Committee Meeting Information

August 27, 2008

Central Wyoming Community College Student Center

 

Joint Education Committee Members Present

Senator Henry H.R. “Hank” Coe, Co-Chairman

Representative Del McOmie, Co-Chairman

Senator Jim Anderson

Senator Kit Jennings

Senator Michael Von Flatern

Representative Bernadine Craft

Representative Kathy Davison

Representative Allen Jaggi

Representative Matt Teeters

Representative Sue Wallis

 

Joint Education Committee Members Absent

Senator Mike Massie

Representative Ross Diercks

Representative W. Patrick Goggles

Representative Kevin White

 

Members of the Select Committee on Tribal Relations Present

Senator Cale Case, Co-Chairman

Representative Del McOmie, Co-Chairman

Senator Wayne Johnson

Senator Bill Vasey

Representative Pete Anderson

Members of the Select Committee on Tribal Relations Absent

Representative W. Patrick Goggles

 

Other Legislators Present

Senator John Hines

 

Legislative Service Office Staff

Dave Nelson, School Finance Manager

Brenda Long, School Finance Analyst

Matthew Sackett, Research Analyst

Josh Anderson, Staff Attorney

Ian Shaw, Staff Attorney

Alex Kean, Research Analyst

 

Others Present at Meeting

Please refer to Appendix 1 to review the Committee Sign-in Sheet
for a list of other individuals who attended the meeting.

Executive Summary

The members of the Joint Education Committee and members of the Select Committee on Tribal Relations met jointly at the Central Wyoming Community College Center.  The joint group heard testimony concerning the education of Native American students including testimony from the school districts on and near the reservation and from the Wyoming Department of Education.

 

Call To Order

Representative Del McOmie, Co-chair of the Joint Education Committee, and Senator Cale Case, Co-chair of the Select Committee on Tribal Relations, presided at the Tribal Summit.  The joint meeting of the Joint Education Interim Committee and the Select Committee on Tribal Relations was called to order at 8:30 am.  The following sections summarize the Committee proceedings by topic.  Please refer to Appendix 2 to review the Committee Meeting Agenda.

 

Montana Indian Education

Mr. Mike Jetty from the Montana Office of Public Instruction addressed the Committee concerning tribal education.  Mr. Jetty provided handouts to the Committee (see Appendix 3 for a copy of the handouts).  Mr. Jetty noted that he is a member of the Indian education division which seeks to provide Indian education for all, bilingual teaching, and focuses on student achievement.  He noted that there was a focus on education for Indians and education about Indians.

 

In response to a question, Mr. Jetty noted that there was an effort in recruiting Indian teachers but that there was a very small percentage of Indian teachers in Montana.  He noted they are working on grants for higher education to get more Indian teachers recruited and that they are trying to develop a pool of American Indian administrators as well.

 

Mr. Jetty noted that in the Montana public school funding model there is an additional $200 per American Indian student to close the achievement gap and that there are lots of options on how to spend that money.  He noted that the additional funding has helped create some unique partnerships.

 

In response to a question, Mr. Jetty noted that Montana is attempting to address the different learning styles but that no group has a single learning style and good teachers use multiple learning styles.  He noted that Montana is trying to include Indian education in all areas and that it could even be expanded to include the science curriculum.

 

Mr. Jetty noted that Montana focused on reading first to close the achievement gap and it is now working toward math.  Mr. Jetty noted that the drop out rate is part of the problem and that one of the causes may be low expectations by the community.

 

Mr. Jetty noted that part of their process is to promote the message that it is a new era and to get the community involved.  He noted that they encourage after school and summer school programs and student support services to establish a climate where kids want to come back.

 

Fremont County School Districts on Reservation

Fremont County School District #14

Ms. Michelle Hoffman, Superintendent of Fremont County School District #14, made a presentation to the summit concerning the district.  She noted that the district was the first to gain the "district in need of improvement status" and the first to write a district plan of improvement.  She noted that it was important to look at different approaches like how a teacher was taught to teach vs. how they should teach and whether to teach alone vs. a group approach.  She noted that the district has been seeing improvement over the past 2 years in math and that they are instituting a similar approach for reading.  She stated that the next challenge is attendance and noted that on average there are 50 students gone a day.  She stated that the district has begun to do home visits, and work with home/school coordinators and reporting at 5, 10 and 15 absence levels.  Ms. Hoffman noted that the district is working on incorporating culture and language but that there are few native speakers available and that they were still working on creating a curriculum.

 

In response to a question, Mr. Sergio Maldonado, faculty member at Central Wyoming College, noted that the immersion program is a pre-k through kindergarten program and that part of the program requires them to buy in and speak at home.  He noted that the goal was to bring language back into the community and noted that the state has no direct funding into the program.

 

Ms. Hoffman requested that the legislature consider some type of increased consequences for students not attending school.  She also requested some type of growth based assessment measurement that would enable the school to show in a more thoughtful way that it is teaching the children.

 

Fremont County School District #21

Mr. Gregory Cox, Superintendent of Fremont County School District #21, provided a handout of his presentation (see Appendix 4 for a copy of the handout).  He noted that one of the main district concerns was a lack of early training and noted that there are some outside efforts to address the concern such as head start, early intervention, boys and girls club, and pre-school.  Mr. Cox noted that the district made adequate yearly progress district wide, but that there are still some areas of concern including behavior concerns. He stated that the district is trying to connect with the community by having a back to school night, parent teacher conferences three times a year, family math nights, bingo for books to get books into the home, music programs, cultural bingo and the native science field center.

 

In response to a question, Mr. Cox noted that the school is kindergarten to grade 8, and that they want to expand to grade 12 but they need to have 500 students to initiate action to become a unified school district.  Ms. Mary Kay Hill of the Department of Education noted that it is a statutory number and that there is some disagreement on how to count the number of students.  She also stated the department cannot waive the 500 student requirement.

 

In response to a question, Mr. Cox noted that after 8th grade the school has an agreement with Lander for students to enroll in high school, but students tend to enroll throughout the county. He noted that 46% of the students dropout.

 

Fremont County School District #38

Mr. Roger Clark, Superintendent of Fremont County School District #38, addressed the Committee.  He noted that the district was the other kindergarten through grade 8 district in the state.  He stated that approximately 94% of the students were free and reduced lunch, 30% were special education students and 66% needed ELL services which presented unique problems.  He stated that education is at the heart of the solution. He stated that to help with the education of the tribal students they opened a charter school.  He stated that at the charter school only ADM comes from the state and that he would like to see discussion of the issue of funding for charter schools.

 

Mr. Clark noted that many students enter school with a vocabulary deficit and are not able to read at proficient levels. He noted that preschool would help level the playing field but that preschool is not supported through the state.  He noted that in an effort to obtain higher achievement the district has adopted new models, trained staff, committed to small class sizes and has aggressively pursued professional development.  He stated that the district wants to make a difference for the students and that even the board has been reeducated to understand and implement this philosophy.

 

In response to a question about the unification of District #38 and #21, Mr. Clark stated that everyone within the district should come to the table and discuss the options for unification.

 

St. Stephen's School

St. Stephen's School Superintendent Mr. Louis Headly and Principal Ms. Kathie Bowker addressed the Committee on St. Stephens School.  Ms. Bowker noted that the school is 100% Native American and that they have begun looking at every student individually.  She stated that the school is showing improvement, but not enough to make AYP.  She stated that it is hard to get parents into the schools.  She noted that the school asked the BIA for a school with a capacity of 100 students but that they have been promised a school for 75. She stated that students choose to attend St. Stephen's.  She stated that the school is thankful for the help from the legislature.

 

Mr. Sergio Maldonado, Central Wyoming College Faculty, stated that education is not a priority in federal funding and that he does not believe that the federal government will continue to fund the school at an acceptable level. He stated that if the school wants to maintain sovereignty and pride it will be up to the tribes and the families to take the initiative. He noted that the teachers at St. Stephens are paid 60% less than at other schools in the state, and that they are there because of their heart.

 

Mr. William Long, St. Stephen's faculty, noted that St. Stephen's is not a private school but that it was private in the past.  He stated that students are choosing the school despite its resource constraints and noted the need for building funds.

 

In response to a question Mr. Maldonado noted that all parties need to sit down and find a solution concerning whether the school could join the Wyoming public school system.

 

Senator Case provided a handout to the Committee of a bill that was introduced in the Legislature in 2007 (see Appendix 5 for a copy of the handout). He stated that he hoped the Education Committee would consider the bill and that there was merit in continuing the relationship with the federal government.

 

Fremont County School Districts Bordering Reservation

Fremont County School District #1

Ms. Paige Benton Hughes, Superintendent of Fremont County School District #1, made a presentation to the Committee.  Ms. Hughes provided a handout to the Committee of the commitment to excellence for her district (see Appendix 6 for a copy of the handout).  She stated that there is a moral and ethical imperative to educate children. She stated that the district has a goal that every child will increase in proficiency at the same time that they close the achievement gap.  She stated that the Hathaway curriculum is the core curriculum and that the goal is to have students prepared for post secondary education.  Ms. Hughes noted that the district is collecting data in order to make sure the kids feel comfortable in the school. She stated that there is a challenge to hire Native American staff and that they want to change the experience for Native American students going forward.  She stated that the data collected is available at the district's website. She stated that culturally the district has a Native American liaison, a Native American Day and that they are assigning mentors that have made the transition.

 

Fremont County School District #6

Ms. Diana Clapp, Superintendent of Fremont County School District #6 made a presentation to the Committee.  She noted that approximately 30% of the students are Native American.  She stated the district's greatest strength is diversity and that the largest problems are poverty and absenteeism which are not limited to Native American students. She noted that the district's PAWS testing results are fairly even among elementary students, that there is a wider gap at the junior high level and it is widest at the high school level. She stated that the difference could be in part due to transfer students.  She noted that if the district is able to keep a student enrolled until his or her senior year, the student will probably graduate.  The district is targeting 9th and 10th grade students for this reason.  She noted that the district is very remote and that some students are riding 145 miles to attend class.  She stated that there was no known licensed preschool within the district until Wind River preschool was started. She noted that facilities for the preschool are funded through a community bond but the main issue is with transportation. In response to a question, Ms. Clapp stated that they would look into carpooling.  She stated that she would like the legislature to include the ADM from preschool in the funding model and she would also like the legislature to fund transportation for preschool.  She stated that one consideration was to keep options for success with the student and that it was important not send a project home for completion where a student may not have markers and other supplies.  She stated that the district had needs of additional support for school resource officers, school nurses and additional training and support.

 

Fremont County School District #25

Mr. Craig Beck, Superintendent of Fremont County school district #25, made a presentation to the Committee.  He stated that when you look at student results, diversity is not the difference but rather the correlation is poverty.  He stated that somebody has to care and set high expectations that are non negotiable and then help the students reach those expectations. He stated that he was proud of what the staff had done and that it did not have to do with ethnicity, it had to do with caring.  He stated that some of the paperwork required for the state funding is too much and that he thought it could be streamlined.

 

Wyoming Department of Education Report

State Superintendent Jim McBride addressed the Committee.  He noted that he was impressed by all of the information presented at the Summit. He noted that before the presentation he would not have thought that rural districts would have security and safety issues. He stated that the role of the Department of Education is to help districts figure out how to do their jobs better.

 

Deputy State Superintendent Joe Simpson presented a handout to the Committee of a risk factor profile in terms of school improvement issues (see Appendix 7 for a copy of the handout).  Mr. Gerald Maas of the Department of Education provided a handout to the Committee (see Appendix 8 for a copy of the handout).  Mr. Maas noted that under tier 3 a district is assigned a WDE oversight team and they establish a 60 day action plan. Mr. Simpson noted that if a district is struggling, they do not want to it make complicated, they talk to one Department representative and have one improvement plan.  Mr. Maas stated that they do training with the school board and that there are lots of different items in an improvement plan.

 

Mr. Simpson noted that they have a contract with St. Stephen's and that it is tied to the improvement plan.  He noted that they report on the funds they are using and tell what results they are getting. He stated that they are excited to be working with St. Stephen's.  In response to a question, Ms. Mary Kay Hill noted that  it is an ongoing discussion as to whether St. Stephen's could become a public school. She noted that funding for St. Stephen's does not come through public school funding.

 

In response to a question, Mr. Simpson noted that school facilities may remain open beyond school sessions and may be leased to non profit organizations for various activities and programs.  He noted that he had never heard of a district denying access to a nonprofit organization.  He noted that schools may offer extended day programs in accordance with statute and receive public school funding for such program.

 

Adjournment

The Legislative Tribal Education Summit was adjourned at 5:15 pm.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Appendix

 

Appendix Topic

 

Appendix Description

 

Appendix Provider

1

 

Committee Sign-In Sheet

 

Lists meeting attendees

 

Legislative Service Office

2

 

Committee Meeting Agenda

 

Provides an outline of the topics the Committee planned to address at meeting

 

Legislative Service Office

3

 

Montana Indian Education

 

Montana Indian Education

 

Montana Office of Public Instruction

4

 

Fort Washakie Schools

 

Fremont County School Dist. # 21

 

Fremont County School Dist. # 21

5

 

State-federal partnership

 

State-federal partnership schools

 

Senator Case

6

 

Commitment to Excellence

 

Fremont County School Dist. # 1

 

Fremont County School Dist. # 1

7

 

Risk Factor Profile

 

Risk Factor Profile

 

Department of Education

8

 

Pillar of Support

 

Pillar of Support

 

Department of Education

 

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