Bureau of Indian Education

Bureau of Indian Education operation of indian education programs For expenses necessary for the operation of Indian education programs, as authorized by law, including the Snyder Act of November 2, 1921 (25 U.S.C. 13), the Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance Act of 1975 (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.), the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2001–2019), and the Tribally Controlled Schools Act of 1988 (25 U.S.C. 2501 et seq.), $1,131,617,000 to remain available until September 30, 2025, except as otherwise provided herein: Provided, That federally recognized Indian tribes and tribal organizations of federally recognized Indian tribes may use their tribal priority allocations for unmet welfare assistance costs: Provided further, That not to exceed $833,592,000 for school operations costs of Bureau-funded schools and other education programs shall become available on July 1, 2024, and shall remain available until September 30, 2025: Provided further, That notwithstanding any other provision of law, including but not limited to the Indian Self–Determination Act of 1975 (25 U.S.C. 5301 et seq.) and section 1128 of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2008), not to exceed $95,822,000 within and only from such amounts made available for school operations shall be available for administrative cost grants associated with grants approved prior to July 1, 2024: Provided further, That in order to enhance the safety of Bureau field employees, the Bureau may use funds to purchase uniforms or other identifying articles of clothing for personnel.138 STAT. 234 education construction For construction, repair, improvement, and maintenance of buildings, utilities, and other facilities necessary for the operation of Indian education programs, including architectural and engineering services by contract; acquisition of lands, and interests in lands; $234,725,000, to remain available until expended: Provided, That in order Deadline.to ensure timely completion of construction projects, the Secretary of the Interior may assume control of a project and all funds related to the project, if, not later than 18 months after the date of the enactment of this Act, any Public Law 100–297 (25 U.S.C. 2501, et seq.) grantee receiving funds appropriated in this Act or in any prior Act, has not completed the planning and design phase of the project and commenced construction. administrative provisions The Contracts.Grants.Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Bureau of Indian Education may carry out the operation of Indian programs by direct expenditure, contracts, cooperative agreements, compacts, and grants, either directly or in cooperation with States and other organizations. NotwithstandingContracts. Public Law 87–279 (25 U.S.C. 15), the Bureau of Indian Affairs may contract for services in support of the management, operation, and maintenance of the Power Division of the San Carlos Irrigation Project. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no funds available to the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Bureau of Indian Education for central office oversight and Executive Direction and Administrative Services (except Executive Direction and Administrative Services funding for Tribal Priority Allocations, regional offices, and facilities operations and maintenance) shall be available for contracts, grants, compacts, or cooperative agreements with the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Bureau of Indian Education under the provisions of the Indian Self-Determination Act or the Tribal Self-Governance Act of 1994 (Public Law 103–413). In the event any tribe returns appropriations made available by this Act to the Bureau of Indian Affairs or the Bureau of Indian Education, this action shall not diminish the Federal Government’s trust responsibility to that tribe, or the government-to-government relationship between the United States and that tribe, or that tribe’s ability to access future appropriations. NotwithstandingAlaska. any other provision of law, no funds available to the Bureau of Indian Education, other than the amounts provided herein for assistance to public schools under 25 U.S.C. 452 et seq., shall be available to support the operation of any elementary or secondary school in the State of Alaska. No funds Waiver authority.Determination.available to the Bureau of Indian Education shall be used to support expanded grades for any school or dormitory beyond the grade structure in place or approved by the Secretary of the Interior at each school in the Bureau of Indian Education school system as of October 1, 1995, except that the Secretary of the Interior may waive this prohibition to support expansion of up to one additional grade when the Secretary determines such waiver is needed to support accomplishment of the mission of the Bureau of Indian Education, or more than one grade to expand the elementary grade structure for Bureau-funded schools with 138 STAT. 235 a K–2 grade structure on October 1, 1996. Appropriations made available in this or any prior Act for schools funded by the Bureau shall be available, in accordance with the Bureau’s funding formula, only to the schools in the Bureau school system as of September 1, 1996, and to any school or school program that was reinstated in fiscal year 2012. Charter schools.Reimbursement.Funds made available under this Act may not be used to establish a charter school at a Bureau-funded school (as that term is defined in section 1141 of the Education Amendments of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 2021)), except that a charter school that is in existence on the date of the enactment of this Act and that has operated at a Bureau-funded school before September 1, 1999, may continue to operate during that period, but only if the charter school pays to the Bureau a pro rata share of funds to reimburse the Bureau for the use of the real and personal property (including buses and vans), the funds of the charter school are kept separate and apart from Bureau funds, and the Bureau does not assume any obligation for charter school programs of the State in which the school is located if the charter school loses such funding. Employees of Bureau-funded schools sharing a campus with a charter school and performing functions related to the charter school’s operation and employees of a charter school shall not be treated as Federal employees for purposes of chapter 171 of title 28, United States Code. Notwithstanding Continuation.any other provision of law, including section 113 of title I of appendix C of Public Law 106–113, if in fiscal year 2003 or 2004 a grantee received indirect and administrative costs pursuant to a distribution formula based on section 5(f) of Public Law 101–301, the Secretary shall continue to distribute indirect and administrative cost funds to such grantee using the section 5(f) distribution formula. Funds Waiver authority.Compliance.available under this Act may not be used to establish satellite locations of schools in the Bureau school system as of September 1, 1996, except that the Secretary may waive this prohibition in order for an Indian tribe to provide language and cultural immersion educational programs for non-public schools located within the jurisdictional area of the tribal government which exclusively serve tribal members, do not include grades beyond those currently served at the existing Bureau-funded school, provide an educational environment with educator presence and academic facilities comparable to the Bureau-funded school, comply with all applicable Tribal, Federal, or State health and safety standards, and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and demonstrate the benefits of establishing operations at a satellite location in lieu of incurring extraordinary costs, such as for transportation or other impacts to students such as those caused by busing students extended distances: Provided, That no funds available under this Act may be used to fund operations, maintenance, rehabilitation, construction, or other facilities-related costs for such assets that are not owned by the Bureau: Provided further, Definition.That the term “satellite school” means a school location physically separated from the existing Bureau school by more than 50 miles but that forms part of the existing school in all other respects. Funds made available for Tribal Priority Allocations within Operation of Indian Programs and Operation of Indian Education Programs may be used to execute requested adjustments in tribal priority allocations initiated by an Indian tribe.138 STAT. 236