Title EDU — Education

Chapter EDU.01 — Education

Legislative History

1. Education ordinance adopted by Tribal Council per resolution no. 0689 dated February 19, 1980. Approved by BIA November 12, 1980.

2. Ordinance amended by resolution no. 1179 dated February 13, 1990 which created changes in Sections 1 and 10, changes incorporated.

3. Amended by Tribal Council on October 1, 1996, Resolution No. 078-96 inserting "grandparents" in Sections Section EDU.01.01, Section EDU.01.02, and Section EDU.01.03.

4. On October 2, 2012, the Tribal Council adopted Resolution No. 0004-13 amending Sections Section EDU.01.01, Section EDU.01.02, Section EDU.01.08 and Section EDU.01.09 of the ordinance.

Section EDU.01.01 — Education Board

(a) The Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Education Board, hereinafter called the Education Board, shall consist of 10 members.

(b) The composition of the Board shall be:

(1) 5 enrolled Stockbridge-Munsee members who are parents or grandparents of Indian children enrolled in either the Bowler or Gresham school systems at the time of their election;

(2) 1 member-at-large (enrolled or non-enrolled) who resides within the Stockbridge-Munsee service area;

(3) 2 enrolled Stockbridge-Munsee secondary students (1 from the Bowler school system and 1 from the Gresham school systems); and

(4) 2 teachers of Indian students (1 from the Bowler school system and 1 Gresham school system).

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Section EDU.01.02 — Terms

The initial membership of the Education Board shall be by appointment by the Tribal Council. The initial Board shall serve until the next regular annual tribal election, at which time the 5 parents or grandparents of Indian children, and the 1 member at-large shall be elected by popular vote. The 2 secondary students and the 2 teachers shall continue to be appointed by Council on an annual basis, and this appointment shall be made on recommendation of the elected Education Board.

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Section EDU.01.03 — Elections

At the first election of the 5 enrolled Stockbridge-Munsee parents or enrolled Stockbridge-Munsee grandparents and the 1 member at-large, the 2 persons who receive the highest number of votes shall serve 3 years, the 2 persons who receive the next highest number of votes shall serve 2 years, and the 2 persons who receive the lowest number of votes shall serve 1 year. Thereafter, at each annual election there shall be two terms open to be filled for three year terms, so that an elected members of the Board shall serve three year terms on a staggered basis.

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Section EDU.01.04 — Removal

The Tribal Council may remove any member of the Education Board by majority vote for neglect of duty or gross misconduct, provided that the member sought to be removed shall be given an opportunity to be heard at a designated council meeting.

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Section EDU.01.05 — Power To Appoint

Any vacancies which occur on the Education Board shall be filled by appointment by the Tribal Council for the period of the unexpired term.

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Section EDU.01.06 — By-Laws

The initially appointed Education Board shall be responsible for drawing up Bylaws to govern the Education Board, and shall submit these Bylaws to the Tribal Council for final approval within 60 days of their appointment.

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Section EDU.01.07 — Purpose

The Education Board shall be formed for the purpose of facilitating maximum education services and maximum utilization of available resources for the people of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribe, and shall be responsible to the Tribal Council for making recommendations for priorities, program development and planning, and for the general coordination of an education programs within the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

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Section EDU.01.08 — Duties

The Education Board shall perform all such duties as are required to effectively carry out the goals and objectives of the federal Johnson O'Malley, Title IV and Head Start programs, and any other future educational programs which the Tribe may participate in.

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Section EDU.01.09 — Advisory Capacity

The Education Board shall act as an advisory board to the Head Start Parent Advisory Committee and shall be a liaison between the Head Start Parent Advisory Committee and the Tribal Council.

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Section EDU.01.10 — Monthly Minutes To Tribal Council

It shall be the duty of the Education Board to submit regular monthly meeting minutes to the Tribal Council for its review.

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Section EDU.01.11 — Exclusivity

Enactment of this ordinance centralizes responsibility and concern for tribal education matters in the Tribal Education Board, and removes such responsibility from all other existing tribal education committees.

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Section EDU.01.12 — Tribal Council Retains Authority

This ordinance delegates authority and responsibilities to the Education Board without any concurrent loss of ultimate tribal authority, the tribal education board shall function as an official arm of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council on all education related matters and shall carry out the mandates of the Tribal Council with regard to education.

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Section EDU.01.13 — Amendment

This ordinance shall be subject to amendment or the addition of further provisions by resolutions of the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Council.

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Chapter EDU.02 — Truancy

Legislative History

1. Stockbridge-Munsee Truancy Code approved by the Tribal Council in Resolution No. 226-97 on June 17, 1997.

2. Section EDU.02.06(g) (School Attendance Officer) deleted, Section EDU.02.11 amended by deleting references to School Attendance Officer, Section EDU.02.05 revised to provide a clearer definition on March 5, 2002 by Resolution No. 013-02. Approved by BIA on March 28, 2002.

3. Resolution No.059-19, adopted August 6, 2019, approved by BIA January 28, 2021.

5. Resolution No.017-21, adopted January 21, 2021, approved by BIA January 28, 2021.

Section EDU.02.01 — Purpose

The purpose of this code is to support the families of school-age children in their duty to require regular school attendance of the school-age children in their household when the family is domiciled on the Stockbridge-Munsee Community's trust lands.

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Section EDU.02.02 — Authority

This Code is enacted pursuant to Article VII, Section 1 (f) of the Constitution of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

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Section EDU.02.03 — Omitted

This section is intentionally omitted.

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Section EDU.02.04 — Interpretation

This Ordinance shall be liberally construed to effectuate the purpose stated in Section EDU.02.01.

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Section EDU.02.05 — Applicability

(a) This code shall apply to all families domiciled on Stockbridge-Munsee Community trust lands when either:

(1) The Parent, Guardian or Custodian of the school-aged child is a Stockbridge-Munsee Community Member; or

(2) The school-age child is a Stockbridge-Munsee Community Member or eligible for membership.

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Section EDU.02.06 — Definitions

For the purpose of this code the following terms shall have the meaning ascribed below:

(a) "Adult" means any person 18 years of age or older who is not enrolled in the Bowler or Shawano/Gresham School Districts.

(b) "Child" means any person who is less than 18 years of age.

(c) "Member" means a person enrolled with the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

(d) "Trust Lands" means any lands held as proclaimed reservation or in trust for the benefit of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community.

(e) "School" means the Bowler Public School or the Shawano/Gresham Public School and includes any alternative sites on or near Trust Lands where instruction may occur.

(f) "School Attendance" means physical presence of a child in school, and includes attending scheduled classes during such hours and on such days as determined by the school or, for students enrolled in alternative education programs, attendance at the place and during hours scheduled by the school for the student, unless excused from such attendance by school policy or state law.

(g) "School Attendance Policy" means the current policy for school attendance duly adopted by the applicable school board.

(h) "Tribal Child" means a child who is either an enrolled member of the Tribe, or is eligible for enrollment in the Tribe.

(i) "Tribal Court" means the Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Court.

(j) "Truancy" means any absence by any child of part or all of one or more days from school during which the school attendance officer, or his/her agent, has not been notified of the excused absence by the person having the absent pupil under his or her control during non-school hours. "Truancy" also means intermittent attendance carried on for the purpose of defeating the intent of the state and tribe's attendance laws. (Wis. Stat. Sec.118.15 and Section EDU.02.07.)

(k) "Habitual Truancy" means a pupil who is absent from school without an acceptable excuse under Wis. Stat. Sec 118.15 for all or part of 5 or more days on which school is held during a semester.

(l) "Student" means one who attends school.

(m) "School-age child" means a child age 6 to 18.

(n) "Custodian" means an adult person, other than a parent or guardian, who has been given temporary physical care, custody or control of a child, including the duty to provide food, clothing, shelter, medical care, education and supervision of the child.

(o) "Guardian" means a person other than the child's parent who is by tribal law or custom responsible for that child.

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Section EDU.02.07 — School Enrollment Required

Except as excused under the state compulsory attendance law (Wis. Stat. Sec. 118.15), any person having under their control a school age child shall enroll the child in school.

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Section EDU.02.08 — Requirement To Attend School

Except as excused under the state compulsory attendance law (Wis. Stat. Sec. 118.15), or under a school policy governing school attendance, any person having under their control a school age child shall cause the child to attend the school in which the school age child is or should be enrolled.

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Section EDU.02.09 — Truancy Prohibited.

(a) Truancy is prohibited.

(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to cause, assist, or enable a school age child to be truant.

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Section EDU.02.10 — Persons Responsible For Enforcement

(a) The Indian Child Welfare Worker, Tribal Social Worker, or Tribal Law Enforcement Officer may enforce the provisions of this code.

(b) Any person authorized to enforce the provisions of this code may stop and question any person upon reasonable belief that the person has violated this code. Any child shall provide identification and give his or her name, addresses, age and parental information to any person authorized to enforce this code.

(c) If, during school hours, a person authorized to enforce this code has probable cause to believe that a school age child is truant, that person may take the school age child into custody and transport the school age child to school and notify school authorities and parents/guardian/custodian of the school age child.

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Section EDU.02.11 — Enforcement

(a) The school must document the following steps before law enforcement is contacted to issue a citation for truancy.

(1) Met with the school age child's parent, guardian or Custodian to discuss the school age child's truancy or have attempted to meet with the school age child's parent, guardian or Custodian and received no response or were refused.

(2) Provide an opportunity for educational counseling to the school age child to determine whether a change in the school age child's curriculum would resolve the school age child's truancy and to consider curriculum modification under Wis. Stat. Sec. 118.15 (1) (d).

(3) Evaluate the school age child to determine whether learning problems may be a cause of the school age child's truancy and, if so, take appropriate steps to overcome the learning problems, except that the school age child need not be evaluated if tests administered to the school age child within the previous year indicate that the school age child is performing at his or her grade level.

(4) Conduct a review to determine whether social problems may be the cause of the school age child's truancy and, if so, take appropriate action or make appropriate referrals.

(b) Once a citation is issued, the school age child, the child's parent and/or the child's guardian, and/or the child's Custodian shall be summoned in accordance with Tribal Court procedure. If summoned to Tribal Court, appearance is mandatory by both the school age child and the parent and/or Guardian and/or Custodian.

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Section EDU.02.12 — Unit Of Prosecution

Regardless of the number of incidents of truancy in a single day, a child may not be prosecuted for more than one truancy violation per school day.

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Section EDU.02.13 — Penalties

(a) Any school age child convicted of truancy under this Code shall be subject to a minimum penalty of community services hours equal to the number of hours truant and a maximum civil monetary penalty of $25.00 per incident of truancy.

(b) Any child who is convicted of aiding another school age child's truancy shall be subject to a minimum penalty of community service hours equal to the number of hours the school age child was truant and a maximum civil monetary penalty of $50.00 per incident of truancy.

(c) Any adult who is convicted of aiding a school age child's truancy shall be subject to a penalty not less than $50.00, but not to exceed $500.00 per incident of truancy. The presiding judge is authorized to order community service hours equal to the number of hours truant in his/her discretion.

(d) In addition to the imposition of civil forfeitures and community service hours for violations of this Chapter EDU.02, the Tribal Court may impose other remedies including but not limited to: mental health counseling, alcohol assessment and counseling, limitations on the use of public facilities within the jurisdiction of the Tribe and loss of privileges that go with tribal membership.

(e) The Tribal Court may direct the Tribal Prosecutor to file the Tribal Court Order with the appropriate state court for full faith and credit to enable additional enforcement mechanisms. In such cases, the Tribal Court shall order the appropriate remedy as found in Wis. Stat. Sec. 118.163.

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Section EDU.02.14 — Referral For Review As Youth In Need Of Care

(a) If the Tribal Court determines a child is habitually truant, the court may order the appropriate tribal agency to initiate an in-depth investigation into the child's background to determine if a Youth-in-Need-of-Care petition should be filed under Chapter YAE.02 of Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Law.

(b) Nothing herein shall prohibit the referral of a tribal child to the appropriate tribal agency for the filing of a Petition for Fact Finding under Chapter YAE.02 of Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal Law. A Petition for Fact Finding may be filed regarding any tribal child who has been truant for five (5) days or more in any ninety (90) day period.

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Section EDU.02.15 — Omitted

This section is intentionally omitted.

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Section EDU.02.16 — Tribal Court Jurisdiction

The Tribal Court shall have jurisdiction over cases brought to enforce this code. Proceedings shall be conducted in accordance with applicable Stockbridge-Munsee Tribal laws.

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