Indian Student Placement Policy Changed

Beginning with the 1984–85 school year, the Indian Student Placement Service will be for students in the fifth through twelfth grades (generally those between the ages of eleven and eighteen), the First Presidency has announced.

In the past, students from eight to eighteen have participated.

In announcing the change, the First Presidency explained that younger children who might participate now likely have schools closer to their homes. Most of the 2,639 young people enrolled in the program, which places Indian students with foster parents off the reservation during the school year, are from the Navajo Indian Reservation.

Students already in the program may continue in it regardless of their age, as long as they are eligible and their parents want them to participate.

In the letter to local Church leaders announcing the policy change, the First Presidency said, “We feel it important to reemphasize the program as one to prepare students academically and spiritually for life’s experiences, and to refocus our efforts on developing leadership skills.”