Mary Blackmountain on acting as director in special education

Mary Blackmountain — director at St. Michael's Association for Special Education

For 35 years, Mary Blackmountain worked with a nonprofit in Window Rock, Arizona, founded in 1970 to help children on the Navajo Reservation. She recalls the challenges of working in the school's and the state's structures for healing, in a rural community spread across 27,000 square miles.

Mary Blackmountain:  We come from Arizona, and I retired about a little over two years ago now, from working Working for a private school for special needs children, with very severe profound (needs) — 15, 16 categories, very profound — in school, specialized in serving in special education, a private school, nonprofit. 

‘Specialized’ meaning our staff, we were all professional staff, certified, Arizona, New Mexico-certified staff — (we were) certified teachers in all different categories, full staff, teacher certified, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, speech pathologists. 

We had to have a medical staff on board. We had to have a registered nurse, because some of these kids were very severe. We had traits and then they had G2 and they were very severe, you know with multiple disabilities. 

So I worked for that program. Our side was mostly education, you know, education side. Where I was sitting in the office. But I’d oversee being in compliance, you know, with IEPs, all the assessments. I’d oversee all that and make sure that we were in compliance with the contracts that we made. 

All the kids were referred from local public schools and BIA. And some of these kids, they come far away from home to be at our school. 

So therefore, they had to be in a group home setting — that's where social services, you know, pays for the room and board, and other agencies to pay for the lights, food. 

So it was different agencies that were involved just to serve and take care of them. It was a lot. So I would oversee all that and make sure that we were being … because we would get monitored from State of Arizona education in New Mexico. 

So it was a lot of work for me. When I came there, 35 years ago, everything was just a mess. Nothing was really being followed and there were just files to be filed in piles and piles. I organized their filing system. I organized everything for the group. So that's what I did from the beginning. 

So not only that, but later on in the years, (6:00) just by doing that, I stepped up a lot. I had authority. So already, I've been there and I was an acting director for I think it was 35 years or something. I couldn't handle it anymore, so I had to step back down. But I continued my job. ...

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Mary explains how her focus shifted increasingly into caring for her own family and community, and after 35 years with St. Michael's, she chose to retire.

After I retired … Before we retired, me and my former boss, we hired an aide to run the program. We taught her for two years to run the program, before we were ready (to leave). We taught her, especially me, the last one to leave. [23:00] The moment I left, a few months later she left, and that program closed. 

The program has been in existence since 1972, St. Michael's Special Education since 1972. So a few months later I left, and she couldn't do it. It was really, it was difficult for her. Of course she was just a teacher. I think she was never really in a leadership role. Because I've done that. I’ve been in leadership. She said she was ready, so I retired, and a few months later we found out that she had left the program. 

So there was nobody that was certified that was there, because state of Arizona education special ed would not allow that school to continue. It has to (have a certain level of staff? who were) professionally certified. There was no certified teacher there. Everybody left. So the school closed. It’s still closed. So all the kids that we served, they had to go back to their home school. 

And back at their public school level, they don't really serve these kids well. They don't. I've seen it. I've seen it. Yeah. 

So that's what I do. So I retired, and I do a lot of sewing. I sew a lot, I make jewelry. 

Gwendolyn: (gently admiring) Oh yeah. 

Mary: I make necklaces of this kind. I try to use natural stones. It's so expensive now. 

Voices at the table: It's beautiful. 

We do a lot, people invite us to a lot of prayer services. Things like that. People ask for prayers, and we try to help people. So, I enjoy it. 

They asked me to come back. You know, they asked me to come back, me and my former boss, to reopen the program. [25:00] But it's impossible. It's going to be hard because they didn't keep up with it. Every year we have to submit applications, probably just like here at the program you have to submit certain paperwork, and that wasn't kept up with, and so we told them, it's impossible to do that. 

So it's still closed. I visit the school, [25:30] and it’s sad. A lot of buildings, nice buildings, are just sitting there because those buildings were donations … donation funds and just volunteers. They're just sitting there. It's just sad. 

So that's what I am, [26:00] that's what I am, what I did. 

Mary Blackmountain: So it’s good to talk about it, because when the school closed, I was really hurt, you know, I was really hurt. My boss was really hurt. 

So if anyone has any questions … I educate families, parents about — the families that have  special needs children, a lot of them don’t know their rights.They don’t know their rights, so I educate them to understand what they need, what this means … what’s important to them. So that's what I’m do doing. 

Gwendolyn: Thank you. 

Mary: (laughing) That’s it. 

Gwendolyn: Thank you. 

Mary: (laughing gently)  That's all. 

Gwendolyn: That’s a lot. Thank you.