Bureau of Indian Education's Advisory Board for Exceptional Children to Host Two-Day Meeting This Week, UIOs Encouraged to Attend

The Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) announced that the Advisory Board for Exceptional Children will be hosting a two-day in-person and online meeting on Thursday, June 22, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 3:15 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT) and Friday, June 23, 2023, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Pacific Daylight Time (PDT). The National Council of Urban Indian Health encourages interested urban Indian organization (UIO) leaders to attend.

All Advisory Board activities and meetings will be conducted in-person with corresponding online access. The onsite meeting location will be at the Chemawa Indian School located at 3700 Chemawa Road NE, Salem, Oregon. To attend remotely, please register using this link: https://www.zoomgov.com/meeting/register/vJIsd-2urTIoGYqvBQdLsCW2XyFzejJriFU. Once registered, attendees can attend both meeting events.

Background

The Advisory Board was established under the Individuals with Disabilities Act of 2004 in an effort to advise the Secretary of the Interior, through the Assistant Secretary-Indian Affairs, on the needs of Indian children with disabilities.

The purpose of the meeting is to meet the mandates of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 (IDEA) for Indian children with disabilities. The following agenda items will be for the two-day meeting. The reports are regarding special education topics.

Chemawa Indian School—School leadership team, teachers, school improvement team, parent advisory board. Report on the successes and concerns at your school. What do you see as an opportunity to improve services for children and families in the local community?
A panel discussion with BIE Off Reservation Board Schools (ORBS), Chemawa Indian School, Flandreau Indian School, Riverside Indian School, and Sherman Indian School. Discussions will include the COVID pandemic and post-COVID, how it affected the school’s ability to provide educational services to all students and specifically students with disabilities?
BIE Special Education Program. Dr. Eugene Thompson, Supervisory Education Specialist. Provide updates about BIE regional conferences, progress update about the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) 2020 report regarding Students with Disabilities Receiving Special Education Services, update about the BIE’s Special Education Policy and Procedures Manual, and report on the special education findings regarding the BIE’s Fiscal and Programmatic Monitoring for SY22–23.
State Departments Office of Indian Education. Tribal-State liaison Offices of Indian Education Panel. To discuss services and supports provided to BIE funded schools in each state. Discuss the relationship between the State’s Office of Indian Education and BIE funded schools within each state. What funding does the state provide to BIE funded schools when a student does not meet Indian School Equalization Program (ISEP) eligibility criteria?
Advisory board members will work on identifying priority topics for problems that could be creating barriers for children with disabilities within the BIE school system.
Advisory board members will work on developing the agenda for the next board meeting scheduled for September 21–22, 2023.
Four Public Commenting Sessions will be provided during both meeting days.

Public comments can be emailed to the Designated Federal Officer (DFO) at Jennifer.davis@bie.edu; or faxed to (602) 265–0293 Attention: Jennifer Davis, DFO; or mailed or hand delivered to the Bureau of Indian Education, Attention: Jennifer Davis, DFO, 2600 N Central Ave., 12th floor, Suite 250, Phoenix, AZ 85004.

More information, please use this link: Federal Register :: Advisory Board of Exceptional Children.