Page:United States Statutes at Large Volume 92 Part 2.djvu/1037

 PUBLIC LAW 95-561—NOV. 1, 1978

92 STAT. 2317

consultation with Indian organizations and tribes, shall carrj^ out or cause to be carried out by contract with an Indian organization such studies and surveys, making the fullest use possible of other existing studies, surveys, and plans, as are necessary to establish and revise standards for the basic education of Indian children attending Bureau schools and Indian controlled contract schools (hereinafter referred to as "contract schools"). Such studies and surveys shall take into account factors such as academic needs, local cultural differences, type and level of language skills, geographical isolation and appropriate teacher-student ratios for such children, and shall be directed toward the attainment of equal educational opportunity for such children. (b)(1) Within fifteen months of the date of enactment of this Act, Minimum the Secretary shall propose minimum academic standards for the basic academic education of Indian children, and shall distribute such proposed stand- standards. in ards to the tribes and publish such proposed standards in the Federal Publication Federal Register. Register for the purpose of receiving comments from the tribes and other interested parties. Within eighteen months of the date of enactment of this Act. the Secretary shall establish final standards, distribute such standards to all the tribes and publish such standards in the Federal Register. The Secretary shall revise such standards periodically as necessary. Prior to any revision of such standards, the Secretary shall distribute such proposed revision to all the tribes, and publish such proposed revision in the Federal Register, for the purpose of receiving comments from the tribes and other interested parties. (2) Such standards shall apply to Bureau schools, and subject to subsection (e), to contract schools, and may also serve as a model for educational programs for Indian children in public schools. In establishing and revising such standards, the Secretary shall take into account the special needs of Indian students and the support and reinforcement of the specific cultural heritage of each tribe. (c) The Secretary shall provide alternative or modified standards in lieu of the standards established under subsection (b), where necessary, so that the programs of each school shall be in compliance with the minimum standards required for accreditation of schools in the State where the school is located. (d) A tribal governing body, or the local school board if so desig- Waiver, nated by the tribal governing body, shall have the local authority to waive, in part or in whole, the standards established under subsections (b) and (c), where such standards are deemed by such body to be inappropriate or ill-conceived, and shall also have the authority to revise such standards to take into account the specific needs of the tribe's children. Such revised standards shall be established by the Secretary unless specifically rejected 'by the Secretary for good cause and in writing to the affected tribes or local school board, which rejection shall be final and unreviewable. (e) The Secretary, through contracting procedures, shall assist school boards of contract schools in the implementation of the standards established under subsection (b) and (c), if the school boards request that such standards, in part or in whole, be implemented. The Secretary shall not refuse to enter into a contract with respect to any contract school on the basis of failure to meet such standards. At the request of a contract school board, the Secretary shall provide alternative or modified standards for the standards established under subsections (b) and (c) to take into account the needs of the Indian children and the contract school.

�