At Arlee there is a total enrollment of 149 children, of whom 50 are Indians. There are 15 Indian children in high school. The district maintains a temporary school at the Citizens Conservation Corps camp on the Jocko River, enrolling 24 Indian children belonging to Arlee. The two school buildings at this point are of frame construction, one built in 1908 and one in 1916. They are without water or inside toilets. There is no provision for shop work, home economics training, or serving hot lunches, although 50 percent of the children come to school by bus. In 1 classroom with a capacity for 36 pupils, there are 52 children distributed in 3 grades. The amount proposed by the bill contemplates construction of four or more additional classrooms and additional space for shop work, home economics, and combined assembly room and gymnasium. The school at Ronan is the largest in the district, with a total enrollment of 558 children, about 200 of whom are in high school. There are 98 Indian children enrolled with 3 more in school at the Civilian Conservation Corps camp. The proposed bill provides for an addition of 5 classrooms for the grades, 2 classrooms for high school, and space for shop instruction, home-economics training, storerooms, and toilets. The school at St. Ignatius enrolls over 400 students, 72 of whom are Indians, and there are besides 15 Indian children attending school at the Civilian Conservation Corps camp. The school plant at St. Ignatius has 1 brick building and 3 frame structures, the latter being in a very poor condition and expensive to heat and maintain. All the buildings are overcrowded. Improvements which will be made possible by the proposed bill are an addition to the brick building to provide 4 high-school classrooms, 4 grade classrooms, additional toilets, storage space, and provision for shop instruction, home-economics training, and serving hot lunches. There are probably other Indian children in the district who would attend but for the overcrowded condition and the lack of shop and home economics instruction. Government assistance is necessary if conditions at these three schools are to be improved as the district is unable to finance the work due largely to the amount of nontaxable land and the fact that it is already bonded to the legal limit. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs personally appeared before the committee and manifested their approval of this legislation. The Secretary of the Interior personally favors this proposed legislation but he states that the Director of the Budget advises that it would not be in accord with the financial program of the President. The Secretary of the Interior's letter, dated March 27, 1935, is appended hereto and made a part of this report as follows: Hon. ELMER THOMAS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further reference to your request of January 31 for report on S. 1525 to provide for authorization of funds for cooperation with Joint School District No. 28, Lake and Missoula Counties, Mont., for extension of public-school buildings to be available to Indian pupils of the Flathead Indian Reservation. This public-school district is located wholly within the Flathead Reservation and is conducting schools at three places, namely, Arles, Ronan, and St. Ignatius. Within the district is an approximate total acreage of 453.400, of which 156,800 acres are taxable and 296,600 acres nontaxable. Nearly all of the nontaxable acreage is composed of tribal Indian lands, power and reservoir sites, and individual Indian allotments. The limit of possible bond issues within the State law is $199,415, whereas the present bonded indebtedness is $194,949. The last figures available show that in the school at Arlee there was a total enrollment of 149, of which number 50 pupils are Indians; 15 of these Indian children are in the high school out of a total of 33 high-school students. The dist_ict maintains a temporary school at the Citizens Conservation Corps camp on Jocke River, and in the latter school are 24 Indian children belonging at Arlee. The present plant at Arlee consists of 2 frame buildings, 1 erected in 1908, heated by stoves, without water but with outside toilets and softwood floors. The other building was erected in 1916, has no water and no provision for shop work, home training, or the serving of hot lunches, although 50 percent of the pupils are transported to the school by bus. The rooms are overcrowded. In 1 grade room were found 52 pupils belonging in 3 grades. The capacity of this oom is said to be 36 pupils. The school needs four or more additional classrooms with facilities for shop work and home economics and a combination assembly room and gymnasium. The cost o such construction is estimated at $40 000. At Ronan is located the largest school in the district, having, according to the latest available information, a total enrollment of 503, of whom 200 are highschool students. Included are 98 Indian pupils, and there are 3 at the school at the conservation camp. The school has a fairly modern brick building, but it is seriously overcrowded. There is not space for shop work and not sufficient for home economics. The school needs an addition to the present plant to provide 5 grade classrooms, 2 classrooms for high-school use, and space for shop instruction, home economics training, storerooms, and toilets. The cost of such addition is estimated to be $30,000. At St. Ignatius the school has been reported to have an enrollment of over 400 students, of whom 72 are Indian, and also 15 Indian children belonging to the school are being instructed at the conservation camp. The plant has 1 brick building and 3 frame structures. The frame buildings are in poor repair and expensive to heat and maintain. Two of the buildings are heated by stoves and the third frame building is represented to present a serious fire hazard. Information indicates that the buildings are in poor state of repair and without adequate facilities. The whole plant is overcrowded. This school requires at least an addition to the brick building in order to provide 4 high-school classrooms, 4 grade classrooms, additional toilets and storage rooms, rooms for shop instruction and home economics training and for the serving of hot lunches. This represents a minimum program of improvement for the St. Ignatius School, for which the estimated cost is $30,000. It will be observed there are 262 Indian children who are dependent upon the facilities offered by the schools of this district, and there are doubtless some others belonging in the district but not now accounted for in the schools. For these children, no other educational opportunities can be provided by the Federal Government. Due to the large proportion of nontaxable lands from which no revenue can be derived for school purposes and the heavy obligations of the district, financial assistance from other sources is essential before adequate educational facilities can be provided for the Indians who can and will attend the schools in question. While I personally favor enactment of S. 1525, the Director of the Budget, under date of March 14, 1935, advises that the proposed legislation would not be in accord with the financial program of the President. Sincerely yours, HAROLD L. ICKES, MARCH 13 (calendar day, APRIL 4), 1935.-Ordered to be printed Mr. WHEELER, from the Committee on Indian Affairs, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 1526] The Committee on Indian Affairs, to whom was referred the bill (S. 1526) to provide funds for cooperation with public-school districts in Brockton, Mont., in the improvement and extension of school buildings to be available to both Indian and white children, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass without amendment. This is in accord with the present Indian education policy of cooperating wherever feasible, with local public-school authorities in the schooling of Indian children. The public school at Brockton, Mont., enrolls a large proportion of Indian children. The bill contemplates an enlargement and improvement of the public-school building which will accommodate additional Indian high-school students who are now out of school or of necessity enrolled in boarding schools. The district is making an effort to care for both white and Indian children, but has outgrown its buildings and, at present, it is necessary to use space in the old gymnasium for high-school classrooms. The records show that the Brockton school enrolls 61 white children and 46 Indian children in the grades and that there are 53 white and 18 Indian students in high school. The Commissioner of Indian Affairs and other officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs personally appeared before the committee and manifested their approval of this legislation. The Secretary of the Interior personally favors this proposed legislation, but he states that the Director of the Budget advises that it would not be in accord with the financial program of the President. S. Repts., 74-1, vol. 1- -40 The Secretary of the Interior's letter dated April 2, 1935, is appended hereto and made a part of this report as follows: Hon. ELMER THOMAS, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on Indian Affairs, United States Senate. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: This is in further reference to your request of January 31 for a report on S. 1526, which would authorize an appropriation of funds for cooperation with the school board at Brockton, Mont., in the extension of the public-school building at that place to be available to Indian children of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. This bill is the same as S. 1977, Seventy-third Congress, second session, on which a report was made April 16, 1934; and it is substantially the same as S. 4884, Seventy-second Congress, first session, and H. R. 9923 of the same Congress and session, except that an amount of $30,000 was proposed in the latter two bills, while the present one calls for $40,000. Under date of June 27, 1932, a report was made upon S. 4884, enclosing a memorandum from the Commissioner of Indian Affairs. The latest data available shows that the Brockton School has had an enrollment in the grades of 61 white children and 46 Indian children, and in the high school of 52 white students and 16 Indian students. It is understood that the main purpose of the present bill is to enlarge the high-school facilities of the school. At the present time space is being used in the old gymnasium for high-school classes. Should the capacity of the school be thus increased, additional Indian high-school students would probably be accommodated. Tuition is being paid by the Government for the Indian children attending the Brockton School at the rate of 43 cents per day of attendance, which rate includes lunch for children from the country. The Brockton School District has extended valuable assistance to the service in the matter of schooling of Indian children, and this cooperative attitude on the part of school board and citizens is one of the chief factors in success in an Indian school program. It appears that the contemplated construction would make possible the conduct of a better school in the interest of both Indian and white students. While I personally favor enactment of S. 1526, the Director of the Budget, under date of March 19, 1935, advises that the proposed legislation would not be in accord with the financial program of the President. |