Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the American Indian Parent Advisory Council topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
American Indian parent committee issues formal nonconcurrence; board accepts notice
Summary
Red Wing Public Schools received a resolution of nonconcurrence from its American Indian Parent Advisory Council asking for expanded staffing, Dakota language instruction, tutoring and bus-safety improvements; the board acknowledged receipt and will respond within 60 days under state statute.
The Red Wing School Board on Tuesday formally accepted a resolution of nonconcurrence submitted by the district's American Indian Parent Advisory Council, which listed staffing, curriculum, tutoring and transportation changes the committee says are needed for Native students to make progress.
The resolution, presented by American Indian Parent Advisory Council chair Jasmine Fiddler, cited Minnesota Statute MS 124D.78 and requested “immediately add dedicated staff, native American education liaisons,” a director-level position if warranted, expanded tutoring for Native students, Dakota language instruction from early childhood through high school, improved bus safety, and annual, ethnicity-disaggregated assessment data. “Until our native American students are succeeding at or above the same level of our non native peers or making specific progress towards that, we cannot confidently submit a vote of concurrence at this time,” Fiddler told the board.
The council also requested the board provide a written response within 60 days, as required under MS 124D.78 subdivision 2 for cases of nonconcurrence.
Board members discussed the items and accepted receipt of the committee’s document. Board member Gary McKinney moved to accept the notice; the motion was seconded and the board voted to accept the APAC’s submission. The board vote on acceptance was recorded as carried with no opposing votes.
In presenting the resolution, Fiddler described the APAC’s recent internal work: revising bylaws, meeting with parents and coordinating with the district’s American Indian education director. Other APAC members who spoke at the meeting included Charice Neechus and Danny Campbell; Shante Jurich also identified herself as an APAC officer and parent with children at Burnside Elementary.
APAC members told the board they want liaisons’ services extended to all Native American students in the district rather than restricted to those enrolled in Prairie Island tribal programs, and asked the district to publish trend data — graduation, discipline, special education, math and reading assessments and MCA results — disaggregated by ethnicity on a yearly basis.
Board members and district staff indicated they have been working with APAC leadership and that the board will present the resolution at its April regular meeting. Under the statute the board must respond in writing to each recommendation from the parent committee and state reasons for any recommendations it declines to implement.
The board’s acknowledgment of the APAC nonconcurrence does not itself change district programming. APAC representatives said their submission is intended to prompt staffing, curriculum and transportation reviews and formal responses from the district.
Proper names mentioned in the APAC presentation included the Red Wing Public Schools American Indian Parent Advisory Council, Prairie Island, Cheyenne River (Eagle Butte, S.D.) and the district’s American Indian education director (named in the meeting as Henan Humphrey).
The APAC resolution will be on the board’s work plan for follow-up items, and the district is now required to respond to each recommendation within the statutory 60-day window.
