LUMBERTON — The Indian Education Director for the Public Schools of Robeson County recently addressed misinformation about the Indian Education Program during a PSRC Board of Education Workshop session.
Dr. Connie Locklear, director of the PSRC Indian Education Program, told board members there have been no discussions by the school district about ending the Indian Education Program despite rumors that say the opposite.
The school district’s program is federally funded by a more than $2 million direct grant from the U.S. Department of Education.
“The U.S. Department of Education programs funds the Indian Education Formula Grant (Title VI). It supports the efforts of school districts, Indian tribes and organizations, postsecondary institutions, and other groups to meet the unique educational and culturally related academic needs of American Indian and Alaska Native students,” according to Dr. Locklear’s presentation to school board members, which was previously shared with the Lumbee Tribe.
Dr. Locklear applies each year for grant funding.
She told board members that the funding supported 10,582 students who had a verified ED506 form this past school year.
How grant funds are spent
“PSRC IEA Title VI funds support 33 staff members to provide culturally relevant academic opportunities for AI [American Indian] students,” according to Locklear.
Salaries make up more than 80% of the grant’s total budget, according to PSRC Chief Finance Officer Erica Setzer.
Grant funding provides a variety of supports for Indian Education students including the employment of youth development specialists in the district. The grant also supports the director, cultural enrichment specialist, homeschool coordinator, data manager and secretary positions.
Activities funded by the grant include tutoring, Reading Workshop, AISES Club, Summer Camp(s), Scholarship/College Night, Literacy Night, academic advising (scholarships, college applications, FAFSA, mock interviews, etc.), Cultural Academy and more.
Indian Education Formula Grants (Title VI) funds are designed to:
Supplement the regular school program.
Strengthen proficiency in the core content areas (Reading, Math, Science).
Provide enrichment programs that would otherwise be unavailable.
Support after-school programs, early childhood education, tutoring, and dropout prevention.
The grant’s objectives include:
Increasing knowledge of cultural identity and awareness.
Enhancing problem-solving and cognitive skills development and directly supporting the attainment of state standards.
Increasing school attendance rate.
Increasing the graduation rate.
Increasing career readiness skills.
Increasing support for at-risk students.
How the grant is monitored
The grant is reviewed by the Indian Education Parent Committee of the Public Schools of Robeson County and must be approved by the PSRC Board of Education and the U.S. Department of Education.
Additionally, all expenditure requests are initiated by Dr. Connie Locklear. From there, the requests are submitted for approval to Dr. Windy Dorsey-Carr, assistant superintendent for Curriculum, Instruction and Accountability before arriving at the PSRC Finance Department. It should be noted that Dr. Locklear must sign off on all purchase orders.
PSRC does support some activities not covered by the grant from local and state funding, according to Setzer. The program is also audited every two years through PSRC’s regular audit. However, the program can receive a federal audit at any point.
The last federal audit of the program was in 2019 and there were no findings in that audit, according to Setzer.
Collaboration with the Lumbee Tribe
The grant includes the tribal consultation and PSRC’s actions satisfy all federal requirements related to the grant.
Dr. Locklear said that she has had a great working relationship with the current and former Lumbee Tribal chairman.
The PSRC Indian Education Program also has a great working relationship with the tribe, Dr. Locklear said.
The PSRC Indian Education Program has:
Participated in the grant writing team (Project ACCESS, Project 3C, and IndigeCHOICE).
Worked closely with Tribal Personnel to disseminate information to students and parents.
Participated in Tribal events/activities.
Shared and included Tribal leaders in PSRC Indian Education events.
Included Lumbee Tribe Personnel as members of the PSRC Indian Education Parent Advisory Committee.
The PSRC District Improvement Team also has members from the tribe on the team. This team meets monthly to review the District Improvement Plan.
Multiple board members echoed support for the program during the board’s recent workshop session. In addition, Superintendent Dr. Freddie Williamson also released a statement about the program’s future in the district.
“The Public Schools of Robeson County and its Board of Education support the Indian Education Program and will continue to do so,” Williamson said.