our children, keeping them out of a justice
pathway.
Their program is being completely eliminated based on the
DOI proposed budget to the tune of $497,000 which completely
eliminates the operations funding. We are extremely dependent
on this program.
Additionally, in the justification for fiscal year 2019 at
Appendix 2-28 of the green book, the bill cites there is safe
and secure funds for 30 schools. Senators, I ask what of the
139 under the Bureau's supervision?
Lastly, I want to point out that though school safety and
security is an issue based on the active shooter situation, it
is not only a situation of students getting their hands on guns
but a mental health issue that is often swept aside while the
argument of gun control goes forward.
In closing, I would like to thank you for this opportunity
to testify before the Committee on a topic critically important
to us as an institution, to the Pueblo Governors of Northern
New Mexico and to myself personally as I have children in
Bureau schools.
I stand and speak as a parent not only for myself but for
other parents throughout Indian Country. We ask that you
continue to pay special attention to this proposed budget as it
affects us and being able to achieve school safety and
security.
I humbly thank you for this opportunity and stand for
questions.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Lujan follows:]
Prepared Statement of Gary Lujan, Director, Trust Land and Security,
Santa Fe Indian School
Good afternoon Chairman Hoeven, Vice-Chairman, Senator Udall and
members of the Senate Indian Affairs Committee. I bring you tidings and
blessings from the State of New Mexico and the heart of the 19 Pueblo's
homelands. I also extend special greetings to our very own, Senator Tom
Udall from Northern New Mexico. My name is Gary J. Lujan from the
Pueblo ofTaos, working as Director of Trust Land Management and
Security for the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS).
SFIS on School Safety and Security
In taking a moment to reflect on the growing crisis of school
violence: To date in just only 20 weeks, there has already been 21
reported school shootings: this averages out to more than 1 school
shooting a week.
So what is the SFIS doing to safeguard our students? To date, Santa
Fe Indian School, has invested its own limited resources, not available
through existing ISEP Program or Facilities Operations funding, to
replace worn and outdated mass notification alert systems for school
lockdowns. Additionally, the SFIS has replaced with its means, outdate
surveillance systems to assist with visual coverage of our campus.
Additionally, the SFIS has been upgrading our Emergency Operations Plan
(EOP), which will align with current Standard Response Procedures,
utilized by law enforcement agencies nationwide. This EOP, also
provides guidelines for scheduled, school lock down drills, which are
effectively practiced throughout the school year.
So as we discuss the topic of ``Protecting the Next Generation:
Safety and Security at Bureau of Indian Education Schools,'' we must
look at an additional source of our problem. Chairman and committee
members, you are well aware, the Department of Interior has released
the Budget Justifications Report for FY2019 funding for all of Indian
Country. Within this budge justification are many areas of concern.
However, as we speak to school safety and security today, I want to
raise certain issues beginning with the following:
1. The overall proposed FY 2019 budget by the DOl. has a
reduction in ISEP Program funding by the amount of $2.780.000,
yet the Bureau states in their justification, ``The FY2019
proposed level allows the BIE, the ability to fund safety
operations and support of secure schools.''
2. The overall proposed FY 2019 budget by the DOl. has a
reduction in Facilities Operations funding by the amount of
$5,551.000. again with a justification that states, ``The
Education Facilities Operations program abates safety and
health deficiencies.'' Chairman, it is increasingly becoming
more difficult to address school safety when we are faced with
reductions in these areas.
3. Through the passage of H.R. 5528 Omnibus Indian Advancement
Act (P .L. 1 06-568), the SFIS sits on land held in trust for
the 19 Pueblos. The jurisdiction of law enforcement lies with
the BIA, Northern Pueblos Agency (NPA) located 45 miles away.
While the BIA, NPA has recently added a School Resource Officer
to the SFIS, any absence by that SRO means a service call
request with a response time of 35--40 minutes, at best. This
scenario happens frequently, as the Bureau is largely
understaffed, leading to assignments out of districts to cover
shortages elsewhere.
The overall proposed FY 2019 budget by the DOl, has a
reduction in Criminal Investigations and Police Services
funding by the amount of $10.803.000. Any reduction further
adds to officer shortages, leading to vacant SRO positions and
our assigned SRO pulled from post at SFIS.
4. Equally important to Santa Fe Indian School is the
availability of services, such as the Juvenile Detention Center
Education program, which helps the SFIS to partner with
facilities such as the Eight Northern Pueblos, Taos Butterfly
Healing Center. Our partnership is built upon a restorative
justice program called the SFIS Partnership for School Success
program, which differs from punitive models. Just this week,
the SFIS had two senior class students complete this program.
With their reintegration into the regular school environment
they will complete their education and graduate in less than
two weeks.
As, I speak to the importance of this partnership, the
proposed FY 2019 budget by DOl has a program reduction of
$497.000 which basically eliminates funding for a program upon
which we are dependent.
5. The Budget Justifications Report for FY2019 provides in
Appendix 2-28, a list of30 Schools having received in S Y 2017-
2018 funding for Safe and Secure funds. Chairman, Vice-Chair,
and Committee, I ask--When will the remaining 139 schools under
the BIE be added to this list?
I have pointed out the reduction of program funding for just a few
of the programs we rely upon. The SFIS respectfully requests on behalf
our children that Congress restore funding back to FY2017 1evels.
Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Committee, though I have provided in
brief, the importance of funding, as a foundation to addressing the
safety and security needs of our schools, what we must not forget is
that gun violence comes to us, not just as an issue of students gaining
access to guns, but a mental health crisis that is often swept aside,
while the gun debate becomes the primary argument. The SFIS implores
the committee to help with additional funding in the areas of mental
health and education programs that proactively addresses issues such as
this.
In closing, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to
testify before the committee. This topic is critically important as we
seek for the safety of our students at the Santa Fe Indian School, now,
and more importantly, into the future. For further information on the
SFIS and our programs, please refer to additional information provided
below.
I humbly thank you for this opportunity,
Historical Perspectives
1. In the late 1870s, reformers tried a new experiment--
reservation boarding schools. (Hyer S. 1990)
2. Between 1880 and 1902, twenty-five, off-reservation boarding
schools were built with roughly 10 percent of the total Indian
population attending these schools. In 1890, the Santa Fe Indian School
became one of these schools. (Hyer S. 1990)
The Santa Fe Indian School was originally a product of this era,
with current advancements thanks to tribal control under the Indian
Self-Determination Act.
1. In 1962, Santa Fe Indian School was relocated to Albuquerque,
New Mexico and combined with the Albuquerque Indian School (AIS). (Hyer
S. 1990)
2. In 1976, nineteen (19) Tribal Resolutions authorized the All
Indian Pueblo Council (AIPC) to contract for the operations of AIS,
under the Indian Self-Determination (P.L. 93-638 of 1975). (Hyer S.
1990)
3. In 1979, as an act of defiance, the AIPC abandoned the unsafe
Albuquerque facilities, while taking steps to reclaim the Santa Fe
campus, and eventually relocating back to Santa Fe, New Mexico. (Hyer
S. 1990)
4. In 1988, the Santa Fe Indian School Board, Inc. contracted for
the operation of the Santa Fe Indian School under P.L. 100-297 Title V,
part B Tribally Controlled and Operated Grant School, with funding via
the BIA Schools Programs. (Hyer S. 1990)
5. On December 27,2000 a significant event in the history of the
Santa Fe Indian School came with the passage of H.R. 5528 Omnibus
Indian Advancement Act (P .L. 1 06-568) signed by President Clinton.
Known as the ``Santa Fe Indian School Act,'' Congress authorized the
transfer of the Santa Fe Indian School property into trust to the 19
Pueblos of New Mexico.
Over the years, as you can see, the Santa Fe Indian School (SFIS),
as it currently exists, is not only an educational institution, but an
institution with land management responsibilities.
Santa Fe Indian School, as an Institution
Educational Operations
Approximately 700 students attend SFIS in grades 7 through 12, with
2/3rds of the student population housed in dormitories, while the
remaining 113 of the student population are transported by school buses
from the surrounding Pueblo communities.
The core educational program is funded by the Bureau of Indian
Affairs delegated to the Bureau of Indian Education within the
Department of the Interior. Funding under Indian School Equalization
Program (ISEP) covers the implementation of basic curricular
requirements. Through the negotiated rule-making process, BIE is
charged with implementing the federal regulations outlined in the
Elementary and Secondary School Act (ESEA) reauthorized under President
George Bush as the No Child Left Behind (NCLB), and subsequently, the
Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which was signed into law by
President Obama on December 10, 2015. ISEP funding also provides
funding for all support services: Information technology, cafeteria,
security, athletics, and transportation. A decrease funding will impact
support services.
Other areas of required services at SFIS that are not adequately
funded are listed here as reference. Several of these areas have been
identified as strategic goals within the BIE's most recent strategic
plan; however, in referencing the Green Book, there is no indication
that funding will be directly allocated to any of these goals.
1. School Safety and Security
2. Language and culture curriculum- SFIS applauds BIE's stated
strategic goal to increase language and culture in BIE-funded
schools; however, BIE needs to increase the weighted student
unit (WSU) from .13 to .25. This will increase the amount of
resources allocated to funding certified language teachers
within BIE schools. BIE also needs to acknowledge that the
languages belong to the tribes. Schools only need to provide
assurance that students are moving toward student native
language growth and speaking.
3. Behavioral Mental Health related activities--these are also
identified as a BIE strategic goal under Mission Area:
Wellness, Behavioral Health, and Safety, therefore, funding to
support must be allocated.
4. Transportation--The established transportation formula does
not cover the costs associated with delivering a full program,
as transportation resources are allocated primarily to cover
day student transportation.
5. Accountability System- BIE must not abdicate the sovereign
authority of tribally controlled schools by requiring them to
participate in state accountability systems. ``Therefore, SFIS
requests the negotiated rule-making committee once again
provide resources to address what was previously defined as
``an alternative definition of adequate yearly progress'' for
tribes via tribal education departments and tribally controlled
schools.
6. Career/College Prep--although currently highly supported
and assessed (P ARCC), resources do not adequately fund college
and career readiness for each student.
7. Athletics--research shows that athletics support student
academic achievement, increased student attendance, and lower
drop-out rates and encourage both physical and mental health;
however, transportation to athletic events are not covered as
part of the funding formula.
8. Facilities Maintenance and Operations--resources must fund
at 100 percent of the funding formula.
Santa Fe Indian School under Land Held in Trust
Tribal Sovereignty
Beyond the efforts in providing quality well-rounded education and
continued improvement in student services, the Santa Fe Indian School
also accepts the role as property owner within sovereign lands. This
has required the development of a department that functions as the
responsible entity for managing all property within the exterior
boundaries of the 115 acres. The Trust Land Management Office (TLM
Office) was created to address numerous trust land management issues.
This department, allows me to sit before you this day as Director.
The following is a short list of Santa Fe Indian Schools, Trust
Land Management responsibilities as a comprehensive approach to
Sovereignty Protections which are necessary to properly meet the
mandates ofH.R. 5528, P.L. 106-568.
1. Law Enforcement & Safety
2. Tribal or contracted CFR Courts
3. Water Rights (Litigation and Negotiation)
4. Realty Property (Trespass, NEPA, Section 106 Compliance)
5. Roads and Infrastructure
Santa Fe Indian School and Trust Land Management Challenges
1. Under P.L. 106-568, H.R. 5528, (SFIS Act) Section 824. Land Use
(c) Applicability of Laws. The SFIS Act, subjected the 19 Pueblos to
all laws applicable to Indian Lands; however, the transfer provided no
funding to meet this mandate. Since that time, the Santa Fe Indian
School, has been seeking base budget funding so that it can comply with
this mandate.
References
Hyer Sally, 1990 (One House, One Voice, One Heart, Native American
Education at the Santa Fe Indian School), New Mexico Press, ISBN 0-
89013-212-7
Attachment
The Chairman. Again, I would like to thank all of our
witnesses.
We will start with five minute rounds of questioning.
Mr. Dearman, the Department of the Interior, Office of
Inspector General's February 18 report found that many BIE
schools were not completing initial background checks and the
required five year reinvestigations of BIE employees.
How is the BIE addressing the incomplete background checks
and the reinvestigations?
Mr. Dearman. Thank you, Chairman.
In the OIG report, OIG concurred with ten of our
recommendations. Now we have to implement them. We are working
on the eleventh, information sharing, to make sure we can keep
track of where our investigations are.
As we speak, we are currently working with the Interior
Business Center which is actually a gap analysis of our system
to see where we can strengthen our weaknesses. We are looking
to enter a contract with IBC in order to catch up on our
background investigations.
The majority of our background investigations we are
locking onto are the five-year reinvestigations, as you said in
the opening. We are not waiting and are taking immediate
action. We are going to utilize IBC to help us get caught up
and stay caught up while we build our internal capacity.
The Chairman. What is your timeline?
Mr. Dearman. After the gap analysis this week, we will be
able to provide a timeline.
The Chairman. Do you have an estimate of what that is at
this point?
Mr. Dearman. Not at this point, Senator, I don't.
The Chairman. You will get back to us with that?
Mr. Dearman. Yes.
The Chairman. In 2016, the Assistant IG sent a memo to the
then Acting BIE Director regarding violence prevention at BIE
schools. That memo stated that in their review, his office
found no guidance on safety measures from the BIE. Has the BIE
adopted a set of required safety measures?
Mr. Dearman. Senator, we have done a lot of work in
improving our drills and our safety measures at our schools, at
the school level. Right now, we are collecting that information
because in the near future, we look to present a closure
package to the OIG to start closing out the recommendations.
We have implemented a lot of the recommendations. We want
to make sure we follow through and follow through to make sure
they are continuing to be implemented before we submit the
closure package.
The Chairman. The President's budget request for fiscal
year 2019 proposed an $18 billion public lands infrastructure
fund. This fund could be used to address needed repairs and
improvements of BIE schools.
What is the plan for spending these proposed funds on BIE
schools? How have you determined and developed an accurate and
current deferred maintenance cost for BIE school facilities?
Mr. Dearman. Senator, the department looks forward to
working with Congress in making sure that BIE is included in
the public lands infrastructure bill. Currently, we have 72
schools that need to be replaced, 54 listed as in poor
condition, and 18 are, as Ms. Firethunder said, 50 years or
older with a large proportion of our students being educated in
portable buildings.
We do look forward to working with Congress to make sure
BIE schools are included in the language.
The Chairman. Do you have a schedule of schools and
deferred maintenance?
Mr. Dearman. We do have a deferred maintenance update.
Right now, deferred maintenance is at $547 million, $380
million of that is for buildings, $167 million for grounds and
$75 million for quarters.
The Chairman. You do have scheduled itemization and
prioritization?
Mr. Dearman. The prioritization is for our schools. We
definitely want to include our tribes in that because we are
hearing that loud and clear from our tribes as we go across
Indian Country. They definitely want to be at the table when
the priority list is developed.
The Chairman. Ms. Firethunder, the previously mentioned
February 18 OIG report suggested there should be more oversight
of tribally-operated schools. The February 18 report says BIE
budget and finance does not have clear guidelines regarding
oversight roles and responsibilities because BIE leadership has
not created long-term guidance.
What would you recommend to improve BIE's oversight of
tribally-operated schools? What more do you recommend that BIE
do to make our schools and children safer?
Ms. Firethunder. One of the areas I am quite engaged in is
the decolonization, a big word. For so many years the Bureau of
Indian Affairs has taken ownership of our education from A to
Z.
When we begin to take leadership at our community level,
and part of the 638 movement and local control is for our
schools, elected by the community, school board members, to
truly understand everything regarding funding for all of our
facilities from A to Z.
As we move ahead, we are getting really good at
communicating what our needs are with the BIA through
conversations and outside of consultation, and opening up to
more communication.
Most important, Senator, our schools have been meeting and
we know what we need in terms of funding to make up the
shortfall in facilities. Our recommendation to the BIA is to
continue to keep open those lines of communication and most of
all, encourage our local school boards and local tribes to
communicate more effectively and clearly what we need within
the BIE.
The Chairman. Thank you.
Senator Udall.
Senator Udall. [Presiding.] Thank you, Chairman Hoeven.
We all know how important emergency response coordination
is to ensure unfortunate events do not escalate into tragedies.
We also know that emergency response coordination in Indian
Country can be complicated by lack of law enforcement resources
and intersections of multiple jurisdictions.
Recently, Senator McCain, several of my other colleagues on
this Committee, and I spearheaded an effort to address the lack
of coordination in issuing a timely AMBER Alert in Indian
Country. We named that legislation after Ashlynne Mike, killed
on her way to school.
One of the key pieces of that bill is supporting the
development of an interdepartmental coordination between
tribal, local, State and Federal enforcement systems.
Mr. Lujan, can you describe how law enforcement
coordination works on your end? You coordinate with the eight
Northern Pueblos also, correct?
Mr. Lujan. The Santa Fe Indian School, as mentioned
earlier, sits on 115 acres of land held in trust within the
city limits of Santa Fe, New Mexico. Most of our tribes come
from the surrounding areas of the 19 Pueblos. Jurisdiction, as
mentioned earlier, is with Northern Pueblos Agency.
We have been given the gentleman's handshake promise from
the City of Santa Fe law enforcement that they would respond to
active shooter situations. However, because of concerns with
torte, we have extended dialogue with the city and New Mexico
State police agencies to consider cross-deputization programs
for the belated responses for shooter incidents on our campus.
However, the bureaucracy, for lack of a better word, ties
up the process of being able to get that formalized for Santa
Fe Indian School and, it is safe to say, a jurisdictional
response to any Native American tribe not having that cross-
deputization program in place.
Senator Udall. Thank you for that answer.
Mr. Dearman, can you describe how the BIE helps schools
coordinate with Federal, State and local law enforcement
agencies and how that fits into emergency action plans protocol
requirements?
Mr. Dearman. Thank you, Senator.
Being spread out across 23 different States and dealing
with multiple tribes, we have so many different levels and
different involvements at each location depending on local
resources.
When I receive an emergency call right now, my initial call
is to OJS. In return, OJS has connections with law enforcement
locally with all of our schools. They get involved immediately.
Our response from OJS has been incredible in my duration as
director. That is how we get law enforcement involvement. We go
directly to OJS and OJS reaches out to local law enforcement.
That is how we coordinate law enforcement at each location.
Senator Udall. Thank you.
Mr. Lujan, I know I mentioned in my opening being inspired
by the students at Santa Fe Indian School and their advocacy
for school safety reforms. Can you describe the school safety
advocacy work of Santa Fe Indian School students and what
reforms and resources they feel are most needed?
Mr. Lujan. That is a great question, Senator.
In working with our students at Santa Fe Indian School,
they have been great participants in being able to ensure that
we can go through policies and procedures when it comes to
school lockdown drills.
They have provided 100 percent response in terms of being
serious about how we conduct those drills, providing us
feedback in terms of what works and what does not work,
especially coming from our staff and the community as a whole
at Santa Fe Indian School.
Their advocacy is important to us from the ground level in
terms of their voice. They have expressed concerns in terms of
how we implement school safety without infringing on their
rights to be able to occupy that campus in a normal school
environment without feeling as if they are in a police state.
We are working together in dialogue has helped us to
achieve how we do emergency response in Santa Fe Indian School.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much.
Senator Heitkamp.
Senator Heitkamp. Thank you, thank you and Cecilia, thank
you for leading once again with your heart. I don't think
anyone else shares the same concerns for children that I do.
You have been an amazing leader of your people and also an
amazing support for the children of your tribe.
I want to maybe take this in two directions. We know, and
no one should deny, that we have an incredible job to do in
improving the quality of Indian education in these schools. It
has to be done with consultation, with consultation not only
with tribal elders and tribal leadership, but with the tribal
children who know best what is going to work and what will not
work.
My big concern, and one of the reasons why I pushed this
hearing, is I do not know what happens tomorrow if someone
walks into a school at Fort Berthold, Fort Totten or Belcourt
and engages in heinous, horrible behavior. I know that
literally law enforcement may be 20 or 30 minutes away.
I am going to take this in a different direction. I am
going to start talking about school resource officers and the
important role they can provide. Mr. Dearman, has BIE ever
calculated what it would cost the system to support school
resource officers in every school over which you have
jurisdiction?
Mr. Dearman. No, we have not.
Senator Heitkamp. Have you thought that might be a first
and most important priority to provide support to these schools
that desperately need school resource officers?
Mr. Dearman. I would think that would definitely be a great
step forward.
Senator Heitkamp. [Presiding] I think one of the things we
know sitting on this Committee is, if you spend any time at all
talking to people in Indian Country, there is not a reservation
in North Dakota that thinks they have too much law enforcement.
In fact, we can talk about Standing Rock where I think we
have enough slots for 16, with only eight filled and they are
talking about moving out two. It is a little smaller than 3
million acres but not much. We have to have someone on the
ready, trained and ready to protect our children.
All the challenges that walk through the door every day,
especially the ones Cecilia pointed out, in terms of what
happens in homes, those problems come into the school and are
magnified in a school setting.
I would ask you to calculate what it would take and at
least run the idea through the budget traps on trying to get a
school resource officer, not one that comes in and out, not one
that is called away to do something else, but one who is at the
school to provide that support day in and day out, just like a
superintendent or a principal, someone who is going to be there
to protect kids and provide that connection to law enforcement.
One thing we found out is when you have a school resource
officer in the schools, they not only deal with what could turn
into an escalating, violent situation, but they then become a
resource for the students to also seek protection from other
events that are happening.
I just feel to do our job here, we have to begin to address
the need for school resource officers and we have to find out
what the commitment is going to be from this Administration
going forward to get school resources officers placed in these
schools.
Not to put a fine point on it but earlier when I talked
about Lana DeCoteau, the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa have
been waiting for approval for an MOU to get their school
resource officer back in the schools. That has been held up. I
think that is enormously frustrating.
This was the first thing raised with me when I did a school
visit about three months ago. Please, pay attention to this.
None of us want to get that call. None of us want to get that
call. We want to know we have done everything we can to protect
these students we have an obligation for.
Mr. Lujan, you went through a pretty detailed and I think
damning discussion about budget requests. I think it is time
that we be honest and say this is what we need and this is what
is going to cost to get what we need.
I think every person involved in the education system feels
the days of making do with what we get are done. It is done. We
need to know what we need and need to figure out how to do it
because if ever there was a group of children in America who
deserve the attention, it is Native American and indigenous
children.
Thank you for your testimony and thank you for what you are
saying. Let us figure out what we need to protect and educate
children and build a future for Indian people in this Country.
It starts right here in these schools and in the families.
Ms. Cortez Masto.
STATEMENT OF HON. CATHERINE CORTEZ MASTO,
U.S. SENATOR FROM NEVADA
Senator Cortez Masto. Thank you.
Let me associate myself with Senator Heitkamp's comments,
because I agree. This is too important. We have to get it
right. It does not start with under-funding. We are already
playing catch-up. It is absolutely outrageous to me that we are
still looking to cut resources where they are so desperately
needed.
Director Dearman, we have talked about this. I know that is
not where you want to be. You would love to have the resources
you need but we have to fight for these resources. Let me ask
you this. The BIE has a school safety office but it is not
fully staffed, is that correct? My understanding is there are
three of seven staff positions in that office that are filled
and the rest are not.
Mr. Dearman. Yes, six of seven now.
Senator Cortez Masto. Six of seven are filled?
Mr. Dearman. Yes.
Senator Cortez Masto. Good. Can you also clarify this for
me? I understand there are a total of 183 BIE schools but I
have another document showing there are 169 BIE schools. How
many total schools are there?
Mr. Dearman. There are 183 schools in residential settings
within our system.
Senator Cortez Masto. How many are tribally-operated?
Mr. Dearman. One hundred thirty.
Senator Cortez Masto. The intersection between what you do
and working with the tribes is going to be key. I think we have
to figure out a different way of doing business because the old
way is not working. It just is not.
Now we need innovation and we need to think outside of the
box. That is why I like Senator Heitkamp's idea, let us figure
this out, let us think about how we can address this issue, and
make sure our kids are safe.
One of the things we should be doing is reaching out to the
tribes, sitting around and having conversations, not only with
them but with the students. When is the last time you actually
had a conversation with students and talked about the safety
they feel in their schools and what their needs are in their
schools? I am curious.
Mr. Dearman. A couple weeks ago, we were at Chemawa Indian
School and met with a large student body.
Senator Cortez Masto. What did they tell you they needed
for their school safety purposes?
Mr. Dearman. They really talked more about their future
goals and what Chemawa has meant to them. As far as school
security, it really was not a topic of discussion.
Senator Cortez Masto. You have not had that conversation
with them yet?
Mr. Dearman. No, not lately.
Senator Cortez Masto. I think we need to be listening. If
we have schools that are falling down, there is a maintenance
backlog. What is the deferred maintenance backlog total?
Mr. Dearman. $547 million.
Senator Cortez Masto. That is outrageous. There is no way
we can play catch-up and then put a new system in place at the
same time. We have to be fighting for all of it.
I know I do not have a lot of time here, but let me say, as
somebody who has spent a career in law enforcement and fighting
to protect our communities, including our kids, this is key. I
just came from Nevada having this same conversation with
students on how we can look to fight and make sure schools are
secure and safe.
Not only that, the governor of my State has pulled together
a safety group, a group of school safety stakeholders, to
figure out what we can do in the State of Nevada. That is what
you need to be doing. Literally what you need to be doing with
our Indian schools is making sure we are reaching out and
listening to them.
My goal is to make sure that you have the tools you need
for breaking down barriers and you are doing the assessment you
think is appropriate. I know you know what is appropriate
because you come from that background.
I am curious. As you tackle this problem, what are the
priorities you foresee moving forward that are immediate, that
you need information on before you can move forward and do what
you think is right?
Mr. Dearman. Thank you, Senator.
I heard loud and clear from both you and Senator Heitkamp,
we need data. We have really started collecting the data. You
heard me mention our strategic plan in my written testimony.
We brought that from the field to tribes to D.C. We did not
push that out of D.C. to the field. I am really proud we have
taken that to Indian Country where we have been listening to
the priorities of our tribes. That will set our direction
within the next five years.
Working in tribal consultation, we had three listening
sessions and five consultations. We have identified six
priorities. Behavioral health and school safety is one of the
six priorities.
We have started going out there and engaging tribes because
BIE sees it that our job is to work hand-in-hand with the
tribes. That is the only way we will get where we need to with
our students.
I will say that I just came back from JKL Bahweting in
Sault Ste. Marie. That is a 297 school operated by Sault Ste.
Marie. Their security was amazing. They have red lights that go
off in all the classrooms. They have door stops immediately
when they run their drills. They have an SRO provided by tribal
police.
We have some tribes that are doing some great things. There
are things where we can share best practices across the system.
Senator Cortez Masto. I am glad you said that because you
do not have to recreate the wheel. You don't have to look only
to tribal communities. You can look to school districts in
those communities as well to learn.
Let me ask you, as part of your strategic plan, are you
also asking for more funding to support your strategic plan?
Mr. Dearman. That is not part of the strategic plan.
Senator Cortez Masto. I suggest it should be.
Thank you.
Senator Heitkamp. I think we will recess because we have to
go vote. Then everyone will come back. Please stay in place for
a little bit and we will be back.
[Recess.]
The Chairman. [Presiding.] We will resume the hearing.
Thank you for your patience.
We will turn to Senator Heitkamp.
Senator Heitkamp. Thank you so much.
Mr. Dearman, I want to maybe walk through some of the steps
you are going to take in the next couple months.
We talked a lot about arranging law enforcement response
that looks like a broader response than just relying on tribal
and BIA police. I am wondering how we can better support
memoranda of understanding for immediate response within
communities where you have multiple jurisdictions? Who do we
need to bring in from the Department of Justice to help make
that happen?
Mr. Dearman. I am just trying to think of all the scenarios
we have. We definitely need to involve OJS and tribal police.
Senator Heitkamp. For the record, can you tell people what
OJS is?
Mr. Dearman. The Office of Justice Services. They have been
fantastic about helping us coordinate with local tribal police,
sheriff departments, and whatever law enforcement has
jurisdiction over our schools. I would definitely say we need
that involvement.
Senator Heitkamp. I do not think it is always clear who has
jurisdiction. We have an Indian school within the boundaries of
Wahpeton. When I was attorney general, we spent a lot of time
trying to figure that out.
There had been reports of child abuse at the school. We
spent more time than we should have trying to figure who had
jurisdiction over that school and who could come in and do an
investigation.
Eventually, the Office of the Attorney General did it just
because no one else was stepping up. I do not know that we ever
resolved the jurisdictional issues.
In response to Senator Cortez Masto, I think you said you
had 183 schools. Do you know exactly who has primacy and who
has jurisdiction in each one of those schools and do we know
what the response time is in each one of those schools for
which you have responsibility?
Mr. Dearman. The first step would actually be to establish
who has jurisdiction because I think that will be critical.
That would be the first step in dealing with all our schools. I
am sorry I went blank on the other part of your question.
Senator Heitkamp. The other part of the question is will
you make a commitment to us that for each one of the schools
for which we have obligations, we are going to get an answer on
who has jurisdiction, the current status of relationships in
law enforcement for an active shooter response, and what steps
we need to take in order to make sure we have a response to an
active shooter?
Mr. Dearman. Yes. We have actually started the conversation
because we know OJS has jurisdiction in eight States. We have a
list of where we have school resource officers in our schools
provided by OJS.
Senator Heitkamp. After we get to the discussion about
jurisdiction, we need to know capacity. Mr. Lujan said tribal
law enforcement is 45 minutes away. In many of the schools we
have, law enforcement may be hours away.
If you look at Mandaree, for instance, which is on the
other side of New Town separated by a very large lake, what is
the response time in Mandaree, New Town, Belcourt and Dunseith?
Those are the answers I need. I do not think we can get that
answer until we examine each individual school.
I will tell you that you will find, if we take this out of
a school context and take it as a hostage or domestic violence
situation in a home, that response time has the same problem.
When you do this work, we will discover we do not have enough
law enforcement or enough boots on the ground to actually
protect our citizens, but we have a unique and special
obligation to protect kids in our schools.
How soon do you think you could get a full report on every
one of the schools, who has jurisdiction and what the response
time would be?
Mr. Dearman. We can provide a timeline once we get back to
the office and discuss with OJS what we are looking at.
Senator Heitkamp. I just do not want to be in that
situation where I get a call and we find there is an active
shooter and confusion about who has jurisdiction and who will
have primary response.
Mr. Dearman. Senator, from my experience at one of the
schools I supervised where my wife teaches and my daughter
attends school, we worked with OJS. We had a memorandum of
agreement that if there was a school shooting, the local police
department, the sheriff's department, the Oklahoma Highway
Patrol, all would respond. Those are the kind of MOAs we need
at all of our locations.
We also went a step further and opened our building to
where they would come in and do active shooter drills where our
teachers could see what was happening. That helped OJS become
familiar with our facilities.
Senator Heitkamp. I do not want to belabor the point but I
do want to put an exclamation point on there are two issues.
One is resourcing schools so that we are dealing with
behavioral and mental health issues.
One of the tragic things you discussed, Mr. Lujan, was
elimination of the Butterfly Program. Here is something that is
going to help change things long term for which funding will no
longer be made available.
The reason this is a unique hearing on the Bureau of Indian
Education is that I want to know about emergency response. I
think we all are well familiar with the challenges of Indian
education and resourcing plants, equipment, operation,
maintenance, transportation, workforce development, teachers,
and technology. I could go down the line. I could go on and on
and on. We know those.
This hearing has been called today to try and figure out
school security. My particular interest is emergency response.
I need to know who we can count on and who we can hold
accountable if something happens where there is not appropriate
emergency response.
Thank you.
Senator Udall. [Presiding.] You can continue. I do have
questions and I think Senator Cortez Masto will return but if
you have anything else?
Senator Heitkamp. I think Senator Smith was planning on
returning also.
I have probably more of a statement. It goes to the work we
all do. It is about kind of out of sight out of mind. Something
like Parkland happens and there is heightened awareness of the
challenges. We get calls from schools saying we are in lock
down or we have been threatened. It is what I call the risk of
the issue du jour.
Today, it is in the news and therefore, it is an issue.
Then, after it somehow finds its way out of the 24-hour news
cycle, we close the books and do not think about it again until
the next thing happens.
We cannot let that happen. This needs to be systemic and
ongoing. I applaud the work you are doing already in
identifying those strategic areas. Obviously they need to be
resourced, as Senator Cortez Masto said, but we absolutely have
an obligation, first and foremost, for public safety.
The lack of resource officers and emergency response in the
event of an incident in a Native American school is only
reflective of the lack of a law enforcement presence at large
in Indian Country.
As a result, we have seen an incredible growth in the
trafficking in drugs and human beings, theft and exploitation,
and extortion. In the case of North Dakota, you have families
who may have minerals and are threatened. When there is no cop
on the beat, there is no protection.
We absolutely need to get a cop on the beat. We need to
resource in Indian Country the same way we would resource any
county in my State. That means we need to work with the tribal
authorities and get the law enforcement presence we need to
protect Indian people.
That will go a long way toward creating a foundation for
growth in education opportunities. If people are not protected,
it is awfully hard to learn. You know that. I look forward to
working with all of you in the future on this very important
issue and on Indian education altogether.
Thank you, Mr. Vice Chairman.
Senator Udall. Thank you so much, Senator Heitkamp.
Mr. Dearman, when DOI testified at this Committee's 2010
oversight hearing on school safety and security, the Assistant
Secretary for Indian Affairs highlighted the department's
efforts to convene an interdepartmental school safety summit.
Has BIE continued any of its interdepartmental coordination
efforts from 2010?
Mr. Dearman. Vice Chairman, not to my knowledge, no.
Senator Udall. More recently, President Trump and Secretary
DeVos announced the formation of a Federal Commission on School
Safety. Mr. Dearman, is the BIE a part of Secretary DeVos's
commission?
Mr. Dearman. No, sir, not as of right now. We do have
regular communication and meet with the Department of
Education. We will be bringing that up to see if we become a
member of that.
Senator Udall. Yes, I would think it would be very
important for Native students and the Bureau of Indian
Education and the whole thing to be at the table because you
may hear discussions of things and where there may be
resources, or help you can get from agencies that they know
your voice is out there.
Let us know if you have any problem with that. We will try
to stir it up a bit but it should easily be something they
should do and allow you to be on that. BIE should be a part of
the Federal Commission on School Safety.
Both of the tribal witnesses here today spoke about the
need for more resources. Mr. Lujan and Ms. Firethunder, do you
think BIE does a good enough job leveraging Federal school
security resources from outside of DOI and if not, what more
would you like to see them do?
Mr. Lujan. Thank you, Senator, for that question.
You mentioned a very important opportunity through the
Trump Administration for school safety. I believe in
partnership with the tribes, the schools and the BIE, we can
work together try to access those resources.
I believe it is through partnership and communication. We
are boots on the ground. We know where we are lacking, we know
what resources we are taking from our students to address
safety rather than putting it into the classroom. I think
together through dialogue we can achieve success in that area.
Senator Udall. Great. Thank you.
Cecilia.
Ms. Firethunder. Thank you very much.
One of the things I really appreciate about my team on the
Pine Ridge Reservation is we meet monthly, analyze our data,
and put together graphs to really take a hard look at where the
shortfalls are.
Unfortunately, many times the BIA does not ask for the
necessary resources it needs to operate. We are hoping we are
able to influence even more people to show we are engaged in
understanding where the money comes from and where it is going.
The outside resource, of course, is in writing grants for
other departments within the government to enhance what we are
doing, especially in behavioral health and how we can bring in
those resources.
We have gotten really good at it. One of our schools has a
fiscal agent and if we get a grant, we share that with all of
the other schools to provide behavioral health services. We
have so much to do and for us, it is always about the budget.
We feel very strongly that the Bureau of Indian Affairs needs
to ask for what it needs. We can show time and time again
research we have done.
Let me leave with you a piece, ``The Assistant Secretary of
Indian Affairs shall arrange for full funding for operation and
maintenance of contract schools by fiscal year 1981.'' It has
not happened.
Hopefully with our activism, participation and
understanding of how these things get done, we can partner with
Mr. Lujan and other schools and really influence Congress to
give us those dollars by treaty and our special relationship
with this government to make sure those resources come to our
community. That is our job and responsibility.
We appreciate being here today. At least I do. Thank you.
Senator Udall. We really appreciate that comment. We are
working to try to make exactly what you discussed happen. Thank
you for that comment.
Mr. Dearman, Chairman Hoeven asked about your current work
to address OIG's recommendations. My staff found about 50
recommendations issued since 2008. It appears that at least 13
of those recommendations, including some from as far back as
2008 and 2014 are still open.
Do you agree with GAO's findings that at least 13 OIG
recommendations are outstanding?
Mr. Dearman. Senator, in my first year as the director, we
have been going back to clean up a lot of things left undone.
As I stated in my written testimony, we neglected GAO and OIG
reports for too long. We are addressing every one of them.
I can assure you that if it is outstanding, we will address
it as quickly as possible. If need be, we will arrange a
meeting with OIG, as we had with GAO, because we feel, as I
testified before, their recommendations will only make us
stronger and better to take care of our kids. If we come across
open OIG recommendations where we need to sit down with OIG, we
will definitely be scheduling that meeting.
Senator Udall. They indicated to us there are 13. If you
cannot identify those 13, you should get with them and find out
what those 13 are so you can deal with them in the way you just
talked about.
In this Congress, we have redoubled our BIE oversight
efforts, holding two hearings already on the Bureau being
listed on GAO's high risk list. Chairman Hoeven and I are
working to schedule a third high risk hearing next month.
Mr. Dearman, can I get your commitment to prepare a full
review of BIE's unresolved OIG recommendations before that
hearing?
Mr. Dearman. Yes, sir.
Senator Udall. Thank you very much.
I was going to ask about an earlier letter but my
understanding is you couriered something up here and we
appreciate that.
Let me thank all of the witnesses today. This is a
tremendously important subject for Indian Country, having our
schools be safe and having kids feel safe in schools. Kids
cannot learn unless they feel safe. This is an important
subject and we appreciate the tribal input and the Director of
the BIE's input on this issue.
If there are no more questions for today, members may also
submit follow-up, written questions for the record. We would
hope you would give timely answers to those. The hearing record
will remain open for two weeks.
I want to thank the witnesses for their time and testimony.
This hearing is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 4:25 p.m., the Committee was adjourned.]
A P P E N D I X
Prepared Statement of Hon. Troy Scott Weston, President, Oglala Sioux
Tribe
Dear Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and Members of the
Committee,
I am writing to you today on behalf of the Oglala Sioux Tribe to
submit comments for the record regarding the Senate Committee on Indian
Affairs oversight hearing on ``Protecting the Next Generation: Safety
and Security at Bureau of Indian Education Schools'' held on May 16,
2018. Our Tribe is located on the Pine Ridge Reservation--home to over
6,000 K-12 students in seven BIE system schools, four county-run public
schools, two parochial schools, and eleven Head Start centers. The
provision of high quality education in structurally sound learning
environments is essential to our students' long-term achievement.
Addressing school safety and security concerns in our community is,
thus, a priority for both our children and our Tribe.
Students on the Pine Ridge Reservation must overcome a host of
barriers that prevent them from accessing quality educational services.
Our Tribe is disproportionately affected by poverty, unemployment, high
rates of crime, overcrowded housing, limited and rundown transportation
networks, and high rates of chronic disease. These burdens are carried
into the classroom, where they are strongly correlated with the
development of complex behavioral and mental health issues that affect
the ability of our students to focus on and engage in learning
activities. Dilapidated classrooms, hazardous environmental factors--
such as asbestos, water damage, and mold--and crumbling recreational
facilities further weigh on our students. Unsafe and derelict
facilities send a subliminal message to our students that their
education and well-being is not valued.
Yet this could not be further from the truth. Our students form the
heart of our community. Our students have an immense potential to
succeed. They just need the appropriate level of resources and support.
Our students represent hope for our Tribe's future. At present,
however, neither the Tribe nor the BIE has the necessary resources to
address our students' unmet needs and provide them with a secure space
to learn.
As you are aware, the Oglala Sioux Tribe and other Tribal Nations
in the Great Plains are on the frontlines of an unprecedented battle
against violent crime, drug trafficking, and other criminal activity.
Tragically, our law enforcement officers and tribal justice systems are
unable to effectively respond to the crises due to severe understaffing
and insufficient resources, facilities, and funding. Due to financial
constraints, we are currently operating well below the bare minimum
number of patrol officers needed to effectively serve our community.
Because of chronic under-resourcing and unreliable tribal road
maintenance, emergency response time is deplorable. Were an active
shooter situation or other emergency to take place in one of our
schools, it is uncertain when tribal law enforcement could reasonably
be expected to arrive.
The security infrastructure of our BIE system schools is similarly
lacking. All of our schools need upgraded safety and security measures,
including metal detectors, emergency protocols, and video surveillance
systems. School safety must also take into account the behavioral and
mental health needs of our students. On Pine Ridge, as in many tribal
communities nationwide, behavioral health specialists are rare. Our
students must often wait extended periods for an appointment. In the
interim, students must suffer through behavioral or mental health
crises without formal support--placing both themselves and the greater
student body at risk. We need increased and adequate funding for in-
school behavioral and mental health services, among other student
support resources.
Support for tribal law enforcement and support for BIE school
safety go hand-in-hand. One will necessarily fall short without the
other. Both are critically important to student success. We, thus, urge
Congress to provide increased support for BIE school safety and
security measures--including facilities maintenance and operations
funding--and tribal law enforcement activities.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit comments for the record on
this critically important topic. The oversight hearing provided a
strong foundation on which to assess school safety needs and identify
concrete ways to address unmet needs. With adequately funded and
culturally appropriate models of education, BIE system schools on the
Pine Ridge Reservation could provide the security and academic
resources needed to ensure our children have access to the promising
futures they deserve. We look forward to working with you, your staff,
and the BIE to make their bright futures a reality.
______
Prepared Statement of Jon Whirlwind Horse, President, Dakota Area
Consortium of Treaty Schools
Introduction
Chairman Hoeven, Vice Chairman Udall, and members of the Committee,
I am Jon Whirlwind Horse, and I am an enrolled member of the Oglala
Lakota (Sioux) Tribe and President of the Dakota Area Consortium of
Treaty Schools (DACTS), a non-profit organization headquartered in
Manderson, South Dakota.
There are fifteen federally-recognized Indian tribes from Nebraska,
North Dakota and South Dakota represented by DACTS schools: Oglala
Sioux, Omaha Nation, Santee Sioux, Winnebago, Spirit Lake Sioux, Turtle
Mountain Chippewa, Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation, Standing Rock
Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, Rosebud Sioux, Yankton Sioux, Crow Creek,
Lower Brule Sioux, Flandreau Santee Sioux, and the Sisseton Wahpeton
Sioux.
Since 1994, DACTS has advocated before authorizing and
appropriations committees in Congress as well as across the federal
agencies for what we thought would be a universally-popular goal:
quality school facilities for our American Indian students in the 183
schools funded and managed by the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).
As most members of this Committee know, the conditions of school
facilities on most Indian reservations make getting a quality education
extremely difficult for our Indian children. Leaky roofs, poor HVAC,
and shabby construction make life in the extreme dry heat of fall and
the cold, harsh winters on the Plains difficult. Add to these
challenges a lack of computers and other equipment, and it makes
learning hard indeed.
As explained below, our path has been more frustrating than
fruitful and, while we have enlisted champions from both political
parties, the results have been disgraceful.
On behalf of DACTS, I submit this prepared statement for the
hearing record as the Committee examines issues related to Indian
education and the school facilities where we expect our Indian children
to achieve the kind of education that will serve them well in a
competitive world.
History of Federal Funding for Indian School Construction, Repairs and
Maintenance
Over the past quarter century, the executive and legislative
branches have at times made serious efforts to get new school
facilities built by appropriating additional funds to the Department of
the Interior.
From fiscal years 2001 to 2017, $2.8 billion was appropriated for
replacement school construction and facilities improvement and repair
as follows:
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
Background and History of the School Construction Bond Concept
While we were grateful to the congressional champions of these
efforts, according to the fiscal year 2019 Bureau of Indian Affairs'
``Green Book,'' an estimated $2 billion is still needed to replace all
the facilities that need replacement.
Over this same period, DACTS proposed a creative way to finance
more new school construction in a much faster way for BIE-managed
schools: the issuance by Indian tribes of construction bonds to raise
capital and, in turn, use the funds to build new schools. Unlike
traditional public bond financing, the purchasers of these bonds would
receive tax credits in lieu of interest which they would use to offset
taxes from income, much like the Qualified School Construction Bond
(QSCB) and the Qualified Zone Academy Bond (QZAB) programs which assist
states and school districts in modernizing aging schools. But unlike
QSCBs and QZABs, the principal payments for the bonds would come from
an escrow account, created through federal legislation, and funded
through both public and private means.
The bonding option provided an elegant--and an already authorized--
option to begin to fulfill the federal obligation to Indian tribes and
their members.
Congressional Support for School Construction Bonds
In the early 2000s, a bi-partisan group of Senators--Thad Cochran
and Patty Murray and former Senators Ben Nighthorse Campbell, Tim
Johnson and Tom Daschle--introduced legislation to authorize the
establishment of the bonding mechanism. While these bills were not
enacted, they laid the groundwork for the passage of the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA).
The ARRA authorized Indian tribal governments to issue $400 million
in QSCBs ($200 million for 2009 and $200 million for 2010). The one
thing the ARRA did not include was an escrow account which would hold
the proceeds used to repay principal once the bonds were issued.
DACTS labored in vain with the Obama Administration, this
Committee, and other committees to get the escrow account established.
Our efforts failed and we have now been informed that as part of the
``tax reform'' component of the ``Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2018,'' the
Indian school construction bond tax credits have been eliminated from
the Internal Revenue Code.
Secretary Zinke's ``Public Lands Infrastructure Fund''
Indian people are nothing if not resilient and ever-hopeful that
the United States government will honor the commitments it has made to
our communities for hundreds of years.
As part of the fiscal year 2019 budget request for the Department
of the Interior, the President has proposed the creation of the
``Public Lands Infrastructure Fund'' (Fund) to fully satisfy the
deferred maintenance and new construction needs for the physical
infrastructure under the purview of the National Park Service, in our
national wildlife refuges, and in BIE schools.
The Fund would be established in the Department of the Treasury and
would be endowed with fresh revenue generated through renewable and
non-renewable energy development on federal lands. In the budget
request, it is estimated that the Fund would generate $6.8 billion in
new revenue over 10 years, and up to $18 billion in funding over the
life of the Fund.
Conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this prepared statement. If
you have any questions, I would be happy to answer them.
______
Prepared Statement of Hon. Robert Flying Hawk, Chairman, Yankton Sioux
Tribe
[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Steve Daines to
Tony Dearman
Question 1. Mr. Dearman, would you agree that the abysmal physical
surroundings at BIE schools hurt, not help, students who are already
struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts?
Answer. A healthy and safe classroom environment is critical to
supporting the holistic needs of BIB students. In the FY 2018 Omnibus
spending package, Congress funded the BIA and BIB at $3.1 billion--an
increase of $204 million above the FY 2017 enacted level. This included
$129 million in infrastructure increases for schools and law
enforcement. Through this funding, Indian Affairs is working to address
the current backlog in school construction and maintenance as well as
provide local technical assistance to increase school safety.
At the end of the second quarter of FY 2018, total deferred
maintenance for education facilities was $54 7 million, including $380
million for buildings and $167 million for grounds. Deferred
maintenance for education quarters was roughly $75 million. In total,
there are 72 replacement eligible schools--54 eligible due to poor
condition and 18 eligible due to school age. and proportion of students
in portable units. This is in addition to the ten schools on the 2016
No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Replacement Schools list and the three
previously funded schools from the 2004 NCLB replacement schools list.
The President's FY 2019 Budget request includes a legislative
proposal to create a Public Lands Infrastructure Fund, which would help
pay for repairs and improvements in national parks, national wildlife
refuges, and BIB-funded schools. As the U.S. Department of the Interior
works to expand its energy program on federal lands and waters, this
initiative has the potential to generate much-needed infrastructure and
maintenance funding that can better support the varying needs of BIE
students.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Heidi Heitkamp to
Tony Dearman
Law Enforcement
Question 1. Does BIE require all BIE schools to have emergency
response plans in place, including for active shooter situations? If
not, why? Does BIE require that each BIE schools have a certain base
level of physical safety mechanisms in place (i.e. automatic door
locks, security cameras, etc.)? H not, why?
Answer. To ensure the welfare and safety of students and staff at
BIE-funded schools, BIE utilizes safety personnel to provide national
protocols and guidance throughout the BIE school system uniformly in
reference to issues that are national in scope. BIE most recently
updated its All Academic Staff Training and Preparedness guidance on
January 12, 2018 and provided it to schools through BIE Education
Program Administrators who work directly with school leaders. The form
lists mandatory and recommended training and provides checklists for
school leaders to plan and complete such training, including Emergency
Management Plan and Procedures.
BIE safety personnel provide information in a similar manner to
both tribally controlled and Bureau-operated schools. However, levels
of autonomy differ among tribally controlled and Bureau-operated
schools. Bureau-operated schools are required to follow all national
BIE policy memoranda, whereas tribally controlled schools have the
authority to create their own school policies and procedures, pursuant
to any applicable law(s). Since the majority of BIE-funded schools are
directly managed by tribes or locally controlled school boards, the
BIE's ability to oversee the implementation of safety policies is
limited by their autonomy. However, the BIE does review grant
assurances to ensure tribally controlled schools follow statutory and
regulatory defined minimum requirements regarding necessary procedures
for background checks as well as other safety measures.
Question 2. Does BIE provide technical and direct assistance to BIE
schools in developing and implementing schools safety plans?
Answer. As BIE works to improve security at its schools, the agency
is focusing much-needed support on improving threat assessments,
protocols and procedures as well as increasing access to guidance
information for preventing and responding to instances of school
violence. The BIE utilizes its School Safety Specialist to collaborate
with key BIE staff in providing safety supports directly to BIE-funded
schools. The BIE is working to improve its safety procedures by
providing schools and staff guidance on pertinent mandatory and
recommended training to ensure safety is the highest priority at BIE-
funded schools and school safety plans are in place. The BIE is also
refocusing efforts to provide support and technical assistance to
improve safety procedures via six regional BIE summer training for all
employees, including school-level personnel.
Question 3. Does BIE collaborate with BIA, other relevant federal
agencies, and state and local law enforcement on emergency response
planning for BIE schools (including for active shooter situations)? If
not, why? If so, please explain what those efforts look like and
whether or not best practices are being developed and disseminated
amongst BIE schools?
Answer. The BIE actively collaborates with the BIA's Office of
Justice Services (OJS) as well as local and tribal law enforcement to
improve safety in BIE-funded schools. Schools also contract with local
private security firms and establish memoranda of understanding with
local law enforcement agencies in order to take the burden off school
staff in conducting detailed surveys, identifying safety and security
deficiencies, and implementing corrective action plans and emergency
response plans. During the 2017-2018 School Year, approximately $1.8
million in Safe and Secure Schools funding assisted in school safety
audits and provided onsite School Resource Officers (SROs) that are
hired and supervised by BIA OJS. BIE is working with OJS to determine
how it can optimize the number of available SROs in BIE-funded schools
to increase support in high-need areas.
In addition to OJS providing SROs, OJS provides training and other
direct law enforcement safety services to BIE-funded schools,
including:
Gang Resistance Education and Training (GREAT);
Drug Abuse Resistance Education (DARE); and
Alert Lockdown Inform Counter Evacuate (ALICE) active
shooter response.
Deferred Maintenance
Question 1. Given the current backlog in school construction and
maintenance, how does BIE prioritize the allocation of funds and the
replacement of school facilities? Within the $18 billion under the
proposed Public Lands Infrastructure Fund in the president's, how much
would be allocated to repair or replace BIE schools?
Answer. Indian Affairs is currently working to construct those
schools from the 2004 NCLB replacement schools index, including
Beatrice Rafferty, Cove Day, and Little Singer Day School.
Additionally, in September 2018, Indian Affairs announced $74.2 million
in funding for design-build contracts would be directed to two schools
on the 2016 NCLB Replacement Schools list--Blackwater Community School
and the Quileute Tribal School. Eight schools remain on the 2016 NCLB
Replacement Schools list and will be constructed pending availability
of appropriations. As schools complete their planning phase
requirements, they establish their position on the replacement priority
list. Additionally, as the U.S. Department of the Interior works with
Congress to expand its energy program on federal lands and waters, this
initiative has the potential to generate much-needed infrastructure and
maintenance funding.
Question 2. I'd like to bring your attention to the condition of
the Tate Topa Schools on the Spirit Lake Reservation. The School site
is shared by BIE and the public school and the BIE has a mix of
ownership over the school facilities. My understanding is that because
of this mixed ownership, BIE has been unhelpful with basic maintenance
and addressing other issues with the building, and the school district
purchase equipment like metal detectors and cameras themselves since
the BIE will not cover it. Will you look at the issues the schools is
having in working with BIE and work to improve that relationship so the
school building is adequately maintained?
Answer. In 1982, the Department constructed a new school to replace
a formerly BIA-operated K- 6 school. Indian Affairs continued to
provide an academic program for K-6 only. The Fort Totten Public School
District #30 provided the academic program for grades 7-12, under a
cooperative school agreement. Subsequently, the Spirit Lake Tribe
contracted the BIA funded school, under Congressional authority to
convert to a PL 100-297 tribal grant school to provide academic
programs to grades 7 and 8. During this time, the Tate Topa (Four
Winds) School Board allowed the public school to occupy a portion of
the school facilities via a written agreement. Indian Affairs was not a
signatory party to the shared facility use agreements after the Tribe
began to administer the education program in 1989. The Spirit Lake
Tribe financed with tribal economic development funds a $2.5 million,
22,000 square foot addition to house grades 6-8 that was completed on
March 18, 2002.
Currently, the BIE-funded school is the principal entity housed in
the current school facilities. The Fort Totten Public School District
#30 high school program utilizes the school's federal facilities
without a lease or payment in support of using or maintaining the
facilities and programs/services. Per this request, the BIE will
follow-up on developments to-date and work with the BIA to analyze the
possibility of an established written Memorandum of Agreement that
ensures that federal funding is used to the extent possible for the
repairs and maintenance while collaborating with the public school to
address a proportionate share of costs for facilities and services.
Following the determination, BIE will contact the appropriate local-
level personnel to discuss paths forward for properly maintaining the
school's facilities.
Safetv Monitoring and Reporting
Question 1. BIE schools document incidents of school violence and
threats by entering data into the Native American Student Information
System (NASIS). Does BIE have any way to ensure that school employees
always enter this information when there is an incident?
Answer. BIE recently increased its focus on professional
development to ensure BIE employees and school personnel have the
training necessary to address the various safety needs of students and
personnel in BIE-funded schools. This includes an emphasis on
supporting schools as they enter their data into NASIS. As such, BIE
hired critical NASIS personnel in the last year to ensure school
employees understand the systems that support their students' safety.
These positions include a NASIS supervisor and seven supporting NASIS
staff members tasked with supporting schools from specific regions. The
BIE also held regional training this summer to assist school-level
employees with utilizing the NASIS system. While BIE is working to
improve technical assistance to schools to ensure information is
entered into the system correctly and in a timely manner, internal
controls have been absent in the past. BIE staff now hold regularly
scheduled calls and training with schools to ensure school staff
understand how to input information into the system. Furthermore, under
Goal 6 of the agency's five-year Strategic Direction--formally
published in August 2018, BIE created its first-ever data-governance
board to analyze organization-wide data weaknesses and recommend
control measures where needed, such as those regarding incidents of
school violence.
Question 2. You said in your testimony that schools are directed to
complete Critical Incident Reports, contact the BIE Central Office,
their Associate Deputy Director, and a few other people in addition to
entering date in NASIS. Are you assured that this process happens every
time, or is training lacking in this area, leaving some incidents
unreported?
Answer. BIE utilizes this protocol to ensure uniformity, so BIE
tracks incidents accurately and decreases response times. However, it
is plausible that some incidents remain unreported due to human error.
As such, BIE is working to address recommendations from GAO and the OIG
to improve protocols and procedures as well as increase access to
guidance information for utilizing data tracking systems. BIE is also
providing schools and staff guidance on pertinent mandatory and
recommended training to ensure that safety is the highest priority at
BIE-funded schools.
______
Response to Written Questions Submitted by Hon. Steve Daines to
Cecilia Firethunder
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Executive Summary
The Wounded Knee District School is a rural accredited, Tribal
Grant School in the community of Manderson on the Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation in Southwestern South Dakota. The original Wounded Knee
District School was built in 1962 as an effort to consolidate several
smaller one-room schoolhouses distributed throughout the school's
service area. An addition was constructed to the original building in
1982. The current school building is not energy efficient and is mired
with issues consist with a building that is over fifty-five years old.
Asbestos tiles exist in eight of the fifteen classrooms. Fire
suppression is available in less then one-quarter of the buildings
square footage. The sewer system is a sealed as system and there are no
cleanout and all sewer pipes are wrapped in asbestos insulation. All
fire alarm pull stations are too high for younger students. The kitchen
serving line is non-compliant with food and safety standards and the
gymnasium functions as the dinning room and creates potential safety
hazards and scheduling conflicts for all classes. There is not enough
electrical outlets in classrooms to meet the needs of a modern,
technology based instructional environment and the original electrical
breaker panels cannot handle the necessary upgrades to modernize the
schools. According to the Bureau of Indian Education, the current
assessed value of the school building is $1.8 million and the
replacement value is $17 million. The age of the building creates
renovation, maintenance, and safety challenges that are not easily, or
inexpensively overcome.
Introduction
The Wounded Knee District School is a Tribal Grant School located
in Manderson on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in Southwestern South
Dakota. Original construction of Wounded Knee District School occurred
in 1962 as an effort to consolidate several smaller one-room
schoolhouses distributed throughout the school's service area. A six-
classroom addition was constructed in early 1980s. Wounded Knee
District School has approximately 150 Pre-kindergarten through 8th
grade students enrolled at the start of 2015-2016. Wounded Knee
District School (WKDS) is the only Tribal grant school located in the
Wounded Knee District area.
Poverty is an unfortunate and consistent condition on most Indian
Reservations in the United States. Poverty alone is not the only socio-
economic factor that plagues the people on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Additional factors such as: geographic isolation; high rates of
unemployment or under-employment; lack of housing; high rates of
alcohol and drug abuse; poor health factors; overwhelmed and under
planned infrastructure; and lack of future opportunities coupled with
poverty create conditions of social discontent and hopeless in people
on the reservation, but especially in youth. During a 2014 suicide
epidemic, the service area of the Wounded Knee District School had one
of the smallest populations, yet this service area had the highest per
capita rate of suicide completions of the entire Pine Ridge Indian
Reservation.
Most documentation published on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
describes the living conditions here as third world. Housing shortages
create significant issues in homes as most Tribal families will
overfill their homes with 15 people or more to ensure that family
members have a roof over their heads. Most housing on the reservation
exists as cluster housing, or in mobile homes. Many of the homes are
dilapidated or are in disrepair. This contributes to the feelings of
self worth and hopelessness that many youth experience.
The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation encompasses nearly all of Oglala
Lakota County (formally Shannon County) in South Dakota and is home to
the Oglala Sioux Tribe. There are approximately 30,000 tribal members.
Currently Oglala Lakota County has a per capita income level of
approximately $8,768 per year and is designated as the poorest county
in the United States.
The Wounded Knee District area has a population of approximately
1,600 people. Students from Wounded Knee District School reside in
community areas that have extremely high levels of poverty, even when
compared to the entirely of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and
Oglala Lakota County overall. According to census data, the two largest
communities in the WKDS service area, Wounded Knee and Manderson, have
per capita income levels of $2,403 and $4,440, respectively. This
equates to approximately $46 and $85 per week for community members to
survive on. There is poverty and there is extreme poverty and the
difference in the lives of WKDS students is significant.
In most communities, schools are typically safe havens for
students. Students go to schools and are greeted by a school staff that
is there to engage, teach, and enrich the lives of the students. For
the most part students can expect a school to provide consistency,
food, safety, and positive interaction with adult staff. Schools become
respites from the daily grind and constant reminders of the all to
present conditions and underlying examples of extreme poverty. The
evidence of living in extreme poverty surrounds Wounded Knee District
School students, even within the school building.
What should amount to eight hours of a break from the realities of
living in extreme poverty, WKDS students attend classes in a building
that is a continuous reflection and reminder of the harsh conditions
that await them. This type of saturation in extreme poverty and the
continuous evidence of this poverty are very taxing on the mindset and
mental health of students. According to the Bureau of Indian Education,
the current value of the over 81,000 square foot school building is
$1.8 million with a replacement value of $17 5 million. The total
square footage of the school 81,000.WKDS students go to school and
experience the following on a daily basis:
Eight of 15 classrooms that contain asbestos tiles for
flooring.
The Pre-K classroom has tile installed over asbestos floor
tiles and the carpet cannot be removed since the asbestos tile
cannot be disturbed.
Most of a school building that does not have fire
suppression.
Fire alarm pull stations are too high for younger students.
The school gymnasium also serves as the school dining room.
The school kitchen is outdated and has an inadequate serving
line that annually is found to violate the Bureau of Indian
Education safety and deficiency standards.
The closed sewer system must be re-engineered due to basic
plumbing incidents.
The Pre-K and Kindergarten bathrooms are not handicapped
accessible.
All sewer pipes under the school have no cleans outs and are
all wrapped in asbestos insulation.
Over the past 55 years the much of the sewer pipes have
become blocked with waste and mineral deposits. There is no way
to clean these sewer pipes since there are no clean outs. The
school has more and more sewer backup issues.
The outside of the school foundation is beginning to
deteriorate due to age of building and weather of these
surfaces.
Many of the interior doors are not fire rated and fail the
fire rating code.
All of the interior doors need new locks that lock from the
inside to meet new intruder safety guidelines.
The school parking lot is deteriorating due to age and
weather.
Inadequate electrical capacity to meet the instructional and
information technology needs of a modern classroom. There are
not enough outlets and there many of the outlet receptacles
were installed at a time period when there were not ground
faults.
Electrical breaker boxes throughout the school are outdated
and antiquated as most were installed 55 years ago during the
original school construction.
The school does not have a back up generate system to
accommodate emergency management scenarios such as tornadoes,
blizzards, or other electrical outages.
The school sewer system and water system is tied to the
school housing systems and any sewer or water issues in the
housing affect the school and this has lead to cancellations of
school days due to health and safety concerns for students.
The age of the current school facility creates a burden
financial in terms of heating, cooling, and lighting the
building.
The age of the building is not energy efficient. The school
cannot cut costs for lighting, heating, or cooling due to
original construction of the building annual utility costs for
heating, cooling, and lighting are over $80,000.
Students that attend WKDS are not able to gain respite and escape
the health, safety, and environmental evidence that they live, sleep,
and attend school in extreme poverty. The continuous and long-term
exposure to these types of conditions make it difficult for students to
focus, learn, and feel safe. When the suicide epidemic began in 2014,
the Wounded Knee District service area was one of the hardest hit. Five
of the completed suicides came from the schools service area alone. And
the Wounded Knee District service area is one of the smallest
populations on the Pine Ridge Reservation, yet it had the highest rates
of suicide completions.
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Question 2 from Sen. Daines to Cecelia Fire Thunder. I understand
the social and economic situations at Northern Cheyenne and Pine Ridge
are similar. Could you share what behavioral health needs you see among
BIE students with your tribe?
My name is Matthew Shoulders. I am the school counselor at Wounded
Knee District School in Manderson, SD. I just completed my first year
as the school counselor. I grew up in Pine Ridge, SD and graduated from
Red Cloud High School as the classes valedictorian in 2007. I went on
to attend the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, NM and received
my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and my Master of Arts Degree in
Counselor Education.
In my first year here at WKDS, I am thankful for such resilient and
strong children. Although the challenges our community face are great,
our students are capable of excelling in their education. At the
community level, our people face high rates of alcohol/substance abuse
(i.e., meth), participate in gang activity, unemployment and various
levels of neglect (e.g., elderly abuse, child abuse, sexual abuse,
domestic violence, educational neglect). Also, in 2016, our community
had the highest level of suicide on our reservation. Cecelia also
shared with me during a meeting that the average number of people per
household in Wounded Knee District is 18, which often leads to multiple
families requiring vast amounts of resource and can lead to
overcrowding. Homelessness is also a visible facet of our community and
on the opposite end of the spectrum, is the issue of overcrowding.
At the school level, the problems that exist within the community
often manifests itself in student behavior. Our children carry multiple
layers of trauma from experiences of everyday life. Behavior is a
challenge. We have children who carry trauma, anger and frustration.
Numerous children, throughout my first year, have had serious behavior
issues, which range from biting, hitting, pushing, deliberately
dismissing authority figures and blatantly disrespect their peers,
staff and administration. Ideally, training on how to handle the
behavior our children exhibit would be very helpful.
As a school counselor, I believe it would be beneficial to have
more than one school counselor in each school on the reservation.
Ideally, we would benefit from one school counselor concentrating on
academics and another school counselor who concentrates on mental
health. Not all school counselors receive advanced training or
practicum/internship in mental health. The same is also true for mental
health counselors who do not receive advanced training or practicum/
internship in school counseling. If funding would warrant, two
counselors in the school would be ideal for all of our children.
As a school counselor at WKDS, I took it upon myself to continue
the traditional healing component of behavioral health that was
implemented in the past couple years. Through communication and
dialogue with our Wakan Iyeska, we were able to get children Lakol Cas,
Wopakinte, and Woapiye. This is probably the most integral component to
help our Lakota children combat trauma. At the school, prayer is
central to our educational identity. We begin every week with prayer
and azilya. Teachers also wocekiye in their classroom. The language is
also emphasized in the school with three highly qualified and gifted
Lakota language instructors. The language, prayer and the ceremonies
are pivotal to me in helping our children heal. Funding for these types
of spiritual activities (i.e., payment to the Wakan Iyeska, providing
gifts for wopila, providing food for the ceremony, material for
offerings, new clothes for Wopakinte, etc.)
Little Wound School Board--Office of the Superintendent
To: Whom It May Concern,
From: Charles Cuny, LWS Superintendent
RE: Facility Needs Specific to Little Wound School
Date: June 28, 2018
Priority:
1. New Middle School
2. New Elementary School
3. New High School
4. New Special Education Facilities
5. New Student Health and Wellness Center
6. Upgrade overall technology and facility structure to support
school safety
7. Additional Portable buildings to give adequate class room space
5-10 building would help LWS Grow.
8. Funding for all FI&R Project Related to LWS
9. Funding for all Safety & Conditions Assessment Portal(S&CAP)
10. Funding for ADA Noncompliance's
11. Energy Efficiency Updating of All Heating and Cooling Systems
12. Paving of Parking lots and road ways.
13. Expanding Facilities Shop
14. Building of Auxiliary Gym
15. Updating and expansion of Cafeteria
16. Rebuild of Elementary Play Grounds
17. Rebuild Outdoor Tennis and Basketball Courts
18. Provide Operations Maintenance Funding to building purchased by
Tribal Grant Schools
Facility Issue to Address:
Provide systematic updating to all Tribal Grant Schools to assure
they do not miss out on funding related to Maximo system.
Tribal Grant School take on the Granting and Project Management of
Facility Upgrades Construction Projects
Find solutions for BIA and BIE to communicate and Support Tribal
Grant Schools as it relates to providing Safe and Secure Schools.
Change the New School Selection Process
Behavioral Situations
Background
Little Wound School is a Bureau of Indian Education grant school
with enrollment of around 350 K-5 grade students, 100 6-8 grade middle
school students and 350 9-12 grade high school students. Little Wound
School is located in the middle of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation
students are transported from around a 50 mile radius of the school.
The current issues on the reservation of high alcoholism and drug
abuse, an unemployment rate above 80 percent, more than half the
reservation population living below the poverty line, diminishing
fluency in the Lakota language and culture have manifested in a
breakdown of positive family systems creating high numbers of our
children experiencing physical, emotional and sexual abuse.
The Behavioral Situations we face as counselors on a daily basis
are reactive and are usually in crises mode such as suicidal ideation,
hopelessness, depression, grief, anxiety, non-compliance, bullying,
attachment, and family issues. It is difficult to do consistent therapy
being in constant crisis mode. My believe is these situations stem from
generational trauma and trauma from adverse childhood experiences.
Research has shown that unresolved trauma and stress can be passed on
to offspring epigenetically and research has also shown that children
who experience trauma (our children sometimes experience multiple and
continual trauma from adverse events) has an effect on brain
development. Which keeps them stuck in the survival functioning part of
the brain's fight, flight or freeze mode in a dysregulated hyper-
aroused or hypo-aroused state with high anxiety, impulsiveness,
threatening, aggressive, resistant, unable to focus, sit still or
withdrawing, avoidant, shutting down disassociative, depressed, and
hopelessness states. Also this stress and trauma hinders them from
developing and accessing the higher functioning parts of the cognitive,
reasoning and impulse control part of the brain.
Current IHS and mainstream Behavioral Health practices have been to
label and diagnose these students with ADD, ODD, and Depression etc.
with the primary treatment being with medication, which in most cases
addresses the symptoms but not the root of the problem, which is the
trauma and its effects on the brain.
In recent years there has been numerous research and studies using
new technology to scan and map the brain to help understand the
neurobiology and the effects of trauma on the brain. With this new
understanding of the brain and the capability to scan and map the
neuronal pathways of the brain, researchers were able to track and
study what different therapies worked to help integrate and heal the
pathways in the brain. It was found that mindfulness practices such as
meditations, breathing, yoga, tai chi, along with play therapy, art
therapy, writing therapy, equine/therapy, internal family systems
therapy anything that provided safety, caring and sensory stimulation
helped the brain to re-integrate initiated healing of the brain and
release the trauma.
Behavioral Health Needs:
The Adverse Childhood Experience Study a research study done Kaiser
Permanente and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows a
direct correlation between adverse childhood experiences and health
social problems as an adult.
One of the important ways to meet the Behavioral Health Needs of
Little Wound School students and surrounding tribal schools is to
implement the Trauma Informed School model into our education systems.
It is a school wide approach to inform, teach and address trauma with
all staff and students.
This model requires total staff involvement of Administrators,
Teachers, Counselors and Support staff in a step by step training and
implementation plan to provide an environment of safety, caring,
understanding and connecting with students in way that promotes their
healing and learning. (It takes a community to raise a child)
Staff, Students and Community learn about trauma ( It is not
a behavior problem it is a brain problem)
Leadership and Team building skills
Relationship building skills & strategies
Mindfulness practices/De-escalation strategies
Identifying Students of Concern
Classroom Strategies
Recovery Rooms for dysregulated and escalated students
Development of positive coping strategies
Proactive approach vs Reactive approach
Create a culture of healing within the school
It would also create a foundation to implement interventions and
models of therapy listed below to work with identified students of
concern that need more intense care.
Interventions:
Listed below are models that found to be most conducive for the
healing of trauma development of positive coping skills along with
benefits to student.
Mindfulness practices such as meditations, breathing, yoga,
tai chi etc.
Play Therapy
Art Therapy
Equine/therapy
Internal Family Systems Therapy
Benefits
Changing the way one breathes can improve anger, depression,
anxiety and reduce stress hormone secretion
These intervention help individuals focus connecting body
and emotion in a moment to moment experience where they learn
they can tolerate their sensations, befriend their inner
experience and cultivate new action patterns of self-
regulation.
Allows child to safely express their adverse experience
Counselor able to observe child's view of experience
Allows students to safely establish trust relationship
Traumatized students able to safely express emotions
Provides safe, caring and sensory stimulation helping the
brain to initiates healing of the brain and release the trauma.
Focus on developmentally appropriate strategies
This would create the need for more counselors and training in
these models, along with applicable constructs in each model for age
appropriateness.
Also one of our most important Behavioral Needs is hiring Lakota
Cultural Mentors ( male/female) in each of our schools (Elementary,
Middle school and High School ) to help teach Lakota language, values,
songs and ceremonies. Our children are inherently drawn to the culture
and it is a very important factor in helping them with their identity
and promotes healing of their heart, mind and spirit.
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Behavioral Health Services wish list for students in Elementary,
Middle and High School.(Currently the only local resources are at the
IHS facilities in Wanblee, Kyle and Rosebud.) These are not listed in
any specific order.
An in-house treatment facility (therapeutic/mental health) for
teenagers and young adults that is located on our reservation. The
closeness would allow for stronger transition back to families and have
closer support. A facility that would create an environment that is
stable and secure that will promote effective treatment. Support and
staff to manage and facilitate more group and youth meetings in
evenings to give young people a safe place to be where they can make
good, healthy safe choices.
A safe house facility for young people to go when they need support
when they need to make the best choice for themselves to remove
themselves from a home in order to keep themselves safe. There are too
many times on a weekend where kids do not have food, or a place to
sleep or just a place where they can be safe if the adults in their
homes are not making good choices.
A residential facility for students with developmental disabilities
(IDEA). This would benefit students whose least restrictive environment
is a therapeutic residential facility and/or a facility for medically
fragile students. An in-house treatment facility (drug/alcohol) for
teenagers and young adults that is located on our reservation. The
closeness would allow for stronger transition back to families and have
closer support. A facility that would create an environment that is
stable and secure that will promote effective treatment.
Additional funding for to assist children, families, students and
schools in providing therapeutic support and residential facilities for
those students who are ``at risk'' to include suicide ideation,
juvenile delinquency, neglect, etc. is needed. Most states, including
SD, have resources set aside for families whose children are enrolled
in public schools. Congress discontinued the funding set aside
available for BIE Schools known as the Residential Placement Program in
2008, which assisted students who were identified as at risk and
students who were IDEA eligible. Nothing has been developed to replace
these funds so students who are at risk ``fall between the cracks.''
This has been demonstrated by the increased number of suicides on the
Pine Ridge Indian Reservation leading the Oglala Sioux Tribe to declare
a state of emergency.
Some of the pictures attached to these responses have been
retained in the Committee files.
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