Akin Gump Advises Gila River Indian Community in Innovative School Lease with Department of the Interior

(Washington, D.C.) – The Gila River Indian Community and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI), acting through the Assistant Secretary of Indian Affairs, signed a lease for the Gila Crossing Community School, the Community’s Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) K-8 school located in District 6 on the Reservation. This lease is the first of its kind in Indian Country and is an innovative solution to a problem that has been plaguing BIE schools across Indian Country: outdated school structures that are often over 100 years old and the significant construction replacement backlog that continues to grow. A team from Akin Gump advised the Community in all aspects of this historic project.

For years, House Appropriations members challenged the administration and Indian Country to work together to bring innovative solutions to the school construction backlog that would take over 60 years, or another three generations of students, before the current backlog could be eradicated. Last year, the Community and DOI heeded that call and proposed a school construction/leaseback program to break the school construction logjam to replace the Gila Crossing Community School, including development of the concept, congressional advocacy for funding, negotiation and documentation of the lease and construction of the school itself.

Under this new program, the Community financed the construction costs to replace the Gila Crossing Community School and will lease back the facility to the BIE through a commercial lease. Congress appropriated funding in the FY2019 budget to begin this pilot program to enable DOI to make the necessary lease payments.

While the Community is the first tribe to pilot this program, the federal financing and appropriated lease payments make it a program that other tribes could participate in, thereby reducing the backlog of school facilities needing construction across Indian Country.

A grand opening and ribbon-cutting took place today to celebrate this historic moment where the Community was joined by federal, congressional, state and Tribal dignitaries, as well as the Gila Crossing School Administration, teachers, incoming students and their families. A video of the grand opening celebration may be viewed here.

The Akin Gump team advising the Community was led by American Indian law and policy practice head Don Pongrace and includes partners Jason Hauter and Allison Binney, senior counsel Katie Brossy, senior policy advisor Denise Desiderio, associates Brette Peña and Jenny Patten Magallanes, and consultants Ken Natale and Steven Heeley.

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