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Policy Watchtower/Watchdog report

OIG: BIE left 97% of sampled safety deficiencies at Nay Ah Shing Schools uncorrected on

Education DepartmentInterior DepartmentWatchdog reportAug 7, 2026

Check: The Interior Inspector General found that BIE did not ensure Nay Ah Shing Upper and Lower Schools, run by the Mille Lacs Band of Ojibwe, fixed safety and health deficiencies within required deadlines, and that BIE's work order records were unreliable.

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What it does

Tribally controlled schools that receive BIE facilities funds are affected. In a sample of 87 deficiencies, 84 were not corrected within their abatement periods (the deadlines for fixing them). The Inspector General estimates about 31.5 percent of work orders reported as closed between 2023 and 2025 still need to be fixed. BIE concurred with the recommendations and gave a February 28, 2027 target date for the staffing and deficiency-resolution recommendations, saying it will begin monitoring compliance with its guidance standards and issue notices of noncompliance.

Why it matters for tribal funding

Directly tribal. The document is about tribes, tribal programs or Native organizations specifically.

Who it covers: Tribal governments.

What to do next

  1. Confirm that at least one trained school employee has an active BIE facility management system account and closes work orders when corrective work is finished.
  2. Check abatement plans against the 30-day submission requirement in the annual agreement and track each deficiency to its deadline.
  3. Expect BIE monitoring and possible notices of noncompliance under the Guidance Standards for Environmental, Safety, Facilities, and Compliance, with a February 28, 2027 target date.

Sources

Every signal is built from public records. The highlighted words appear in the source exactly as shown.

  • Department of the Interior OIG: reportsoig_reportAug 7, 2026

    BIE Must Correct Safety and Health Deficiencies, Improve Facility Management System Accuracy, and Ensure Available Grant Funds Are Used To Correct Longstanding Deficiencies at Nay Ah Shing Upper and Lower Schools

    • Quoted from the source: “We found that a total of 84 of the 87 deficiencies (or 97 percent) —8 critical and 76 significant deficiencies —were not corrected within their abatement periods and exceeded the abatement period by an average of 3.8 years.”
    • Quoted from the source: “Based on our statistical sampling, we estimate that 77 of the 243 safety and health deficiency work orders that were reported as closed between 2023 and 2025 —approximately 31.5 percent —still need to be remedied.”
    Read the originalU.S. government record, public domain.

Terms with a dotted underline open a plain-language definition. This is guidance, not legal advice: the official text always controls. A free public service from GrantsPath, a Native-owned business.