Site visit an effort to learn more about American Indian student achievement

The ASBSD Board of Directors took another step in May to further their understanding of American Indian education, travelling to Eagle Butte for a two-day field trip that included a discussion forum and community tour.

Board members have been working steadily over the past year to learn more about the challenges related to improving academic achievement for American Indian students – a process that eventually led to an invitation from the Eagle Butte School Board.

ASBSD Central Region Director Charles Shupick, a member of the public school board in Eagle Butte, facilitated the visit, which was scheduled to coincide with the May ASBSD Board of Directors meeting.

ASBSD Vice President Susan Humiston, Edgemont, boards a school bus at the start of a tour of the Eagle Butte community.

An evening discussion forum, led by South Dakota Indian Education Director Keith Moore, set an honest, frank tone for the weekend.

Moore, a member for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, talked bluntly about Indian education and passionately about practical and moral needs to improve outcomes for Indian children.

“This is an issue full of issues,” Moore said before rattling off a long list of challenges that included poverty, social dysfunctions and health.

Moore's presentation and the subsequent discussion with Eagle Butte district officials helped everyone appreciate the attempts to build awareness and understanding.

"Very seldom do we have visitors who want to come and see what we do here," said Cheri Farley, the Education Line Officer for the BIE-operated portions of the Eagle Butte education system.

The next morning, ASBSD Directors boarded a bus to tour the community, experiencing first hand the poverty-stricken areas of the reservation.

Dr. Peter Preheim, a board member from Marion and ASBSD Southeast Region Director, said the weekend was a learning experience.

"This was a real eye-opener," Preheim said. "[Marion] doesn't deal with the problems like you have here."

The board's efforts to learn about American Indian education date back to last August, when the ASBSD Policy and Resolutions Committee introduced a position that sought to address American Indian achievement challenges.

The board decided not to move ahead then, divided over whether to focus specifically on American Indian education challenges or to approach the issue in the broader context of serving every student.

Bev Banks, a Western Region director and member of the Belle Fourche School Board, voted against the position after the discussion last August. Now, she's a vocal advocate for moving forward.

"The more I learned, the more I understood the unique nature of the challenges," Banks said, crediting both her personal studies and the board's focus on the issue as pivotal in altering her thinking about American Indian education.

Banks said she hopes a more formal stance on the matter can position ASBSD to help raise awareness while keeping true to the "pride associated with being an American Indian."

Following a lengthy discussion, the board voted to direct the policy subcommittee to draft a policy statement for the board's review and for submission membership approval at the ASBSD Delegate Assembly.

Some board members, including Northeast Region Director LeRoy Hellwig, a member of the Sisseton School Board, argued that the board should continue its broad focus on all students.

"I don't think we should be singling-out any one group," Hellwig said. "It's our job to give every student who walks through our doors the same educational opportunity."

Hellwig said he was concerned that the board's position may be perceived by some as moving away from a message of equality and inclusiveness, which he said may have unintended consequences.