School District Taps Indian Trottier Is First Native American To Run Plummer/Worley Schools

The Plummer/Worley School District, which educates many students on the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation, has hired its first Native American superintendent.

Wayne Trottier, 45, recently was hired to replace George Asan, who will retire in June after three years with the district south of Coeur d’Alene.

“The impact of a Native American holding a position of high responsibility is immeasurable,” said Jeanne Givens, a Coeur d’Alene tribal member and former state legislator. “We do know that young Indian kids respond to role modeling. Seeing and working with an Indian man in this level of responsibility is going to be a real plus.”

Trottier has a doctorate in education from the University of North Dakota and has been an administrator, teacher, community college instructor and educational consultant throughout North Dakota for 20 years.

He is active in Special Olympics and the Native American Sports Council and is a certified crisis prevention intervention trainer.

“All I ever really wanted to be was a fifth-grade teacher, and in my heart, that’s what I truly am,” Trottier said from his home in St. Michael, N.D. “I’m not the type of administrator who likes to sit in his office all day. I like to be actively involved.”

Many Coeur d’Alene tribal members applaud the choice. The 568-student district is within the boundaries of the reservation and has struggled for years to hire Native American educators to provide more role models for Indian children.

“It just brings a sense of that culture into the school,” said Lanette Higgins, a tribal member who is on the school board. “That affects the way kids learn and everything.”

Trottier is a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in South and North Dakota, a lineage that comes from his mother. His father belongs to the Turtle Mountain Chippewa Tribe in the northern part of North Dakota.

Trottier was selected from among four finalists. The others were superintendents in Montana, Idaho and Nebraska. A 25-member search committee - made up of school board members, administrators, parents, business people and staffers - made the choice.

Only 5 percent of superintendents nationwide are members of minorities, according to Education Week magazine.

Trottier will assume some big challenges when he takes over. Though officials say the district has made great strides under Asan’s leadership - in test scores, curriculum and district policy-setting - much remains to be accomplished. Top on the list is replacing an aging elementary school building, but there’s little taxpayer support for a levy or bond.

Tension also exists between Plummer and Worley residents over the location of any new school because two of the district’s three schools are in Plummer.

Trottier said he doesn’t plan to “upset the apple cart.” He said he will spend time listening and learning before developing his own plan.

“I want to make sure I can do a good job of filling his shoes,” Trottier said of Asan. “Then, in time, I’ll put my own shoes back on.”

Past colleagues call Trottier a decisive and aggressive leader.

Randy Jerome worked with Trottier at the 365-student Ojibwa Indian School in Belcourt, N.D., where Trottier was principal and chief executive. Jerome recalls the leadership Trottier showed when he became a certified crisis prevention trainer, then began to teach staff members the technique.

“When he wanted something done, he’d get it done,” said Jerome, the school’s procurement officer. “I’m sorry he had to go from here because he was a good supervisor and a good overall administrator.”

Officials in the Plummer/Worley district say they are impressed with Trottier’s enthusiasm and knowledge.

“He has a lot of experience in working with curriculum and student discipline. He seems to have high energy and lots of ideas to bring to the table,” said Joe St. John, principal of Lakeside Elementary School.

Trottier is married with two children, a 20-year-old daughter and a 16-year-old son. His son will attend Lakeside High School in Plummer in the fall. His daughter, who is completing her second year of college, likely will transfer to a college in this area.

Family plays an integral role in Trottier’s life. When he speaks, he illustrates points with stories about his mother and father. He was told of the Plummer/Worley opening by an uncle who lives in Worley and was attracted to the region by a grandmother who lives in Oregon.

When Trottier came to the Inland Northwest for the daylong interview process, he and his wife were a bit intimidated by the size of Spokane, he said. But as they drove to Coeur d’Alene, then followed U.S. Highway 95 to Plummer, city streets gave way to rolling hills.

“We basically fell in love with the area,” he said. “As we got farther south from Coeur d’Alene, we found a more rural setting and we got a little more relaxed.”

Trottier said he turned to his family for a decision when he was offered the job.

“I’m only one vote in this house,” he said. But, he added, “It was unanimous.”