At any rate, Ruch said he thinks the BIE’s initial decision to withhold the document in its entirety indicates that any disfunction at Haskell isn’t just confined to its campus but extends to the BIE as an agency. He added that the first step to resolving problems on this scale is often to “ventilate” them, and government reports detailing sensitive topics and internal investigations are often released publicly as a matter of course. Just last year, the Department of the Interior released a federal study of Native American boarding schools that identified more than 500 student deaths at such institutions including Haskell, for example.
“It would be extraordinary to have a basis in which this sort of investigative report is withheld,” Ruch said. “…We’re expecting to get (the report) this month, one way or another.”
