[Federal Register Volume 76, Number 62 (Thursday, March 31, 2011)]
[Notices]
[Pages 17843-17844]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2011-7638]
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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Intent To Compromise Claim Against the District of Columbia
Public Schools
AGENCY: Department of Education.
ACTION: Notice of intent to compromise claim with request for comments.
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SUMMARY: The United States Department of Education (Department) intends
to compromise a claim against the District of Columbia Public Schools
(DCPS) now pending before the Office of Administrative Law Judges
(OALJ), Docket No. 07-42-R. Before compromising a claim, the Department
must publish its intent to do so in the Federal Register and provide
the public an opportunity to comment on that action.
DATES: We must receive your comments on the proposed action on or
before May 16, 2011.
ADDRESSES: Address all comments concerning the proposed action to
Ronald B. Petracca, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Department of
Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW., room 6C111, Washington, DC 20202-
2110.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Ronald B. Petracca. Telephone: (202)
401-6008. If you use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD),
call the Federal Relay Service (FRS), toll free, at 1-800-877-8339.
Individuals with disabilities can obtain this document in an accessible
format (e.g., braille, large print, audio tape, or computer diskette)
on request to the contact person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION
CONTACT.
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:
Invitation To Comment
We invite you to submit comments regarding this proposed action.
During and after the comment period, you may inspect all public
comments about this notice in room 6E312, FB-6, 400 Maryland Avenue,
SW., Washington, DC, between the hours of 8:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.,
Washington, DC time, Monday through Friday of each week except Federal
holidays.
Assistance to Individuals With Disabilities in Reviewing Comments
On request, we will supply an appropriate aid, such as a reader or
print magnifier, to an individual with a disability who needs
assistance to review the comments. If you want to schedule an
appointment for this type of aid, please contact the person listed
under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Background
On July 12, 2007, the Assistant Secretary for Elementary and
Secondary Education and the Assistant Secretary for Special Education
and Rehabilitative Services (collectively, the Assistant Secretaries)
jointly issued a program determination letter (PDL) seeking to recover
from DCPS $1,354,679 in funds under Title I, Part A (Title I) of the
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), Title I, Part B,
Subpart 1 of the ESEA (Reading First), Title II, Part A of the ESEA
(Improving Teacher Quality or ITQ), and Part B of the Individuals with
Disabilities Education Act (IDEA-B). These funds, based on findings in
a single audit of DCPS (Audit Control Number 03-04-68025), were
determined by the Assistant Secretaries to have been expended, during
fiscal year 2003, in violation of Title I, Reading First, ITQ, and
IDEA-B. Specifically, the Assistant Secretaries found that DCPS had:
Failed to maintain appropriate documentation supporting payroll costs
for Title I, ITQ, and IDEA-B; failed to provide proof of payment for
various accrued expenses billed to Title I, ITQ, and IDEA-B; failed to
maintain appropriate documentation for expenditures under ITQ and IDEA-
B; failed to maintain source documentation to support journal entries
for costs attributed to Title I, ITQ, and IDEA-B; failed to maintain
adequate documentation to support the acquisition and disposition of
property obtained with Reading First and Title I funds; and lacked
adequate supporting documentation for items charged to IDEA-B.
DCPS filed an Application for Review of this PDL with the Office of
Administrative Law Judges (OALJ) on September 10, 2007. On October 24,
2007, the OALJ granted the parties' Joint Motion to Conduct Voluntary
Discovery, Engage in Settlement Negotiations, and Suspend the
Procedural Schedule (Joint Motion). Since this Joint Motion was
granted, DCPS \1\ has presented the Department with extensive
documentation, not available to the Department at the time the PDL was
issued, to support the withdrawal from this claim of $571,978 in
questioned costs. In particular, DCPS provided copies of purchase
orders, printouts from DCPS' accounting system with transaction detail,
and copies of corresponding checks to support $556,033 in accrued
expenses billed to Title I, ITQ, and IDEA-B. In addition, DCPS provided
printouts from its accounting system with transaction detail and copies
of corresponding checks demonstrating that expenditures under ITQ and
IDEA-B totaling $15,945 were, in fact, made. After conducting a
thorough review of this documentation, the Assistant Secretaries have
decided to accept DCPS' documentation, thereby reducing the claim to
$782,701.
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\1\ Since DCPS filed its application for review, the Office of
the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE) was established as the
District of Columbia's State educational agency (SEA). Although OSSE
has been involved in settlement discussions and would necessarily
have a role in any compromise, for ease of reference and consistent
with the pleadings before the OALJ, this notice refers to DCPS as
the relevant party.
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The Department proposes to compromise this remaining claim to
$675,000. Based on litigation risks, the high percentage of funds being
recovered (86 percent of the remaining claim), and the costs of
proceeding through the administrative and, possibly, court process for
this appeal, the Department has determined that it would not be
practical or in the public interest to continue this proceeding. In
making this determination, the Department recognizes that DCPS has
entered into a High Risk Corrective Action Plan (HRCAP) with the
Department, which includes a plan to address weaknesses in financial
management, procurement, and property management, among other issues.
Since entering into the HRCAP, the Department has worked closely with
DCPS to support DCPS in resolving the issues addressed in the HRCAP,
including the practices or procedures that gave rise to the
disallowances in the PDL. Therefore, the Department does
[[Page 17844]]
not anticipate recurrence of violations that gave rise to this PDL. As
a result, under the authority in 20 U.S.C. 1234a(j), the Department has
determined that compromise of this claim to $675,000 is appropriate.
The public is invited to comment on the Department's intent to
compromise this claim. Additional information may be obtained by
contacting the person listed under FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT.
Electronic Access to This Document: You can view this document, as
well as all other documents of this Department published in the Federal
Register, in text or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) on the
Internet at the following site: http://www.ed.gov/news/fedregister. To
use PDF you must have Adobe Acrobat Reader, which is available free at
this site.
Note: The official version of this document is the document
published in the Federal Register. Free Internet access to the
official edition of the Federal Register and the Code of Federal
Regulations is available on GPO Access at: http://www.gpoaccess.gov/nara/index.html.
Program Authority: 20 U.S.C. 1234a(j).
Delegation of Authority: The Secretary of Education has delegated
authority to Thomas Skelly, Director, Budget Service, to perform the
functions and duties of the Chief Financial Officer of the Department
of Education.
Dated: March 28, 2011.
Thomas Skelly,
Director, Budget Service.
[FR Doc. 2011-7638 Filed 3-30-11; 8:45 am]
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