Indigenous Parent Advisory Committee to hold election on Wednesday, encourages participation from Indigenous families

The election will be held at Hughes Educational Center in Board Rooms 1 and 2 at 6 p.m. on Feb. 28. The following positions are up for election: chair, vice chair, secretary, two members at large, student representative and community elder.

Sashay Schettler, the director of Indigenous Education at Bismarck Public Schools, recommends members of the community attend the Wednesday meeting to learn more about IPAC and meet the candidates. “We encourage people to come out and have a voice,” Schettler said.

Parents or guardians of Indigenous students in the district, teachers and Native secondary school students are eligible to be IPAC officers. A minimum of five officers must serve, but no more than seven at a given time. According to the Title XI Bylaws, a member is no longer able to serve on the committee if the parent representative’s child no longer attends the district, the teacher representative no longer works for the district and the student representative no longer attends a district school.

A general election will be held during the meeting, in which members will be able to nominate themselves or others for each of the roles available. The Title XI Bylaws state that nominees must be present to be elected; honorary memberships –– people who don’t meet the qualifications but still want to serve — may be awarded by the majority vote of the quorum; and membership to IPAC can’t be transferred. Representatives serve two-year terms.

The role of chairperson includes knowing the rules and procedures of conducting a meeting, approving the agenda for the meeting, conducting all IPAC meetings, upholding the order at meetings, signing all documentation required, participating in other duties as assigned and turning over all records to the new chairperson within 10 days after the term has ended.

The vice-chairperson will preside in the absence of the chairperson, exercise all the rights and privileges of the chairperson acting in the role and perform other duties as assigned by the chairperson during meetings.

The secretary will record minutes of all meetings, provide copies of minutes, represent the chairperson when he or she and the vice-chairperson are absent, ensure that the required public notices are posted in accordance with Title XI Bylaws, act as custodian of IPAC meeting records, maintain an updated list of the address and telephone numbers of members, maintain yearly attendance records of meetings and functions, perform other duties as required and transfer ownership of all records to the newly elected chairperson or secretary within 10 days after the term ends.

IPAC is also looking for a student representative and community elder, two positions that aren’t currently being filled by the committee.

While BPS needs to update the Title XI and Johnson O’Malley bylaws, Schettler said for this upcoming election they will use them for now. The JOM Act authorizes the Bureau of Indian Education to enter into contracts with Tribes, tribal organizations, states, schools and private non-sectarian organizations to address the educational needs of Indian students. Funding from the programs helps assist Native students. She referenced the Seventh Generation Principle, acknowledging the previous contributions by those who came before, but also working to continue building for the future.

“I’m looking forward to working with IPAC and continuing the great work that we’ve embarked on and looking at new and innovative ways to support our students while also drawing on situations of our past,” Schettler said.

For information regarding the next election, people can check out the Facebook page of the event.