TO’HAJIILEE, NM – US Representative Melanie Stansbury has been fighting to secure federal funding for a new school building at the To’hajiilee Community School since she was sworn into office in 2021. After months of hard work and a push to secure funding for TCS in the 2023 Fiscal Year budget negotiations, Stansbury was able to secure $90.4 million to build a new school and help alleviate the floodplain issues in the area.
Rep. Stansbury stated that schools in the Navajo Nation are underserved compared to the rest of the public schools in New Mexico. To’hajiilee community school was built on a floodplain, because of recent, intense, rains TCS has had to change the way its classroom education is performed.
“For years, the To’hajiilee community has sounded the alarm on dangerous and unacceptable conditions at the To’hajiilee Community School and the federal government has failed to prioritize and meet its moral, trust, and treaty obligations to this community and others served by the Bureau of Indian Education,” said Rep. Stansbury. “Funding to replace this school of will enable To’hajiilee to build a state-of-the-art facility to serve the community and students for generations to come. I am deeply proud to have helped secure this funding and thank everyone at home and in Congress who helped to make it possible. School funding helps transform lives.”
This investment is slated to improve the standard of living in To’hajiilee. “As Vice President of To’hajiilee Navajo Community, I would like to give thanks to Congresswoman, Melanie Stanbury and her Staff for advocating on behalf of To’hajiilee Navajo Community, as well as the rest of the working Legislators in Washington, D.C., for their hard work and working diligently to approve $90.4 Million dollars for a new school for our To’hajiilee Navajo Scholars,” said Nora J. Morris, Vice President of the Cañoncito Band of Navajos. “We all have been working alongside local government leaders and To’hajiilee Navajo Community School Board, Inc., and meeting with the Governmental Agency and Delegation advocating for funding for our school. We will continually work together as one team to make this happen. This is the greatest news in a long time for the People of To'hajiilee, a new school. Thank you so much on behalf of our children, as we know they will be very excited and happy, as we all prayed for our children to be safe and warm in standardized buildings. Our Children deserve a new school, and we appreciate the funding and all your help. Ahéhee'.”
TCS Vie President Paulene Abeyta said, “I am excited and relieved that our children, teachers, and staff will soon have a new, safe, and beautiful school to grow in for generations to come. Support for this was not overnight! We invited anyone and everyone willing to listen and visit our campus so that we could show them the rapidly deteriorating foundation, the excessive damage from multiple floodings, and the shifting walls.”
Bureau of Indian Education officials have testified before Congress that there is an estimated backlog in BIE school funding amounting to $4.5 billion to replace and repair dilapidated and unsafe school facilities, which affects over 48,000 Indigenous students across the United States. This investment is a drop in the bucket compared to what is necessary, but it is expected to improve the education and livelihood of Cibola County residents.
Courtesy Photo
Courtesy Photo