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On the morning of Dec. 4, 2022, COVID was spreading through the Chemawa Indian School campus, and staffers were scrambling to test the entire school and contain the virus.听

That鈥檚 when an employee of the school, located in Salem, Oregon, and operated by the federal Bureau of Indian Education, did something to a student that led the school superintendent, Amanda Ward, to put the employee on 鈥渋mmediate administrative leave.鈥澨�

BIE documents redact the name of the person allegedly responsible as well as all descriptions of what he allegedly did.听

Those redactions are just two of the many barriers to transparency displayed by the agency in response to a Lee Enterprises investigation of student welfare at a federal school system that serves some 45,000 Native American students, spans 23 states and includes 183 elementary, secondary schools and residential facilities.

Internal school documents indicate the Chemawa employee was released from duty and that Ward filed a report alleging he鈥檇 engaged in the 鈥減hysical and emotional abuse鈥� of a student.

The school鈥檚 examination of whether the employee鈥檚 鈥渃ontinued contact with Indian children poses an eminent (sic) threat to the well-being of children鈥� found that the employee鈥檚 actions weren鈥檛 isolated. It also found that his 鈥渁ggressive behavior has been repeated throughout this school year in a variety of situations,鈥� Ward wrote in a pair of memorandums.听

Within a week, however, the employee was back on campus, 鈥渨orking in areas where he would not have contact with students,鈥� emails show. And just a few days after that, a school resource officer and an assistant U.S. attorney had determined that the offense was not a 鈥渧iolation of law鈥� and not 鈥減rosecutable.鈥澨�听

A human resources officer with the federal Bureau of Indian Education school system then ordered the principal to return the employee 鈥渢o contact with children immediately.鈥澨�

But why was the employee cleared to return? What did the investigation into his conduct find? And, perhaps more importantly, how does this one incident fit into the broader picture of student welfare in a federal school system that has been accused over the years of failing to ensure in its schools, students, provide adequate and offer sufficient听听鈥� and where lawsuits, government investigations and previous reporting have identified instances in which students were harmed and even died?听

The answers to these questions 鈥� and others 鈥� remain elusive more than a year after the Lee Enterprises Public Service Journalism team embarked on an investigation into student welfare within the Bureau of Indian Education.

During the Lee investigation, the bureau:

• Provided conflicting information about reports of student abuse and neglect.

• Did not answer numerous questions about how it oversees student safety.

• Heavily redacted the few public records it did turn over, including those about the 2022 incident at Chemawa.

• Claimed not to have publicly available records related to the 128 schools in its system that are operated by tribes.听

What is clear is that thousands听of bureau reports and other documents designated for recording abuse, neglect, injuries, life-threatening incidents and death have been filed since 2008 at the 55 schools the BIE operates directly.听

But the BIE provided inconsistent counts of how many reports were filed.

In interviews, a group of BIE staff, including members of the bureau鈥檚 Freedom of Information Act office and human resources department, said that between 2008 and mid-2023, the following number of reports were filed at the 55 BIE-operated schools:

• 3,700 Critical Incident and Death reports.

• Between 10,000 and 15,000 Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect reports, which can pertain to incidents that occurred within or outside of BIE schools.

• 1,399 Employee Incident Reports, which pertain to verbal and emotional abuse of students.听

When a Lee Enterprises reporter included these numbers in emails to the BIE and the Department of the Interior, neither the bureau nor the department corrected them.

While Melissa Schwartz, communications director for the Office of the Secretary of the Department of the Interior, said the numbers Lee Enterprises had obtained 鈥渄o not accurately reflect any of the data that I understand has been made available to you,鈥� she did not provide different counts, even after Lee Enterprises explicitly requested more accurate numbers.听

Months later, however, when asked to confirm the numbers above, the BIE offered a 鈥渃larification鈥� that claimed the following number of reports were filed over these 15 years:听

• 3,609 Critical Incident and Death reports.

• 7,278 Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect reports.

• 599 Employee Incident reports.

When asked about the source of the discrepancy,听Jennifer M. Bell, the BIE鈥檚 communications director, wrote in an email:听"As I clarified this information it began to look like report counts and page counts had been confused in your various conversations."

Critical contradictions in BIE policy

The BIE also offered differing definitions of Critical Incident and Death reports over the course of Lee Enterprises鈥� reporting for this story.听

In July, Bell provided a copy of its 鈥淐ritical Incident and Death Reporting Policy,鈥� which said, 鈥淐ritical Incident and Death is defined as: Any incident in a bureau-operated school or dormitory where a student requires immediate medical attention because of a life-threatening injury which could result in or does result in death. This includes suicidal ideation, attempted suicide, or suicide completion.鈥澨�

In November, however, Bell provided a significantly different protocol for filing a Critical Incident and Death report: 鈥淭hese reports are filed鈥� anytime鈥痑 child is taken for any 鈥痜orm of immediate medical attention.鈥疶his includes events such as illnesses and sports injuries. These reports also include events that occurred when a student was away from school, such as at home during breaks in the school year.鈥�

BIE staff also stated that the agency does not collect SCAN reports, Employee Incident reports and Critical Incident and Death reports from tribally controlled schools. However, the CEO of one of those schools 鈥� Tanner Rabbithead, who is the head of the Circle of Nations School in Wahpeton, North Dakota 鈥� said in an email that his administration does 鈥渉ave to file a Critical Incident or Death reporting form with five separate departments within the BIE.鈥澨�

When asked about this apparent contradiction, Bell said the BIE 鈥渞eceives copies of certain records from tribally controlled schools who use the BIE SCAN process鈥� but that 鈥渢hese are not considered federal records鈥� and 鈥渃annot be released by BIE.鈥�

Bell also did not answer a question about how many of these Critical Incident and Death reports pertained to deaths, instead requesting in December that Lee Enterprises 鈥渇ile a FOIA request for this information.鈥澨�

But Lee Enterprises did file such a Freedom of Information Act request more than a year earlier, in October 2022. In response, the BIE鈥檚 FOIA office claimed to have 鈥渘o record鈥� that was responsive to a request for a count of deaths on BIE property, though four fatalities have been documented in and 听 over the past two decades.听

This response also came despite claims from BIE staff in interviews that indicated five to 10 pages documenting these deaths exists. In an email to a Lee Enterprises reporter and editor, BIE Human Resources Officer wrote in part: 鈥淚 have submitted the information to the FOIA office related to yo鈥媢r question鈥� about the number of deaths at BIE schools.

BIE stonewalls requests for information

Public records requests for the reports themselves also were stymied by the BIE.听

Eight months after Lee Enterprises requested all Critical Incident and Death reports since 2000 and all Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect reports since 2015, bureau staff suggested that the requests be limited to just 100 pages of documents of each type in order to expedite their release. Lee Enterprises agreed to do so, though it took until December 鈥� 14 months after records were first requested 鈥� for BIE FOIA officers to provide all of the records in the limited request, which amounted to just 12 Critical Incident and Death reports, two Suspected Child Abuse/Neglect reports and two Employee Incident reports, all of which were heavily redacted.听

Concerns about the BIE鈥檚 lack of transparency have been raised for years.听

The BIE has failed to comply with federal laws about publicly reporting information about school performance, according to a ProPublica and The Arizona Republic . And the U.S. Department of Education has found flaws in how the BIE is collecting data and otherwise implementing the that provides educational opportunity to students with disabilities.

Susan Faircloth, who spent about a decade on the Bureau of Indian Education鈥檚 Special Education Advisory , said her knowledge of the BIE鈥檚 handling of special-education data leads her to 鈥渜uestion the accuracy鈥� of the numbers provided as part of this Lee Enterprises investigation.听

鈥淭here are known and ongoing issues around data collection, analysis and reporting in the bureau,鈥� said Faircloth, a member of the state-recognized and a longtime of education who recently started an educational . 鈥淎nd if you want to see evidence of that, you can see those special education reports that consistently speak to the need to improve data collection, analysis and reporting within the bureau. That鈥檚 specific to special ed, but I would argue, if there鈥檚 an issue there, there鈥檚 probably other issues related to the accuracy of those (abuse, critical-incident and death) data.鈥澨�

Feds seek answers on historic cases

The lack of transparency surrounding these issues at existing federally funded and operated-schools for Native American students stands in contrast to the recent from the U.S. Department of the Interior to reckon with abuse, neglect, death and other issues that permeated the federal system for educating Indigenous children from the early 19th century until the late 1960s.听

In June 2021, Deb Haaland, the secretary of the Department of the Interior and the Native American to serve as a Cabinet secretary, directed her department to coordinate an into the federal Indian boarding school system.听

Less than a year later, the Interior Department issued the first volume of a that laid bare the appalling treatment of students in those schools. It found more than 500 Indigenous children died in just 19 of the 408 federal schools that were in operation between 1819 and 1969.听

鈥淎s the investigation continues,鈥� the report said, 鈥渢he department expects the number of recorded deaths to increase.鈥澨�听

After the report鈥檚 release, Haaland went on a yearlong 鈥淩oad to Healing Tour,鈥� visiting tribal communities across the country to of the federal boarding school system and from their descendants.

But Haaland鈥檚 communication director did not respond to a request to interview the secretary or anyone else from her office for this investigation, instead sending an email that said the Interior Department 鈥渟tands by the hours of work that Bureau of Indian Education personnel have spent 鈥μ� to explain the nature of these (Critical Incident and Death) reports, many of which range from skin scrapes to more serious injuries while at school.鈥澨�

While BIE staff also said that some of these reports were filed for minor injuries, including sprained ankles and scraped knees, they would not say how many. In all 12 reports provided, of about 3,600 total, the incident description was redacted. Unredacted discharge instructions included in the documents made references to panic attacks, asthma and emotional crisis.

While staff from the BIE鈥檚 FOIA and human resources staff discussed the number and nature of its abuse, neglect and death reports with Lee Enterprises in a pair of meetings and while Bell answered a number of follow-up questions, Bell did not answer a list of 19 questions about reporting of abuse and neglect, including:听

• How the bureau tracks and evaluates instances of abuse, neglect, life-threatening incidents and death over time, by school or in other systematic ways.听

• How many employees at BIE schools have been accused of abusing or neglecting students at BIE schools since 2000.

• The frequency of incidents of abuse of students by other students, among other related issues.

Instead, Bell provided a statement that said in part that federal law 鈥渞equires that BIE employees who know or have a reasonable suspicion that a child has been abused in Indian country, report the information to the local protective services agency or local law enforcement agency. All BIE-funded schools are required to demonstrate compliance with the law, such as having a written policy for reporting suspected child abuse and neglect. Tribally controlled schools can adopt the BIE reporting protocol or create one of their own.鈥澨�

鈥淏IE schools provide students with a quality and culturally appropriate education in a safe, healthy and supportive environment,鈥� the statement also said. 鈥淭his includes ensuring students鈥� physical and mental well-being as well as monitoring their academic progress.鈥澨�

Native advocate pleads for accountability

Mandy Smoker Broaddus, a of the National Advisory Council on Indian Education, who emphasized she was not speaking in her capacity as a board member, said the information uncovered in this Lee Enterprises investigation was 鈥渟hocking鈥� and deserving of more scrutiny.听

鈥淚 think this is really important,鈥� said Smoker Broaddus, who is also a for Native and culturally responsive education at .听

Matthew Powell, development director for the National Indian Education Association, also noted the significance of the data but declined to critique the bureau.

鈥淪tatistics don鈥檛 lie,鈥� Powell said. 鈥淭he data is there to tell us the story. I鈥檓 not going to pound the table and say the BIE is doing a great job. That鈥檚 not my job. That鈥檚 not the role of NIEA. But I also don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 our role to publicly criticize them, either.鈥澨�

Smoker Broaddus acknowledged that the BIE has 鈥渢ried so many 鈥� to improve and that 鈥減eople have had good intentions.鈥� But she said the number of reports uncovered in this investigation likely understated the extent of the issues with student welfare in bureau schools. And Smoker Broaddus said even this potential undercount suggests the BIE needs to take action.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important,鈥� she added, 鈥渇or the parents and communities and tribes that send their students to those schools, that there is accountability. And what can be done in the future to rectify what that data is telling us?鈥澨�

Powell, of the NIEA, said he believes the BIE is working to overcome 鈥渢he aftereffects of 150 years of a federal policy鈥� that forced Native students into boarding schools that pushed assimilation and were rife with abuse.听

Powell believes the solution to overcoming that history is what the NIEA calls 鈥�,鈥� the idea that 鈥渆very community should be defining how its students are educated,鈥� he said.听

鈥淪o our focus is there,鈥� Powell said, 鈥渁nd we believe BIE is a valuable partner in that process. In fact, I don鈥檛 believe it, I know it.鈥澨�

Veronica Morley, superintendent of the Pierre Indian Learning Center, a BIE boarding school in the South Dakota capital, said tribally controlled schools like hers are 鈥渨here, in my opinion, a lot of the true power for change lies.鈥澨�

鈥淲hile it saddens me that your research is suggesting some very horrific or alarming numbers in terms of negative events, I can only speak for this school,鈥� she said.听

And at Pierre Indian Learning Center, Morley said, the combination of 鈥渁 good, knowledgeable invested school board鈥� plus the input and 鈥渞esources of the reservation communities鈥� has led to a school that is 鈥渇luid and it鈥檚 responsive and it鈥檚 not bureaucratic.鈥澨�

But she鈥檚 wide-eyed about the challenges that exist.听

鈥淭hese little guys have a lot of emotional baggage, and then we are expecting them to sit in their chair and pound out math problems on top of it,鈥� Morley said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot. 鈥� They鈥檙e just babies. So many of these kids are 10 and 11 years old, and they have experienced things that, as adults, we would struggle with. But they are managing to process those things with such resiliency and such grace, it would blow your mind.鈥澨�

Torres said it鈥檚 imperative that the government help do whatever it can to help these students make such progress.听

鈥淲e have to be reminded that it was taxpayer dollars that provoked the proliferation of an entire system of boarding schools that removed Native children from their families and provoked physical, emotional, psychological and sexual abuse, that provoked the dispossession of Native lands,鈥� he said. 鈥淭hose were taxpayer dollars. That was a national system of Indigenous erasure.

鈥淭here is a responsibility that the federal government has to address that damage, to contribute the appropriate resources for tribal nations, for Native people to be able to direct the means of their own healing,鈥� he continued. 鈥淭here are incredible educational models out there led by Native people, led by tribes themselves even. The challenge is always resources and how we make that increasingly more viable for more children. So this is a sovereignty issue, and this is an issue that affects the future of Native youth.鈥澨�

Faircloth, the former BIE special education advisory board member, said that even those bureau employees with good intentions are 鈥渉ampered and hindered鈥� by systemic issues like geographic isolation, a 鈥渓ack of adequate funding鈥� and 鈥渄ifficulty in recruiting, hiring and retaining the necessary staff.鈥澨�

鈥淎nd then I think there鈥檚 issues with oversight at the federal level that need to be addressed,鈥� Faircloth added. 鈥淎nd that oversight has been documented in report after report after report on the status of Indian education, and yet we continue to see these issues persist.鈥澨�