TPS' latest proposal to reorganize Indian Education Program set to go before board

The Tulsa Public Schools Parent Indian Education Committee endorsed the district’s latest proposal to reorganize its Indian Education Program during a virtual meeting Tuesday evening.

With the committee’s approval, district officials will bring the overhauled proposal before the Board of Education next week. Board members won’t vote on the changes until May 4.

The initial recommendation involved eliminating the program’s seven resource advisers and replacing them with three student specialists — a move that brought intense backlash from Native stakeholders and tribes.

Opponents lambasted the district for seeking to eliminate federally funded positions and operating outside the purview of the parent committee overseeing the program’s grant funding.

Last month, TPS announced three new reorganization proposals and asked for the public’s input in an online survey. None called for replacing the resource adviser positions or reducing the number of positions below six.

Those proposals were used to create the recommendation that was presented to the parent committee Tuesday.

If the updated changes are approved by the school board, the Indian Education program will move forward with six resource adviser positions, one of which will be converted into a lead resource adviser with a stipend for 24 additional working days.

The lead resource adviser would help coordinate the flow of tribal resources to schools and connect parents and students with tribal summer activities, said Laura Grisso, executive director of language and cultural services at TPS.

“As we know from the parent survey, our families are definitely interested in more cultural opportunities as well as summer opportunities,” Grisso said. “While we may not be able to provide them with our staff, we can connect them with the awesome opportunities that the tribes provide.”

The number of teacher assistants assigned to partner with the program’s resource advisers also would increase from four to six. Other highlights include providing 30 after-school tutors instead of the current 21 and hiring a Native American literature teacher to serve at two to four middle schools each year.

Additionally, the proposal would convert the program manager position back to a program coordinator position, resulting in a two-step decrease on the pay scale.

The position originally was changed from coordinator to manager in 2018 and received a nearly $24,000 salary increase. Several Indian Education employees filed a grievance accusing the district of illegally creating the manager position and authorizing the raise without the parent committee’s approval. Administrators argued the boost was necessary due to the state-mandated pay raises in addition to the new position’s increased responsibilities and leadership duties.

“(The coordinator position) will still oversee the entire team and have the same budgetary and reporting responsibilities,” Grisso said. “But based on community input, this was much more in line with what was desired for the program.”

Currently, retired Union Public Schools administrator Jackie White is serving as interim manager after the resignation of Deidre Prevett in March.

The parent committee unanimously voted to endorse the proposal on the condition that applicants with an administrative certification be given preference for the lead resource adviser position. This would allow whoever is hired to temporarily step in as program coordinator in case of another sudden vacancy.

Following the vote, Gist thanked committee members for their support and expressed appreciation for the Cherokee Nation’s recent donation of nearly $220,000 in car tag funds to support the program. District officials did not expect to receive such a sizable contribution, which was double the amount awarded by the tribe in 2018.

Gist said the financial support allowed TPS to create a new proposal that enhances the Indian Education Program instead of eliminating positions. The original recommendation was necessary due to a decline in students with eligible 506 forms, resulting in less funding.

“We do feel very enthusiastic about (this proposal),” she said. “We’re very grateful to the Cherokee Nation for the tag money that will allow us to put some things in place that we actually would have loved to do when this was originally being discussed and we were thinking, ‘How in the world can we do that?’

“I think it’s really just come together in a beautiful way. As difficult as this has been, and I’m not minimizing that at all, we very much appreciate all the public engagement and all the staff and everything they do.”

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