District presents American Indian education update; parent advisory group shifts to NAPAC and recommends continuing prior submission

St. Cloud Public School District staff and community partners presented an American Indian Education update at the Feb. 19, 2025, Board of Education meeting, detailing programming for students, outreach with higher-education partners and a recommendation from the Native American Parent Advisory Committee (NAPAC) about the district's annual MDE compliance submission.

Kip Perkins, the district's American Indian education coordinator, said the district serves 275 students who identify as American Indian; of those students, 56 percent are at the elementary level and 44 percent are at the secondary level, Perkins said. The program provides supports that include individualized learning plans (ILPs) with cultural-identity goals, beading groups and opportunities for smudging at the secondary level where requested.

Heather Bridal, the district's American Indian Education cultural liaison, said she has led lunch groups, one-on-one student support and small cultural activities at elementary schools and described early successes in building student connections: she related an example of a student who "said to me during lunch 'I haven't missed a day of school this week,'" Bridal said, noting the attendance improvement after outreach.

Perkins described field trips and partnerships meant to expand postsecondary awareness: district students attended events at the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota History Center college fairs, where they spoke with representatives about Native studies and enrollment supports.

The district reported several program events and professional development items: a community graduation in collaboration with the City of St. Cloud, a powwow hosted with area higher-education partners, a ribbon-skirt and ribbon-shirt-making workshop for families (planned for March), a native-studies summer workshop for educators (hosted at tribal sites) and staff participation in the Minnesota Indian Education Association conference.

Perkins and staff also said the district provides staff professional development on American Indian culture and history for relicensure, citing a recorded districtwide session with Dr. Anton Treuer that is available for teacher relicensure requirements.

Rosemary Wacker, who chairs the parent advisory group, told the board that the committee voted to change its name from APAC (American Parent Advisory Committee) to NAPAC (Native American Parent Advisory Committee) to reflect parent preference for the term "Native American". Wacker said NAPAC voted "non-concurrence" with the district's submission and recommended continuing the same submission the committee had supported last year.

Board members asked procedural questions. Board member Scott Andresen asked whether the committee's recommendations this year differed from last year; Perkins said the committee recommended continuing the prior submission and that numbers of students had not risen sufficiently to change that recommendation.

Presenters noted outcomes the program seeks: Perkins said 60 percent of American Indian students graduated in the most recently reported year and the program is "aspiring for 100 percent." The district reported 23 seniors in the current graduating cohort.

The presentation was given as an information item; Perkins noted that Minn. statute and MDE guidance require annual collaboration between districts and parent advisory committees and a vote (concurrence or non-concurrence) on the submission the district sends to the Minnesota Department of Education.