08/30/96: Notice of intent to award grantback funds to the Maine Department of Education Funds Recovered as a Result of Final Audit Determinations [OVAE]



[Federal Register: August 30, 1996 (Volume 61, Number 170)]
[Notices]               
[Page 46161-46164]
From the Federal Register Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]


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Part IV





Department of Education





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Intent To Repay to the Maine Department of Education Funds Recovered as
a Result of Final Audit Determinations; Notice


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DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION

 
Intent To Repay to the Maine Department of Education Funds
Recovered as a Result of Final Audit Determinations

AGENCY: Department of Education.

ACTION: Notice of intent to award grantback funds.

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SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that under section 459 of the General 
Education Provisions Act (GEPA), 20 U.S.C. 1234h, the U.S. Secretary of 
Education (Secretary) intends to repay to the Maine Department of 
Education (Maine), under a grantback arrangement, an amount equal to 75 
percent of the $36,924 recovered by the U.S. Department of Education 
(Department) as a result of audit findings in 3 audits covering fiscal 
years (FYs) 1987, 1988, and 1989 (ACNs: 01-93025, 01-93245, and 01-
13035G) and arising from Maine's administration of the Perkins 
Vocational Education Program; the Adult Education Program; the State 
Education Agency (SEA) Desegregation Program; and Title II of the 
Education for Economic Security Act of 1984 (EESA, Title II) program. 
The $36,924 at issue in this notice of proposed grantback was recovered 
by the Department under the terms of two settlement agreements between 
Maine and the Department that related to findings resulting from audits 
of Maine's administration of these four programs. In these audits, the 
auditors reviewed the financial and program operations of the Maine 
Department of Education, including an evaluation of Maine's internal 
administrative control systems for a variety of Maine's education 
programs for FYs 1987, 1988, and 1989. This notice describes Maine's 
plan for the use of grantback funds repaid in the specific program 
areas herein described and the terms and conditions under which the 
Secretary intends to make those funds available. This notice invites 
comments on the proposed grantback.

DATES: All comments must be received on or before September 29, 1996.

ADDRESSES: All written comments should be addressed to Dr. Marcel R. 
DuVall, Chief, Finance Branch, Division of Vocational-Technical 
Education, Office of Vocational and Adult Education, U.S. Department of 
Education, 600 Independence Avenue, S.W., (Mary E. Switzer Building, 
Room 4320, MS-7324), Washington, D.C. 20202-7324.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Dr. Marcel R. DuVall. Telephone: (202) 
205-9502. Individuals who use a telecommunications device for the deaf 
(TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1-800-
877-8339 between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m., Eastern time, Monday through 
Friday.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

A. Background

    Under two settlement agreements entered into by the Department and 
Maine, the Department recovered $97,935 (ACNs: 01-93025, 01-93245, 01-
13035G) and $125,635 (ACNs: 01-93245 and 01-13035G) from Maine in full 
resolution of all claims arising from audits of the Maine Department of 
Education, covering FYs 1987, 1988, and 1989. On April 2, 1996, the 
Department's Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services 
published a notice of intent to award grantback funds in response to a 
grantback request submitted by Maine relative to the settlement 
repayments resolving the findings arising from Maine's administration 
of Part B of the then Education of the Handicapped Act, Chapter 1 of 
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Act, and the Chapter 1 Migrant 
Education Program. The grantback request that is the subject of this 
notice is separate and apart from the grantback request that was the 
subject of the Department's April 2, 1996 notice. This grantback notice 
pertains only to the $36,924 that was repaid by Maine as a result of 
findings arising from Maine's administration of the Adult Education 
Program, the Perkins Vocational Education Program, the SEA 
Desegregation Program, and the EESA Title II Program, for the years in 
question.
    The Department's original claims arising from the audits conducted 
for FYs 1987, 1988, and 1989 were contained in program determination 
letters (PDLs) issued by various Department officials on March 27, 1991 
(ACN: 01-93025), October 24, 1991, and June 29, 1992 (ACN: 01-93245), 
and March 31, 1992, and August 25, 1992 (ACN: 01-13035G). These claims 
arose, in part, from findings related to Maine's administration of 
funds awarded to Maine under the Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education 
Act, 20 U.S.C. 2301 et seq. (1988) (Perkins I); the Adult Education 
Act, as amended by the National Literacy Act of 1991; SEA Desegregation 
Program, Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000(c)-
2000(c-5)); and EESA, Title II.
    In the March 27, 1991, October 24, 1991, and March 31, 1992 PDLs, 
the Assistant Secretaries for the program areas for which the auditors 
issued findings determined that Maine had violated a variety of Federal 
regulations by improperly charging legal fees incurred by Maine's 
Attorney General's Office and other miscellaneous attorneys to certain 
Federal programs. The Assistant Secretaries further determined that the 
charges incurred were not based upon actual benefits received or 
provided to those programs or upon any cost allocation plan that 
equitably distributed costs to programs benefiting from the services 
rendered.
    In the June 29, 1992 and August 25, 1992 PDLs, the Assistant 
Secretaries for the program areas involved determined, in part, that 
Maine had failed to maintain accurate time distribution records for 
employees who worked on more than one cost objective.
    The settlement negotiations resulting from Maine's appeals of the 
aforementioned PDLs culminated in two settlement agreements. The 
settlement agreement resolving the findings contained in the March 27, 
1991, October 24, 1991, and March 31, 1992 PDLs was executed on 
December 2, 1992. On January 8, 1993, the Department received payment 
of $97,935 in full settlement of the findings contained in those PDLs. 
The settlement agreement resolving the findings contained in the June 
29, 1992 and August 25, 1992 PDLs was executed on November 8, 1994. On 
November 4, 1994, the Department received a payment of $125,635 in full 
settlement of the findings contained in those PDLs.

B. Authority for Awarding a Grantback

    Section 459(a) of GEPA, 20 U.S.C. 1234h(a), the authority 
applicable to this grantback request, provides that whenever the 
Secretary has recovered funds paid under an applicable program because 
the recipient made an expenditure of funds that was not allowable, or 
otherwise failed to discharge its responsibility to account properly 
for funds, the Secretary may consider those funds to be additional 
funds available for that program and may arrange to repay to the 
recipient affected by that action an amount not to exceed 75 percent of 
the recovered funds. The Secretary may enter into this grantback 
arrangement if the Secretary determines that the--
    (1) Practices or procedures of the recipient that resulted in the 
violation of law have been corrected, and the recipient is, in all 
other respects, in compliance with the requirements of that program, 
provided that the recipient was notified of any noncompliance with 
those requirements and given a reasonable period of time to remedy the 
noncompliance;

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    (2) Recipient has submitted to the Secretary a plan for the use of 
those funds pursuant to the requirements of that program and, to the 
extent possible, for the benefit of the population that was affected by 
the failure to comply or by the misuse of funds that resulted in the 
recovery; and
    (3) Use of the funds to be awarded under the grantback arrangement 
in accordance with that plan would serve to achieve the purposes of the 
program under which the funds were originally paid.

C. Plan for Use of Funds Awarded Under a Grantback Arrangement

    Pursuant to section 459 of GEPA, Maine has applied for a grantback 
of $27,577, or 75 percent of the $36,924 repaid to the Department in 
resolution of the findings related to the Adult Education Program, the 
Perkins Vocational Education Program, the SEA Desegregation program, 
and the EESA, Title II Program, in relevant portions of the two 
settlement agreements discussed in section B of this notice. Maine has 
submitted a plan for use of the $27,577 in proposed grantback funds, 
consistent with the Adult Education Act, as amended by the National 
Literacy Act of 1991; the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied 
Technology Education Act of 1990 (Perkins II), 20 U.S.C. 2301, et seq., 
which is currently in effect; Title IV of the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 
and Title II of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, as 
amended (Professional Development Program), which is the successor 
program to the EESA, Title II Program. Maine has stated that it plans 
to use the grantback funds to provide monitoring and technical 
assistance for its adult education programs; host regional meetings and 
workshops for adult education programs at the local educational agency 
(LEA) level; provide funds for vocational education staff development 
activities; upgrade computer equipment used by State vocational 
education administrators; host a conference related to the SEA 
Desegregation programs; and sponsor regional meetings for educators 
under the Professional Development Program. Specifically, Maine plans 
to use the requested grantback funds totaling $27,577, to--
    (1) Pay travel expenses for three consultants who will monitor 
Adult Basic Education (ABE) programs. The consultants will base the 
monitoring upon the performance objectives contained in the FY 1996 ABE 
application. The consultants will also provide technical assistance for 
adult education program development and improvement ($500);
    (2) Provide at least two regional meetings and workshops for adult 
basic education administrators and staff who work in local adult 
education programs. The topics covered will include one or more of the 
following: Interagency Collaboration, Welfare Reform and Adult 
Education, FY 1996 ABE Standards, and an FY 1997 ABE Proposal Writing 
Workshop ($996);
    (3) Purchase computer equipment using vocational education funds 
for personnel in the Division of Applied Technology (DAT). This 
equipment includes one color Apple Laser Writer 12/600 PS, one high 
resolution flatbed color scanner, one CD-Rom drive/recorder, and one 
network server. The equipment will be used to provide more effective 
technical assistance to Maine's Regional Workforce Education Center. It 
will also allow DAT to provide better State leadership in the areas of 
professional development, curriculum development, program improvement, 
and accountability by giving it an enhanced ability to collect and to 
disseminate information ($11,476);
    (4) Facilitate vocational education staff development by allowing 
participation in a series of national conferences, meetings, workshops, 
and seminars sponsored by the National School-To-Work Opportunities 
Office, the Office of Vocational and Adult Education, the National 
Governors Association, the Council of Chief State School Officers, the 
High Skills State Consortium, Job for the Future and others. The topics 
to be covered include consolidation of performance measures and 
standards and occupational and industrial skill standards under the 
Perkins and the School-To-Work Opportunities Acts; integration of 
occupational skill development and related academic skill training; new 
formats for work-based learning; articulation of secondary and post-
secondary occupational and technical education; organization of 
connecting activities; and information system development. The director 
of DAT will serve as the primary participant; however, other DAT 
professional staff will attend activities related to their specific 
areas of responsibility and expertise ($10,000);
    (5) Provide a two-day conference, co-sponsored by the Maine 
Leadership Consortium, that is designed to encourage women to move into 
the field of public school administration using SEA Desegregation 
funds. The conference would explore the specific barriers and 
difficulties experienced by female superintendents in the State and 
seek to recommend actions that will allow professional organizations to 
more effectively attract and retain women in the superintendency 
($3,705); and
    (6) Sponsor a series of six regional meetings under the 
Professional Development Program that are designed to bring educators 
from elementary, secondary, and post-secondary institutions together to 
discuss methods of alternative assessment, including portfolios and 
task development ($900).

D. The Secretary's Determination

    The Secretary has carefully reviewed the plan submitted by Maine 
and related relevant documentation. Based upon that review, the 
Secretary has determined that the conditions under section 459 of GEPA 
have been met. This determination is based upon the best information 
available to the Secretary at the present time. If this information is 
not accurate or complete, the Secretary is not precluded from taking 
appropriate administrative action at a later date. In finding that the 
conditions of section 459 of GEPA have been met, the Secretary makes no 
determination concerning any pending audit recommendations or final 
audit determinations.

E. Notice of the Secretary's Intent to Enter into a Grantback 
Arrangement

    Section 459(d) of GEPA requires that, at least 30 days before 
entering into an arrangement to award funds under a grantback, the 
Secretary publish in the Federal Register a notice of intent to do so, 
and the terms and conditions under which the payment will be made.
    In accordance with section 459(d) of GEPA, notice is hereby given 
that the Secretary intends to make funds available to the Maine 
Department of Education under a grantback arrangement. The grantback 
award will be in the amount of $27,577, which is 75 percent--the 
maximum percentage authorized by the statute--of the relevant portion 
of funds recovered by the Department as a result of the three final 
audit determinations and two settlements in this matter.

F. Terms and Conditions Under Which Payments Under a Grantback 
Arrangement Will Be Made

    Maine agrees to comply with the following terms and conditions 
under which payment under a grantback arrangement will be made:
    (1) Maine will expend the funds awarded under the grantback in 
accordance with--
    (a) All applicable statutory and regulatory requirements;

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    (b) The plan that was submitted and any amendments in that plan 
that are approved in advance of the grantback by the Secretary; and
    (c) The budget that was submitted with the plan and any amendments 
to the budget that are approved in advance of the grantback by the 
Secretary.
    (2) All funds received under the grantback arrangement must be 
obligated by September 30, 1996, in accordance with section 459(c) of 
GEPA and Maine's plan.
    (3) Maine will, no later than December 30, 1996, submit a report to 
the Secretary that--
    (a) Indicates that the funds awarded under the grantback have been 
spent in accordance with the proposed plan and approved budget; and
    (b) Describes the results and effectiveness of the project for 
which the funds were spent.
    (4) Separate accounting records must be maintained to document the 
expenditures of funds awarded under the grantback arrangement.

(Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance Numbers 84.002 Basic State 
Grants for Adult Education; 84.004 Title IV of the Civil Rights Act; 
84.048 Basic State Grants for Vocational Education; and 84.164 Title 
II of the Education for Economic Security Act)

    Dated: August 26, 1996.
Patricia W. McNeil,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Vocational and Adult Education.
Gerald N. Tirozzi,
Assistant Secretary, Office of Elementary and Secondary Education.
[FR Doc. 96-22173 Filed 8-29-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4000-01-P