Awarding of contracts totaling $240,000 to three Arizona public school districts for the provision of additional classroom space to accommodate Navajo Indian children from reservation areas not now served by the districts was announced today by the Department of the Interior.
A contract of $120,000, covering space for 120 Navajo children, goes to Holbrook High School District No. 3, Snowflake Elementary School District No. 5 received $80,000 to accommodate 80 youngsters. Taylor Elementary School District No. 6 is being awarded a $40,000 contract for 40 students.
These contracts will serve a twofold purpose by providing classroom facilities in the immediate future for Navajo children who previously lacked educational opportunities and by contributing toward achievement of the Department of Interior's longer-range objective of public school opportunities for all Indian children.
Enrollment of Navajo children in schools of all types has nearly quadrupled in the last 10 years, rising from 6,543 in 1946 to 24,163 in the school year that ended last June. Over the same period enrollment of Navajo children in public schools has increased even more markedly from 656 to 6,525.
