The Bureau of Indian Affairs published the updated replacement school construction priority list in the Federal Register on Wednesday.

The list determines which schools will receive federal funding. Based on need, the BIA is placing 14 facilities, including dormitories, on the list.

The list was last updated by the BIA in January 2003. At the time, the list included 12 schools, including three facilities that were added by the Clinton administration in January 2001. In between that period, no changes were made to the list.

The Bush administration, its fiscal year 2005 budget, is funding construction at five schools. But overall, the construction account is being cut by $65 million. Officials have said they did not ask for more funding because they did not have an updated priority list.

Officials have since said another reason for the cut is a lack of performance of the replacement school construction program. "We've only built four schools in the past couple of years and there are 25 in the design process," Ed Parisian, the director of Indian education programs at BIA, said on Sunday. "We need to move it up."

The new list is as follows:
1. Dilcon Community School, Winslow, Ariz.
2. Porcupine Day School, Porcupine, S.D.
3. Crown Point/T'isst'oozi'bi'olta Community School, Crownpoint, N.M.
4. Muckleshoot Tribal School, Auburn, Wash.
5. Dennehotso Boarding School, Dennehotso, Ariz.
6. Circle of Life Survival School, White Earth, Minn.
7. Keams Canyon Elementary School, Chinle, Ariz.
8. Rough Rock Community School, Chinle, Ariz.
9. Crow Creek Elementary/Midle/High School, Stephen S.D.
10. Kaibeto Boarding School, Kaibeto, Ariz.
11. Blackfeet Dormitory, Blackfeet, Mont.
12. Beatrice Rafferty School, Perry, Maine
13. Little Singer Community School, Winslow, Ariz.
14. Cove Day School, Red Valley, Ariz.

Seven of the 14 schools are located on the Navajo Nation.

Federal Register Notice:
Construction Priority List (March 24, 2004)

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