By Emma Whitford

Law360 (September 18, 2020, 6:01 PM EDT) -- Leaders of the House Natural Resources Committee sent a letter to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education on Thursday demanding clarity on the Trump administration's stated plan to prioritize in-person classes at BIE-operated schools starting Sept. 16. 

Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva, D-Ariz., and Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., chair of the Subcommittee on Indigenous Peoples of the United States, expressed frustration Thursday, noting that representatives of both bureaus declined to participate in a Sept. 10 oversight hearing to discuss Aug. 6 guidance from Assistant Indian Affairs Secretary Tara Sweeney.

The guidance stated that all Bureau-operated K-12 schools across the country should resume in-person classes Sept. 16 "to the maximum extent possible." But congressional leaders and staff say they do not know how many schools have done so.

"I was appalled that the Bureau of Indian Education refused to testify at our hearing last week to discuss how to safely reopen BIE-operated schools in Indian Country," Gallego said in a statement Thursday, demanding "answers and cooperation" from BIE.

Naomi Miguel, professional staff on Gallego's subcommittee for indigenous peoples, told Law360 by phone Friday that her team had received "crickets" from the BIE for the last two months.

So far, the only concrete, school-level information has been a press release Thursday from Sweeney, stating that 32 BIE schools within the Navajo Nation — the country's largest reservation — will conduct classes entirely remotely for the first nine weeks of the school year.

This has raised its own set of questions, Miguel noted, in light of the Navajo Nation's limited internet access. According to the release, BIE is supplying the schools with more than 6,000 mobile hotspots in addition to iPads and laptops plus hotspots on school buses.  

Thursday's letter to Sweeney and BIE director Tony Dearman includes 16 questions and a proposed deadline of Sept. 30 for answers and Oct. 2 to schedule a briefing with committee members.

The first question is how many of 183 BIE-operated elementary and secondary schools opened for in-person classes on Sept. 16.

Committee members are also seeking information on BIE's efforts to assess COVID-19 risk at the community level, especially in regions with high reported rates of infection: the Navajo reservation, Phoenix and Oklahoma City.

Other questions touch on PPE levels, sanitization plans and social distancing protocols; student and teacher infection and death reports; and plans for students with disabilities.

The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education did not immediately respond Friday to requests for comment on the letter Friday or their decision not to testify last week before the Subcommittee for Indigenous Peoples of the United States.

In a statement accompanying Thursday's Navajo Nation press release, Sweeney described the agency's approach to school reopening as flexible.

The goal is to give "BIE schools the flexibility to consider the specific health and safety conditions in their communities," Sweeney said. "In-person instruction is always the preferred method of instructional delivery, however, when on-the-ground pandemic conditions dictate moving cautiously, we work with our schools and tribal leadership to provide the resources to support those needs."

In an accompanying statement, Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez thanked Sweeney and Dearman for "discussing these issues with us on a regular basis."

"Our COVID-19 cases on the Navajo Nation have been on a consistent decline," Neo added, "but there remains substantial risk to all of our citizens due to high numbers in regions and cities near the Navajo Nation."

--Editing by Peter Rozovsky.

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