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August 26, 2004Tribe provides funding for tutoring programsByRecord-Eagle staff writer TRAVERSE CITY - American Indian education programs received a boost with recent grants from the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa & Chippewa Indians. Traverse City Area Public Schools accepted $88,000 to support a tutoring program for American Indian students, said Cherie Domine, coordinator of the district's Indian Education Program. "It provides two hours of direct student services per student that we work with," she said. The Tribe granted an additional $289,000 for similar programs in the Boyne City, Charlevoix, East Jordan, Elk Rapids, Forest Area, Frankfort-Elberta and Suttons Bay school districts. The payments are part of the Tribe's twice-a-year allocation of 2 percent of video gaming revenue. Domine said about 85 of the district's 283 American Indian students used the tutoring program last year. Most of their special needs are on par with other students, but one challenge can be a cultural bias in standardized tests. "That doesn't necessary apply to all students because there is a great diversity in the Native American population," she said. "There is a higher percentage of Native American students in special education." The Suttons Bay district received $100,000 and has more than 200 American Indian students who can choose to take part in the program, said Suttons Bay Middle School principal Kathleen Maisonville. "It's a support program that is primarily academic in nature to help the kids be more successful with the ultimate goal of graduation," she said. Indian Education programs in the two districts are not funded through general fund budgets. They rely on the Tribe's grant and money from the U.S. Department of Education. Domine said the Traverse City program receives about $75,000 in federal funding each year. "The two percent money allows us to pay for the tutors to work with the students one-on-one," she said. "The federal grant pays for the rest of the staff and supplies to run a year-round program."
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