Spilyay tymoo., July 27, 1979, Page 9, Image 9

Spilyay Tymoo
July 27,1979
Page 9
Summer school helping students earn credits
With 65 students enrolled in
the first session and nearly that
amount in the second session,
the summer school being held
at the Warm Springs Grade
School is proving successful for
students who need to make,
credits failed during regular
school days.
The summer school, held in
two three-week sessions, is
funded by Title IV Part A of the
Indian Education Act and
Johnson O’Malley. Title IV-A
is funding elementary
students (first through eighth
grade) with $8400, and
Johnson O’Malley funds high
school students with $6400.
Elementary students attend
school for only an hour a day
and learn basic math, reading,
and spelling. Director Francis
Thorpe is especially pleased
with his younger students who
have “shown an increase in
abilities in math and reading
programs in the first three
weeks of summer school.”
Thorpe also noted that the
elementary students have good
attendance.
Teachers for the elementarv
students are Danon Droessin,
Laura Fuentes, Gene Running
Wolf, Rich Little, Andy Sulick.
Bill Hoff, and Jackie Jividen.
Community liaison is Ron
Pinkham.
High school students are
offered classes in math,
English, and social studies.
Teachers for these classes are
Paul Bender, Hollie Gragg,
Rodney Chester and Dave
McCourtney.
The teachers instruct the
students on a one-to-one basis
because, according to Thorpe,
the school deals with high
school students who failed a
specific subject area. Thorpe
said that many of the high
school students are in summer
school because they had a poor
attendance record and not
because they’re necessarily
slow learners.
Lack of attendance is still a
problem and, because of that,
eight students have been
dropped and a couple more are
nearing the point of being
dropped. Three unexcused
Continued on page 12
WARM WEATHER WORK— Alesia Keo and Angie Sanders found a history lesson to be a little
more enjoyable in the shade of a tree outside the grade school. They attend summer school every
morning, leaving afternoons free for work.
Spilyay Tymoo Photo by Stowell
Role and function of committees being reviewed
by Cynthia Stowell
Even before the Tribal
Council was born in 1938, at
least one committee was busy
at work on the reservation. The
original fish committee was
established to resolve disputes
on the Columbia River.
But committees as we know
them today—as arms of the
Council and management and
ears for the community—have
sprouted up since the Tribes
reorganized under the
Wheeler-Howard Act. Today
the fourteen council commit­
tees are facing their own
reorganization as a six-member
task force reviews their role and
function.
In the thirty years since
Council began appointing
committees, reservation
concerns have evolved and the
tribal organization has grown.
The result has been more
committees and more
confusion about the scope of
their responsibilities. At no
time was a committee structure
ever clearly defined. The
Committee Review Task Force
was established in June by
Tribal Council at the request of
management to evaluate
committee functions and
recommend a more efficient
overall structure.
Committees in evolution
As general manager Ken
Smith sees it, committees were
necessary while the tribal
organization was still young
because of the shortage of
manpower. With tribal
employment in the hundreds
“there is still a place for a
committee structure,” said
Smith, but it may not be in the
day to day business. Smith feels
that committees might be most
effective in the area of
reviewing, evaluating and
recommending policy for
council and management—as
“sounding boards’’ in the
community.
Smith wants to see the
system strengthened but admits
that there may be casualties.
Some committees could be
eliminated or merged with
other committees as areas ol
concern are more clearly
identified. And Smith suggests
that some issues could be
addressed more efficiently with
the assignment of a temporary
task force rather than the
appointment of a permanent,
ongoing committee.
A sea of expectations
Currently there are fourteen
council-appointed committees
occupied with the following
areas of concern: fish and
wildlife, health and welfare,
timber, range, irrigation and
agriculture, water, land use
planning, law and order,
education, enrollments,
culture/heritage, alcohol,
community center and credit.
Each committee is given four
or five members, a budget and a
job description and set adrift in
an undefined sea of council,
management and community
expectations. As committee
members have struggled to
define their responsibilities
they have discovered that there
are as many definitions of what
a committee is as there are
committees. Degrees of
authority vary greatly as do
levels of activity and patterns of
accountability.
As councilman Larry Calica
described it, committees have
looked to each other as role
models, sometimes assuming
authority and responsibility
not originally intended. Calica
headed up the last major effort
to define committee functions
in 1977, producing manage-
ment-by-objectives style job
and a. description for every
committee.
That was clearly not a final
solution to what Calica terms
a “longstanding problem.”
Communication difficulties
remain, with committees
operating in isolation from
each other, council and
management, he said. The
reporting system he outlined
has not been followed, making
it difficult to sustain the MBO
approach. In addition, new
committees are unclear about
the “how-to’s” of tackling their
job descriptions.
Exploring problem areas
The current task force is
addressing such problem areas.
Tribal Council appointed six
people to participate in the
review: two council members
(Larry Calica and Rita
Squiemphen), two committee
members (Mike Clements and
Harold Culpus), and two
management members (Orthe-
lia Miller and Ralph Minnick).
Since its inception in June
the task force has delved into
the history and background of
committees, identifying their
original intent in comparison
with current job descriptions.
Next week members will begin
interviewing committee
members, department heads,
management and some council
members to solicit their
perceptions of committee
responsibilities as well as their
suggestions for improvement.
Task Force chairman Mike
Clements explained some of
the concerns that he and his
group are addressing. They fall
into four major areas: the
intent of the committees as
compared with current activity;
the scope of committees’
responsibilities, authority and
accountability and methods of
evaluating accomplishments;
internal and external
procedures; and areas of need.
continuing contact,” said
Clements.
The procedure for making
appointments may need
improvements, said the
chairman. Presently, some
committees participate in the
selection and others simply
accept Council appointments.
Clements noted that the field of
candidates needs to be opened
up to discourage decisions
based on nepotism or politics.
Membership restrictions will
also be considered by the task
Continued on Page 11
Who should do what for
whom?
Specifically, Clements has
seen a number of problems
during his years on the
education committee. First is
the unclear relationship
committees have with council
and management. Committees
do not receive the direction
they need from council to allow
them to fulfill the expected
function of providing accurate
information to other local and
regional resource bodies. They
don’t know how far their
authority extends into related
department functioning and
they are not sure when they
can be spokespersons for the
Tribes. Overlapping has been a
serious result of undefined
responsibilities and minimal
monitoring.
Communication is lacking in
both directions, feels Clements.
Reporting systems seem to
break down, with committee
reports to Council irregular
and too brief. “There has to be
a better system than ‘Hurry up
and tell me what you’re doing.’
Tribal Council should have
Picnic in the pines
Some people found refuge from last week’s heat at HeHe, where
kids were enjoying their final day at the first session of Camp Ny-
My-Mah, sponsored by the American Indian Lawyer Training
Program. Field and track events, a salmon dinner and a campfire
capped off a week of fun. The second session is underway now and
includes a basketball clinic to be led by Bill Walton (remember
him?) at the community center this weekend.
Spilyay Tymoo Photo by Stowell