By JONAH LOSSIAH
One Feather Reporter
The Cherokee Central Schools (CCS) Board of Education met for the first time this year on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
One of the first orders of business came with the Board asking some advice of Tribal Council Painttown Rep. Dike Sneed. Sneed was attending the meeting in place of Yellowhill Rep. T.W. Saunooke, who was traveling to Washington, D.C. Chairperson Jennifer Thompson presented the situation to Rep. Sneed.
The Cherokee Central Schools (CCS) Board of Education met for the first time this year on Tuesday, Jan. 3. (JONAH LOSSIAH/One Featherphoto)
“It’s in Cherokee Code that if a child is suspended from school or expelled from school on the last day of school…the Code says that we can’t uphold that the next school year. Basically, they get to come back in if they choose to on Aug. 1. What we’re asking is if we could put in a resolution with help from Tribal Council to amend that part of the Code so that we could continue with the discipline,” said Thompson.
She also mentioned that there was some confusion about the Indian Preference policy within the Tribe and how it should be implemented at CCS. These questions come after the Board has tasked their attorney services to comb through the school’s policies and offer amendments.
“The best thing to do is have Michael McConnell here at your next meeting. He’s the AG and he’ll show for a meeting like this. He’ll also help you write any kind of ordinance change that you want to do,” said Rep. Sneed.
The Board said that they would be making a request for the Attorney General to be in attendance at their next meeting.
Co-Vice Chair Tara Reed-Cooper also had a question about how the Board should handle the honoring of Board members that pass away.
“It was asked of me: when a School Board member current or former, do we close the school in honor or remembrance of them? I pulled the Code. The Code the doesn’t really pertain to the school. It states an elected official, but it states that the Principal Chief may grant that time off. I don’t know what they’re done in the past,” said Reed-Cooper.
The Board discussed this issue back and forth but could not come to a unified decision. Reed-Cooper was focused on maintaining consistency, regardless of any particular individual. They considered closing the school for a full day or half of a day, but no motion was made.
“As far as any of us remember, it’s only been closed for sitting members. That can just be the precedent we know right now, and we can work on the policy for the future,” said Chairperson Thompson.
The Board agreed in the end to offer condolences and to send flowers. No further actions were made on this issue.
The final discussion in the open meeting was a scenario presented by Secretary Kristina Hyatt.
“I had a teacher and couple of parents approach me and it’s about the Pre-K and Halloween. Sometimes during Halloween you’ll have Pre-K students dress up in really scary costumes. One of the concerns is that sometimes it can take weeks for the teacher, some of the kids get really scared and it can take them weeks to get over that fear,” said Hyatt.
Interim Superintendent Beverly Payne said that she would bring this concern to the leaders of Pre-K. However, there were no decisions made on this issue.
The School Board also unanimously approved the consent agenda, putting forth the following:
- Tiffany Miller approved as a special education teacher for Cherokee Middle School.
- Sarah Hyatt-Hopkins approved as the band teacher for Cherokee High School.
- Nichole Efird approved for an increase to the Level 5 pay scale at her current step.
- Kyle Wilke approved for an increase to the Level 5 pay scale at her current step retroactively beginning school year 2022-23.
- Nikki Rhinehart approved for an increase to the Level 5 pay scale at her current step retroactively beginning school year 2022-23.
- Jennifer Davidson approved for an increase to the Level 5 pay scale at her current step retroactively beginning school year 2022-23.
- Heather Driver approved to transfer to the human resources coordinator role when the human resources director position is filled.
The Tuesday, Jan. 3 meeting of the CCS Board of Education was called to order at 4:45 p.m. with Chairperson Jennifer Thompson; Co-Vice Chairs Tara Reed-Cooper and Melanie Lambert; Secretary Kristina Hyatt; Board members Berdie Toineeta and Regina Ledford Rosario; Interim Superintendent Dr. Beverley Payne; Alternate Tribal Council Rep. Dike Sneed; HR Director Heather Driver; and Administrative Assistant Diane Driver all in attendance.
The next meeting of the CCS Board of Education is set for Monday, Jan. 23 at 4:45 p.m. Meetings are being held in the Administrative Offices at Cherokee Central Schools. These meetings are open to the public unless there is a call for an executive session. The Board typically meets the first and third Mondays of the month, but each of those dates fell on holidays. The next meeting will have the Board’s attorney in attendance.
