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The Department of Education’s mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness

by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION AND REHABILITATIVE SERVICES

OFFICE OF SPECIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS

September 8, 2021

Honorable Tony L. Dearman

Director 

Bureau of Indian Education

1849 C Street NW

MS-3609-MIB

Washington, District of Columbia 20240

Tony.Dearman@bie.edu

Dear Director Dearman:

The purpose of this letter is to provide you with an update on the status of the findings of 

noncompliance and corrective actions issued by the U. S. Department of Education’s

(Department) Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the October 23, 2019, letter

(2019 DMS letter), resulting from the differentiated monitoring and support (DMS) activities 

conducted by OSEP during an on-site visit to the Bureau of Indian Education (BIE) the week of 

March 25, 2019, and three schools on March 29, April 9, and April 11, 2019. On September 3, 

2020, OSEP provided a written evaluation of the information submitted by the BIE in its April 2, 

2020, response to OSEP’s 2019 DMS letter, explaining why OSEP was unable to close any of 

the findings at that time and requiring further actions to close the findings. For this update, OSEP 

reviewed the BIE’s quarterly progress reports submitted under the 2020-2021 Corrective Action 

Plan (CAP) on October 31, 2020, February 1, 2021, April 30, 2021, and July 30, 2021, as well as 

information that the BIE provided verbally during phone conversations and video meetings with 

OSEP during the 2020-2021 school year.

Attached is a chart that details OSEP’s evaluation of the information submitted by the BIE in the 

2020-2021 CAP quarterly progress reports as it relates to the findings and required actions 

described in the 2019 DMS letter, and information provided by the BIE during phone 

conversations and video meetings during the 2020-2021 school year. As noted in the attached 

chart, based on the information reported by the BIE, OSEP is able to close some of the DMS 

findings at this time. Specifically, OSEP is closing out Required Action 3.a (provide written 

findings of noncompliance identified in BIE-funded schools) and Required Action 5 (public 

reporting on the performance of each BIE-funded school). The required actions and next steps 

outlined in the State Systemic Improvement Plan section of the 2019 DMS letter will now be 

reviewed as part of the State Performance Plan/Annual Performance Report rather than with the 

DMS findings.

The remaining findings in the 2019 DMS letter were added to the Specific Conditions on the 

BIE’s Federal fiscal year 2021 IDEA Part B grant award. OSEP looks forward to reviewing 

additional documentation provided by the BIE to close the remaining DMS findings.
Page 2 — Honorable Tony L. Dearman

We appreciate your efforts to improve results for children with disabilities. If you have any 

questions, please contact Susan Kirlin, your OSEP State Lead, at 202-245-7443 or 

susan.kirlin@ed.gov. 

Sincerely,

David Cantrell, PhD

Acting Director

Office of Special Education Programs 

cc: Dr. Eugene Thompson, Supervisory Education Specialist (IDEA)

Enclosure: 

OSEP’s Verification of Correction of Noncompliance Chart