Rocky Boy superintendent reelected at-large director of NAFIS Board

From National Association of Federally Impacted Schools

WASHINGTON - The National Association of Federally Impacted Schools - NAFIS - has announced that Voyd St. Pierre, superintendent of Rocky Boy School District 87 in Rocky Boy, Montana, has been reelected to the NAFIS Board of Directors as an at-large Director.

The election took place at the 2021 NAFIS spring on-inline conference.

As a member of the NAFIS Board of Directors, St. Pierre serves as a national leader advocating for school districts that receive Impact Aid. In this role, he works with other board members from across the country to guide the association's public policy work and oversee plans for the association.

Impact Aid reimburses school districts for the loss of revenue caused by the presence of nontaxable federal property, including military installations; Indian Trust, Treaty and Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act lands; federal low-income housing facilities; and national laboratories and other Federal buildings and property. It helps ensure students who attend schools on or near federal property have access to a quality education.

When assuming his position as Superintendent of Rocky Boy in July 2006, St. Pierre said, he felt it was "imperative that I learn and understand all about Impact Aid, since it has such a great effect on our schools and students."

He noted that Impact Aid provides the direct financial support for, on average, about 47 percent to 54 percent of Rocky Boy's annual budget for both the elementary and high school districts. It supports funding the administrative, certified, classified and extracurricular positions within the district; provides instructional programs for students in the classroom; enhances food service, transportation and OM departments; allows the district to complete minor building and maintenance projects; and supports all K-12 extracurricular programs.

St. Pierre is completing his 15th year as superintendent of Rocky Boy. He is coming up on 31 years with the district, where he started in 1990 as a high school business teacher, coach and athletic director. He has served on the NAFIS Board for five years, and he is a longstanding member of the Board of Directors of the National Indian Impacted Schools Association, where he recently completed a term as president.

"I am eager and committed to continuing to serve on the NAFIS Board because I bring an important perspective from Indian lands schools," St. Pierre said. "My continued work on this board will allow me to maintain my collaboration across the Impact Aid community serving as a committed, vocal, strong advocate for the program at the local, state, regional and national levels."

"The NAFIS Board plays a critical role in ensuring students in federally impacted school districts have access to the opportunities they need to reach their full potential," NAFIS Executive Director Hilary Goldmann said. "Voyd brings important insight into the needs of these school districts, their students and their communities that will help shape NAFIS advocacy, as well as a wealth of experience and ideas from which the association will continue to benefit."

St. Pierre's term will last for two years.