Education Committee revises uniform stipend policy for school boards

WINDOW ROCK -- The Education Committee of the Navajo Nation Council adopted the School Board Stipend Payment Policy on Dec. 20. The policy became effective on the date of adoption. The Department of DinŽ Education and the Navajo Nation Board of Education are responsible for enforcing and monitoring the policy.

In a memorandum sent out to local community school board members, Committee Chairperson Leonard Chee outlined the changes to the policy.

"The Education Committee encourages each Bureau of Indian Affairs funded school and board members to review its current school board budget to ensure financial accountability and compliance with the new tribal mandates," Chee stated.

Among the changes are a requirement that a board member be paid the full stipend rate only if he/she attends two-thirds of regular and special duly called meetings at the school site, provision that board members cannot receive stipend payment for mileage and/or per diem in addition to receiving a stipend payment, adoption of the current Navajo Nation travel rates for mileage and per diem payments, and restrictions on the amount of training funds school boards will allocate and use each year for BIA operated schools and contract and grant schools.

The amendments set the stipend rate at $150 for a duly called regular meeting and $75 for a special meeting.

Wallace Charley, who chairs the subcommittee on School Board Policy, sponsored the amendments to the policy. The last revisions to the policy were made in 2000 with minor changes.

(Karen Francis is Public Information Officer for the Navajo Nation office of the Speaker.)

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