Over half of the 54 schools funded by the U.S. Bureau of Indian Education in Arizona are considered by the federal government to be in poor condition. Many of those schools are waiting on more than $2 million in repairs and most of them have been waiting for years for the BIE to replace their facilities.
You can find the Crystal Boarding School on the Navajo Nation, nestled on the steep hills of Chuska Mountains. The sandstone building boasts Depression-era architecture and lush mountain views. But the school is over 85 years old. And the infrastructure is showing it’s age. Large cracks run through the walls of the school’s four dormitories.
"And see how dilapidated some of those things are. That’s our dorms," Alberto Castruita said as he points to one dorm that's been totally condened.
The school principal has a love hate relationship with these buildings. On one hand they have character. But with a faulty furnace, a collapsing dormitory and a failing electrical system, he knows complete replacement is likely the most efficient solution to giving the students a good place to learn.
"We have needs that haven’t been taken care of yet, but we’re not alone and that’s how the system works," Castruita said.
About 60 other schools in the BIE system nationwide are also considered to be in “poor” condition. Back in 2004, 14 schools were put on the BIE’s so-called replacement list. But many others were left off. Crystal boarding school officials have applied to have their school replaced, but they’ve been waiting for 7 years, which is not uncommon.
"That’s no way to get that education and to learn under those conditions," said Minnesota congressman John Kline speaking at a House Education and the Workforce Committee hearing this past May. He was referring specifically to a boarding school in northern Minnesota, a BIE school that also operates in a building with faulty electrical and heating systems.
"And by the way it’s not that money isn’t being spent. They’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars making repairs and yet the the school is still fundamentally a metal pole barn," said Kline. "How can it be that this school is not on the list for replacement?"
In that hearing, BIE Director Dr. Charles Monty Roessel said money available for school replacement is tight and the agency is only now getting funding to finish replacing schools from the 2004 list. It’s estimated that it will take at least $1.3 billion to replace the roughly 60 BIE schools listed as being in poor condition.
"We need to try to find a different way to fund. But that’s a challenge. That’s a huge challenge," said Roessel.
After a peak about 10 years ago the new school construction budget has dropped roughly $90 million from a high of $140 million in 2004. The Obama administration has proposed some new funding in the 2016 budget, but it’s far from enough. Now the BIE is putting together a new priority list of schools to be replaced.
"We identified 79 schools that were eligible," explained Roessel. "And that was all schools that are in poor condition or schools that have more than half of their buildings in portables. And any school building that is over 60 years old."
In the end, only five will be chosen. Roessel said this process should be more transparent than in years past but to finish construction, he says, best case scenario is 10 years. But even the director is pessimistic about how quickly the agency will be able to finish the job.
"Is that going to happen? We don’t know," he said.
And this pessimism isn’t unique. The BIE reform effort is about a year and a half old. Years of broken promises from the federal government leave many tribal and education officials skeptical. Will a system still suffering from chronic underfunding and mismanagement transform enough to impact students, who continue to perform far below their public school counterparts? And while the Bureau is starting to make some changes there’s no guarantee this focus will continue past the Obama administration.
Back at the crystal boarding school on the Navajo nation, Principal Alberto Castruita says the reform effort have Navajo officials in a state of flux right now.
"People want it this way and some other people want it this other way," said Castruita. "So I don’t know what’s going to happen."
He admits it’s still too early to tell if the efforts will actually make a difference where many others have failed.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been modified to reflect the correct position of Dr. Charles Monty Roessel.
Updated 12/3/2015 at 9:00 a.m.
Read The Complete Series
PART 1: BIE Officials Hope School Reform Will Lead To Better Student Outcomes
PART 2: For BIE Schools Transitioning To Tribal Control, The Shift Isn't Easy
PART 3: BIE Officials Face Push Back When Implementing Agency Reforms
PART 4: Many BIE Schools In Need Of Replacement Face Yearslong Wait
