BY CHRISTOPHER S. PINEO
NAVAJO TIMES
WINDOW ROCK –– The process once known as the Reauthorization Application for grant schools will become annual, the Department of Diné Education announced at a training session last week.
Currently, BIE grant schools apply for reauthorization based on how long their grant is.
Grants issued by the federal government for each school come in one-, two- and three- year periods. So, while a school with a three-year grant goes for reauthorization every third year, a school with a one-year grant would apply annually.
DoDE officials did not confirm the official name of the program once it goes into effect, but said they intend to streamline the process.
“What we’re trying to do is follow the law, as spelled out in Title 10, that schools are not exempt, because we’re dealing with federal money, and they have to respond to these mandates every so often, so we’re talking about streamlining it the best way we can,” Superintendent of Schools Tommy Lewis said in a phone interview later.
The slide show presentation used at the training session said the goal for the tribe as it takes oversight of the BIE schools is to monitor, evaluate and provide technical assistance to all contract and grant schools on the Navajo Nation, and to assist BIE and public schools within the limitations of DoDE authority. Lewis said DoDE hopes to comply with the laws that apply to monitoring tribally controlled schools.
“Any way you look at it, OK, all we’re trying to do is apply the federal and tribal laws on accountability,” he said. “The law calls for that there be re- porting, that there be documen- tation, that there be evidence that schools are in compliance with their audits, with their spending, with their budgets, academic achievement, their governance, decision making – all of that has to be document- ed then shown to the Navajo Nation.”
DoDE’s Office of Diné Accountability and Compliance will take point on managing changes to the process, which was called the “Annual Compliance Determination” on training materials. According to Interim Education Program Manager Darrick Franklin the office will hold meetings to get input from those in schools who deal with the reauthorization process as it stands.
The Annual Compliance Determination will monitor finances, by reviewing annual reports and audits; residential requirements, by reviewing annual reports; facilities, by reviewing annual inspection reports on safety and sanitation; human resources, by tracking background investigations on school employees and school board members, and check compliance with the Navajo Preference in Employment Act; and school governance by monitoring school policies and procedures in relation to federal Native American education laws and Navajo Nation laws under Title 10, Title 2 and Title 11 – Navajo Nation laws that apply to education.
The process started in school year 2013-2014. DoDE, Diné Bi Olta School Board Association, and the grant schools came together to create the Annual Compliance Determination Committee. In December, ACDC created a scope of work and a timeline to implement the new system. According to the slideshow, a plan should be ready to present to the Health, Education and Human Services committee by April.
“We don’t have to do this right away, because this won’t take effect until the next school year, so we have some time to work on it,” Franklin said.