New Ojo Encino school is a go

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

OJO ENCINO — The construction of a new school for the Ojo Encino chapter is something the community has been anticipating for at least eight years.

“Our whole community is looking forward to the new school,” acting Principal of Ojo Encino Day School Sandra Weippert said.

U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici announced the award of a $16.4 million contract to build a new day school for Ojo Encino early this week.

Domenici said that the project will give more than 250 students the rural community a better place to learn.

 “Our school is old and we have many buildings. We’re not under one roof,” Weippert said.

Many of the classes are currently taught in portable buildings, she said.

“We’ve had principals in the past and a very active community to support the building of a new school,” she said.

The day school currently serves approximately 180 pupils, mostly Navajo, in grades kindergarten through eighth.

According to Domenici, the Army Corps of Engineers, on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, awarded the contract, worth nearly $14.5 million, to a Colorado builder to replace the existing day school.

The Aluttiq International Solutions LLC of Aurora, Colo., is expected to complete the school replacement project by August 2009.

The day school is located in one of the most rural communities on the Navajo Nation and in McKinley County , where most of the pupils reside on unpaved roads and the nearest town — Cuba — is 30 miles away.

“I look forward to the day when students at Ojo Encino can enjoy a modern school,” Domenici said. “The need for improved school facilities remains high in Indian country and I will continue to do what I can to see that we continue to make progress on improving learning environments for these children.”

The Fiscal Year 2009 budget submitted by the White House to Congress earlier this month is seeking $115 million for BIA school construction and repair. Since 2001, more than $1.7 billion has been approved for Indian school construction.

As a member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Domenici worked to provide funding in the Fiscal year 2005 spending bill for BIA education facilities.

That year, Congress agreed to provide $267.1 million to continue a BIA tribal school construction demonstration project and for school replacement projects. Among the schools listed on the bill were three New Mexico projects, including the Ojo Encino Day School, the Beclabito Day School and the Bread Springs Day School.