OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT JONATHAN NEZ | PRESIDENT MYRON LIZER |VICE PRESIDENT EXECUTIVE BRANCH THIRD QUARTERLY REPORT SUMMER COUNCIL SESSION JULY 2021 NAVAJO NATION OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT SUMMER COUNCIL SESSION 2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NO. I. Department of Diné Education 2 II. Department of Human Resources 32 III. Diné Uranium Remediation Advisory Commission 39 IV. Division of Community Development 42 V. Division of Economic Development 58 VI. Division of General Services 78 VII. Division of Public Safety 82 VIII. NavaJo Department of Health 94 IX. NavaJo Division of Social Services 108 X. NavaJo Division of Transportation 116 XI. NavaJo Gaming Regulatory Office 120 XII. NavaJo Nation Department of Justice 125 XIII. NavaJo Nation Division of Natural Resources 130 XIV. NavaJo Nation Environmental Protection Agency 156 XV. NavaJo Nation Telecommunications Regulatory Commission 161 XVI. NavaJo Nation Veterans Administration 164 XVII. NavaJo Nation Washington Office 166 XVIII. NavaJo-Hopi Land Commission Office 173 XIX. Office of Hearing and Appeals 185 XX. Office of Management and Budget 187 XXI. Office of Miss NavaJo Nation 190 XXII. Office of NavaJo Public Defender 195 XXIII. Office of NavaJo Tax Commission 198 XXIV. Office of The Controller 201 1 Department of Diné Education SUMMER COUNCIL SESSION 2021 I. MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS II. CHALLENGES III. OUTREACH AND COMMUNICATION 2 DODE hosted a live forum regarding the state of education on the Navajo Nation amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with Navajo Nation school leaders and health experts the evening of June 17, 2021. The panel took questions and concerns from the audience as well as points brainstormed by DODE staff that parents may have about sending their children back to school for in-person instruction. During weekly school leadership meetings, updates and remarks are provided by Acting Superintendent of Schools Patricia Gonnie about the impact the pandemic has on the reopening efforts for schools on the Navajo Nation. Staff from OPVP and DODE programs give remarks on their schools and various programs, and the CDC and Navajo Nation Epidemiology Center also provide continuous updates on COVID-19 statistics. The Center for Disease Control’s approval for emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for youths over the age of 12 in April present another avenue by which schools can be made safe for students to return this fall. DODE continues to recommend their staff receive their vaccine if they have not, and we now urge students over the age of 12 to receive theirs. Schools operating on the Navajo Nation were required to submit individualized reopening plans, which included the following criteria: • The school must have a plan for virtual, hybrid, and in-person learning. • Schools will follow Navajo Nation COVID-19 Safe Schools Framework as outlined in the Navajo Nation School Reopening Plan. The framework is designed from learning recommendations with core and conditional prevention strategies, based on CDC guidelines. • Having procedures for diagnostic testing and contact tracing in case of exposure. • Reporting COVID-19 exposure to the Navajo Health Command Operations Center. • All schools will establish a Reopening Readiness team and complete the Reopening Readiness Assessment. Afterward, the Readiness Assessment team will sign the attestation statement that includes recommendations for reopening to DODE, school administration, and the district school board. 3 Following the passage of Resolution CJN-36-21 by the 24th Navajo Nation Council and signing by Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez on July 6, 2021, DODE will inform the public that schools can reopen for in-person instruction. Information will include comments from school staff and health experts on what has been done to ensure students and teachers will be safe. • Inform parents that it is their decision whether they want to send their children back to school for in-person instruction for the Fall 2021 semester while providing information on what has been done to make schools safe. • Monitor the ongoing developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, including rise of new variants and the rollout of vaccines. Continue to use the information provided by NNEC to maintain safe workspaces for staff and ensure education settings are safe for students to return. MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS Office of Navajo Nation Scholarship & Financial Assistance/Higher Education Grant Program MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 1. Major accomplishments for the program is having an increase in the Federal Budget after four years of being slated for elimination. 2. Another major accomplishment is the ONNSFA working through the pandemic closures of the Navajo Nation government successfully and without any major incident. ONNSFA staff were here for students and caused a bit of normalcy for students and they appreciated it. 3. Two Memoranda of Agreements were signed with ASU and UNM law schools, which match tuition costs. These two agreements save a lot of money for the program because the universities also help fund our students. 4. Education involves the entire family, because it impacts family households and finances. Despite the pandemic, many students continued their college and vocational education. And many students were sheltered at home, off campus or on campus housing and their basic needs were met with food and supplies. There are students who opted not to continue school due to the pandemic and because they lacked the technology infrastructure to attend classes online. 4 5. ONNSFA services continued 8 - 5, Monday through Friday. ONNSFA personnel were in their offices for students and processing their applications, answering telephones, email messages, receiving mail and logging in documents. Having an employee answering your phone call and email messages goes a long way when the government is not completely open to the public. Students and families were very grateful that we were answering their calls. 6. The former administration consistently zeroed out the BIA Higher Education Scholarship budget. Fortunately, with the successful advocacy of President Nez, the BIA Higher Education Scholarship was funded under the Federal Budget Continuing Resolution. We continue to pursue Forward Funding of the federal funds. This will accomplish the budget to be appropriated 2 years beginning in July and well before the Fall term begins. 7. Chief Manuelito Scholarship requires Navajo language and government to qualify for the Chief Manuelito Scholarship every year. Many students aspire to earn the scholarship at an early age. Today is the application deadline so we will have the final numbers at the next meeting. 8. The Navajo language and culture preservation is important to the Navajo people. The Navajo Nation Scholarship office supports the preservation of the Navajo language and culture by offering the Chief Maneulito Scholarship. The students are required to take two units of Navajo language to qualify for this funding. 9. Arts, financial literacy, etc. ONNSFA is accomplishing goals towards the First Lady’s priorities. ONNSFA serves more than 13, 000 students attending college and vocational schools, which will help the young generation to be self-sufficient and contribute to their Navajo society with their education. The First Lady made a powerful presentation at the 2020 Chief Manuelito Scholarship Awards ceremony. 10. Partnerships with colleges and universities where we match tuition are great accomplishments, because colleges and universities also fund our students. We stretch our budget to as many students as possible, so without these partnerships, a lot more students would be going without funding. 11. An agreement with Arizona State University Sandra De O’Connor College of Law was signed by President Nez this week to match funds equal to tuition costs. 12. An agreement was also signed by President Nez with New Mexico School of Law to match funds equal to tuition costs. 13. An agreement was signed by President Nez with New Mexico Highlands University for coordination of a tuition scholarship funded by the university. 5 CHALLENGES 1. Major challenges to getting the Federal budget is not received until 3-6 months later. The other challenge is that it requires bipartisan support in Congress to get funds. 2. Major challenges to ONNSFA operations are the building is not always clean. We were supposed to get sneeze guards, most did not come in until two months ago. 3. Challenges to any agreements is the lengthy review process. There is nothing wrong with the policies. It's the people who are in those positions that take too long. They do not confirm of receipt of messages, they do not respond to requests for update or status checks. The Navajo Nation needs to re-teach all employees to be professional. 4. The challenges were related to communication breakdown because of telephones not working including email and Internet being down periodically. We would like to have reliable internet in the near future as the Navajo Nation has received funds for ARPA funds. 5. We remain in need of additional office space and our building has poor ventilation. 6. The Navajo Educating Center is old building because it wasn’t taken care of properly. There is a constant bad odor in the north entrance. The building is either too hot or too cold. It needs a lot of repairs and cleaning. 7. In addition to Navajo courses, it is important for students to have and aspire for high academic achievement, which is indicative through ACT scores above 21; however, the greatest challenge right now is the Navajo Board of Education trying to change the criteria of scholarship mid-year by waiving the ACT requirement. The board wants to lower the high academic achievement bar. 8. Some challenges in achieving the priority are the Internet is not always reliable and at least one additional staff is needed to assist with our IT issues. 9. For all agreements, getting through the review process was a major challenge.