Indigenous Parent Advisory Committee off to a bumpy restart
IPAC term limit issues arise for returning leader
Indigenous Democracy Reporter
Wind Spirit Spotted Bear, the vice-chairperson of the Indigenous Parent Advisory Committee, serves as interim chair. Photo credit/ Adrianna Adame
For now, Wind Spirit Spotted Bear serves as the interim president of the Indian Parent Advisory Committee as leadership remains in question after the resignation of a newly elected president. Subsequently, former president Billi Jo Behler was re-elected, which raised questions about bylaw violations and term limits.
Article IV Section 2 in the Johnson O’Malley bylaws states, “Members may run for a second two-year term if re-elected by the community.” Before being re-elected, Beheler held the position of chairperson for two terms.
Beheler served as president of the committee from 2019 to 2024. On May 21, she was re-elected as chairperson after newly elected president Heather Rae Demaray resigned. Sashay Schettler, the outgoing Bismarck Public Schools Indigenous Education Director, did not attend the meeting. In a message to Buffalo’s Fire, she wrote that Beheler had exceeded her term limit and would not be eligible to serve as chairperson for a third term.
Schettler is a member of this region’s Johnson O’Malley Association board and has a seat on the National Johnson O’Malley board of directors.
Jeff Fastnacht, superintendent of Bismarck Public Schools, said he is currently speaking to Tomi Cimarosti, the incoming Indigenous Education Director, about the situation.
“From my perspective as the leader of BPS, IPAC is its own independent organization and separate from BPS,” said Fastnacht in an interview with Buffalo’s Fire. “We are two separate entities, but we support each other. I truly believe the decision on who the next leadership for IPAC should be decided within IPAC and their membership, not from BPS.”
Schettler said while Beheler would be in violation of the bylaws if she proceeded to lead, however, the IPAC could amend the bylaws to resolve this issue.
“That’s something that the new IPAC and the new Indigenous Education Director Tomi Cimarosti [will] have to navigate together,” said Schettler. “There are some pieces nationally that are required, but as far as local control, the bylaws can be amended.”
Petra Wilson, a former National Johnson O’Malley Association representative, agreed that Beheler would currently be ineligible to be chairperson.
“We’re here to listen. We’re always learning.”
Tomi Cimarosti, a citizen of the Standing Rock Dakota and Lakota Oyate of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Yanktonai
Since no one ran against Beheler for chairperson, Wilson said the issue could have been resolved if the IPAC had amended their JOM bylaws before the election. “So typically, if they wanted to stay within the legality of their bylaws, they could have actually done it right there and then,” said Wilson.
Now the board must amend the bylaws for Behler to serve, she said.
Said Harold Dusty Bull, the vice president of the National Johnson O’Malley Association: “If you want to have term limits, then you have to put an add-on or an addendum to your bylaws that specifically says term limits. Then you define what term limits mean to you in your bylaws.”
Behler, for her part, wishes to stay on the job. “It is important to maintain continuity during this period of transition for the new Indian education director, and the new IPAC members,” she said in an email to Buffalo’s Fire. “Collectively, we can discover a solution.”
Demaray and Kayla Alkire-Stewart were nominated as chairperson and secretary for the IPAC during the last meeting in February. Since then, both women have resigned for personal reasons, and the full committee didn’t hold a session until May 21, though former officers had met with the new ones. Previously, the Indian Parent Advisory Committee didn’t meet for over a year due to a breakdown in relations with the school district.
Spotted Bear, elected vice-chairperson in February, stepped into the interim president role with the resignation of Demaray. “Our president and our secretary had stepped down, both due to personal reasons, family reasons,” Spotted Bear said. Though Spotted Bear said she remains passionate about the IPAC, she turned down the leadership role due to other commitments. Still, she encouraged everyone in the room to get involved in the committee.
Throughout her time as interim chairperson, Spotted Bear has been learning along with members-at-large Logan Anderson and Tamsen O’Berry about the Johnson O’Malley and Title VI bylaws, grants and paperwork. She thanked Beheler for helping guide them through the process.
“It’s a tough position; you really do have to have the time to be president, you have to be committed, you have to be willing to be a leader and you have to be willing to take charge,” Spotted Bear said.
During the meeting, Valerie Siqueiros, the mother of a sixth grader, was elected as secretary of the IPAC. Siqueiros, a citizen of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, has been an active member of the Bismarck-Mandan community. She accepted the nomination during the meeting and is ready to work with the IPAC.
Cimarosti stepped up as the Local Education Agency liaison for the meeting instead of Schettler who was on vacation. As of May 25, Schettler is set to move into her new job as assistant director of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction’s Multicultural and Indian Education office. Cimarosti officially steps into her new role as Bismarck Public School’s Indigenous education director on July 1.
“At the beginning of any of my meetings, I’m always going to ask for forgiveness because that’s our way of life,” said Cimarosti, a citizen of the Standing Rock Dakota and Lakota Oyate of the Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna Yanktonai. “We’re here to listen. We’re always learning.”