Sumner School District presents Native American program and a 10-year MOU with the Puyallup Tribe

Superintendent Kelly Dent and Native American program director Jason Lafontaine told the Sumner School District board about the district's Native American education program and a recently negotiated 10-year memorandum of understanding with the Puyallup Tribe covering 2025—2035.

The agreement includes language revitalization (training adults to teach Lushootseed and offering Lushootseed for world-language credit), paid internship pathways for heritage youth that can earn elective credit, and expanded tribal support for career fairs and health or counseling referrals, Dent said. "It is a 10 year MOU," Dent said, naming the 2025—2035 term.

Why it matters: presenters said the work is part of an equity promise to make Native students feel seen and supported and to bring tribal perspectives into classrooms across the district. Jason Lafontaine, who identified himself as an enrolled member of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa and serves as the district's Native American program director, described regular in-school visits, family nights and cultural lessons that staff say increase belonging and can affect academic outcomes.

Program scale and data: Lafontaine reported about 210 students have signed up for the program. He and district staff said they track roughly 360 students they believe have Native heritage based on district enrollment records; only a smaller number (reported in OSPI data) appear as American Indian/Alaska Native in state counts when families select multiple races. "We have about 210 students signed up who have Native American heritage," Lafontaine said. The presentation noted 17 students on the program form self-identified their tribe as Puyallup.

Activities and classroom work: presenters described regular visits to nearly every school (once or twice a month), cultural activities such as the "Three Sisters" lesson (corn, beans, squash), medicine wheel lessons for older students, powwow and drumming demonstrations, and family nights where seniors are honored with blankets and necklaces. Dent cited a district visit in which a Puyallup tribal educator's classroom appearance led a young student to point at a drumming video and say, "that's my school," a moment presenters said illustrated the program's visible impact.

Funding and logistics: Lafontaine said the program receives federal support through the Office of Indian Education and occasional local grants (Boeing STEM, Pierce County), and that the district provided $10,000 to support field trips and family events. Presenters also emphasized that federal grants do not always cover supplies or family-night costs and therefore supplemental local funding and grants remain important. The presentation discussed plans to hire or coordinate with a tribal consultation specialist (a tribal-hired position) who would work across Pierce County districts but said some operational details are still being finalized.

Board questions and next steps: Board members asked for more detail about MOU logistics and how the tribal position will interact with districts; Dent said district staff and tribal partners are continuing consultations and that the district will share classroom resources for Native American Heritage Month. No formal board vote or motion was recorded during the presentation.

Quotes: Kelly Dent said the MOU is a shared responsibility and a step toward equity: "This land acknowledgment is not only a recognition of the past and present, it is a call to grow in understanding, to listen deeply, to support, and to build relationships rooted in respect, truth, accountability, and belonging for all." Lafontaine described his work with students: "I always liked that my job, like, on Sunday night, I'm like, sweet. I get to go to work Monday morning."

What remains open: presenters noted a persistent data gap between district outreach counts and OSPI state reports (state counts omit students who list multiple races). Funding per federally reported form was discussed during the presentation but the transcript numbers were inconsistent; presenters made clear that program funding is constrained and that additional forms and grants increase available resources. Dent said the district will distribute Heritage Month resources and continue tribal consultation work.

The board thanked the presenters and the session concluded with plans to share the program's Heritage Month materials with principals and teachers.