DODE calls for criminal investigation of Borrego Pass School
Navajo Times | Adron Gardner The Department of Diné Education has asked for an investigation of Borrego Pass School, where the school credit card was allegedly used for about $100,000 in questionable purchases.
WINDOW ROCK
A letter of complaint against the board of Borrego Pass School, known in Navajo as Dibé Yazhi Ha’bitiin Ji’ Ołta, has escalated into calls for an investigation by the Navajo Nation Attorney General.
Last Thursday, Department of Diné Education Superintendent Tommy Lewis called for an investigation into financial irregularities at the school in a letter to Attorney General Ethel Branch.
“The illegal and fraudulent acts committed by the Dibé Yazhi Ha’bitiin Ji Ołta School Board members and School Business Manager are criminal acts,” he said. “I am asking for an immediate investigation by the Department of Justice. I am also reporting this to the United States Inspector General.”
Larry and Molly Mustache of Casamero Lake, New Mexico, brought up the concerns in a letter to Navajo Nation Council Delegate Jonathan Hale (Oaksprings/St.Michaels), who chairs the Health, Education, and Human Services Committee.
“Parents and community members are disappointed with the way the governing board members and school principal are running our school programs,” the letter said. “The parents and community members have a right to know and to be informed about the school and hold the administration and governing board members accountable to their community and parents.”
Accusations in the letter included that the board and the principal misused school credit cards, failed to comply with school policies, and did nothing to discourage high staff turnover.
Hale, who had seen the letter by the time he spoke with the Navajo Times on Oct. 17, said very few of the accusations listed could be verified or documented to his knowledge.
“It’s the documentation that matters,” he said.
Many of the accusations could not be verified, but days after celebrating the passage of the Diné School Accountability Plan – a first step for the Navajo Nation to take greater control of schools on the Nation – DODE stepped forward with documentation to back up some of them.
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