By Matthew Kincanon |FāVS News Reporter
Earlier this month, the Spokane Public Schools (SPS) Board unanimously appointed Board Member and Indigenous Eats and Indigenous Chic Owner Jenny Slagle (Yakama Nation) as its president.
The first Indigenous woman elected to the school board, Slagle has spent a lot of time navigating systems that weren’t built with families like hers in mind and described her new position as meaningful. She was first elected to the board in 2019 and was re-elected this year.
As president, Slagle will help set the tone and pace for the board — running meetings, helping shape agendas and making sure every director’s voice is heard.
“Our board has done a great job of keeping focused on our shared goals and making space for community voices,” she said. “My job is to support the board and superintendent so we can continue to make decisions that improve students’ day-to-day experience.”
Deep roots in the district
Former Board President Nikki Otero Lockwood said Slagle has been a wonderful partner and looks forward to supporting and learning from her leadership as president.
“She stands strong in her values and is an amazing example of relational leadership,” Otero Lockwood said.
Slagle’s personal priorities are to stay grounded, student-centered and connected to the community. As a board president, she said her priorities include strengthening belonging and building on it so students feel connected and supported in their learning.
She has been involved with SPS for more than two decades — as a parent, volunteer, PTG member and school board member now entering her second term.
“I’ve sat in tiny plastic chairs at elementary events and at board tables reviewing our over half-billion dollar budget,” she said. “All of those experiences grounded me in what families are actually going through. I also understand the challenges Native and other students who have experienced the impacts of intentional inequities in large systems and the barriers they create. Transportation, housing insecurity and the daily micro-struggles that don’t make headlines but absolutely impact learning. Those experiences shaped how I show up.”
She said her goal is a continuation of the work the board has already been doing together.
Centering Indigenous education
This year, the board was honored as the Large School Board of the Year, and Slagle said that recognition came in large part from the progress they made in strengthening and supporting their Native education programming.
“That wasn’t about any one person — it was about listening to Native students and families, partnering with the community and making sure their needs and experiences guided our decisions,” she said.
As president, she wants to keep building on that momentum, making sure their commitments don’t fade once the spotlight moves on and that they continue to serve students who haven’t always been centered in educational systems.
Looking ahead
“If I can help us stay grounded in that work, then I’ll feel like I’m doing my job,” she said.
Besides every board meeting beginning with a Peoples’Acknowledgment, paying respects and attention to tribal peoples, places and issues, Slagle will continue to advocate for including Indigenous history, culture and learning models into SPS.
“My goal from the start was for our Indigenous students to see themselves reflected in curriculum, leadership, and school culture,” she said. “Our board supports the John McCoy (lulilaš) Since Time Immemorial curriculum, and the district continues to make great progress toward ensuring the full implementation. I want to see an increase in Native staff representation and support pathways into education.”
According to the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, the aforementioned curriculum has been endorsed by all 29 federally recognized tribes of the state and has lessons for elementary school, middle school and high school students. It also contains resources to help teachers educators teach about Indigenous history and culture.
The board, Slagle said, has approved a Native-based and Native-led learning model that centers on community, relationships and belonging, adding they are doing a lot of work around Native education and improving outcomes.
“Investing in Native education is a rising tide, but it’s also part of repairing systems that were never built for Native students to succeed. When we correct those inequities, we create a stronger, more inclusive system for everyone,” she said.
Slagle is excited to continue building trust — within the board, staff and community. She is also excited to highlight the amazing things their students are doing.
“We have brilliant kids in our district, and they deserve to be celebrated,” she said.
She is grateful for the community that has welcomed her and continues to hold her accountable. She said she is not perfect and doesn’t pretend to have all the answers, describing herself as someone who cares about kids and has deep empathy for those who fall through the cracks.
She is honored to serve their students and families, many of whom are dealing with challenges much bigger than what happens inside the classroom.
“Our students are dealing with a lot — mental health stress, identity questions, economic pressure and the weight of being young in a complicated world,” she said. “As a board, we have a responsibility to create stability and hope. I’m grateful to be part of that work, and I’m grateful to the community that continues to support, challenge and teach me.”
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