Sovereignty in Indian Education Program

The Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate Tribal Education Department was awarded the Sovereignty in Education (SIE) Grant from the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE).  The grant is a two-year $400,000 grant; $200,000 per fiscal year.  The project started in April 2016.
The purpose of the grant is to support the tribe’s capacity to manage and operate tribally controlled schools as defined in the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1998 (P.L. 100-297). 
The SIE grant will provide the funds to develop the capacity of the tribe through an implementation plan that will reform the tribe’s current education organizational structure towards an independent tribal education department that will support schools and students.
Through the SIE grant, two new positions were added to the Tribal Education Department (TED).  Tyler Birney is the SIE Project Director and Phyllis Roberts is the SIE Education Coordinator. 
Tyler is an enrolled member of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, from the Enemy Swim District, and has an Associate’s degree in Computer Systems Technology (CST) from Sisseton-Wahpeton College (SWC) and a Bachelor’s degree in IT Emphasis in MIS from National American University.  He is currently working on his Masters of Management in Information Technology (IT) degree. 
Phyllis is an enrolled member from the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, from the Enemy Swim District, and has an Associate’s of Arts degree from Sisseton-Wahpeton College and a Bachelor’s of Arts from University of North Dakota.

Phyllis Roberts Phone: 605-698-3911 Ext. 6639 E-Mail Phyllis Roberts