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Designation
Innumerable shortcomings, a weak internal control environment, poor accountability of federal funds, and failing to complete single audit requirements for fiscal years (FY)’s 1998 to 2002, raised significant concerns with the U.S. Department of Education (ED). There was no assurance federal funds were properly expended and accounted for. As of Federal Fiscal Year (FFY) 2003, ED designated the Guam Department of Education (GDOE) a High Risk Grantee subject to Special Conditions for all federally funded programs it administers.
RESPONSIBILITIES AND REQUIREMENTS OF GDOE
The responsibilities and requirements of GDOE in working with the Agent under the GDOE FFY 2018 specific conditions are as follows:
- GDOE must work cooperatively and in a timely manner with the Agent to implement the activities and responsibilities described in these specific conditions.
- GDOE must permit the Agent’s personnel to have access to all financial books, records, and reports related to funds made available to GDOE by ED, or used for matching, and access to GDOE personnel for discussion regarding the services the Agent must perform under these specific conditions, as provided for in the contract between GDOE and the Agent.
- GDOE must notify ED when any dispute arises and remains unresolved between the Agent and GDOE concerning the implementation or continuation of the contract with the Agent, or the implementation of activities supported by ED grants, including the financial management of grant funds. GDOE agrees that ED may assist in the resolution of any such unresolved dispute and agrees to cooperate with any requests from ED for additional information related to the dispute and to participate in conference calls with the Agent and ED. This does not preclude GDOE and the Agent from including formal dispute resolution mechanisms in their contract.
- GDOE must comply with all Federal laws and regulations that apply to the receipt and use of funds awarded under ED grants, including those under EDGAR, and applicable Federal program statutes and regulations.
- GDOE remains responsible for the provision of program services under ED grants.
- Prior to any draw downs or disbursements, GDOE must provide the Agent with a line-item budget for the total amount of each grant and sub-grant, if applicable, that has been approved and verified by ED. The line-item budget must include amounts for State administration, State-level program activities, and local-level program activities. For purposes of the Consolidated Grant to Insular Areas (Consolidated Grant), GDOE must provide the Agent with line-item budgets for each program under which GDOE will use Consolidated Grant funds. The line-item budget for each of these programs must be based on the total amount of Consolidated Grant funds to be used for each program and include amounts for State administration, State-level program activities, and local-level program activities.
- GDOE is responsible for: (i) executing draw downs of funds under the grants from ED’s Grants Management System (G5) so that funds are deposited into a separate bank account established and maintained by the Agent; and (ii) providing to the Agent, for deposit into the separate bank account established by the Agent, any matching funds required for the grants. GDOE understands and agrees that it must draw down funds and provide any applicable matching funds to the Agent within 24 hours of receipt of a written request from the Agent. Consideration may be given for reasonable delays due to any time differences that may exist between GDOE and its vendors. However, failure by GDOE to comply with this condition may result in the transfer of draw down authority to the Agent, at ED’s discretion. Upon receiving notice of GDOE’s failure to draw down funds in accordance with this condition, ED will decide whether to transfer draw down authority to the Agent. Upon receiving written notice of a decision by ED to transfer draw down authority to the Agent, GDOE must take all steps necessary to provide the Agent with full authority to perform draw downs, including providing any information and authorization that ED needs to recognize the Agent as the entity with draw down authority.
- GDOE must use fiscal control and accounting procedures that meet the requirements imposed on non-Federal entity grantees in 2 CFR §§ 200.302, 200.303, and 200.305(b).
- GDOE must expend Federal and matching funds only for costs that are allowable under the respective grant programs, in accordance with the regulations and cost principles in 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E. Additionally, for purposes of the Consolidated Grant, GDOE must expend Federal and matching funds only for allowable costs under, and included in, each ED-approved Consolidated Grant plan applicable to the fiscal year in which the costs were obligated. GDOE acknowledges that the Agent has the responsibility to ensure that ED funds are used only for allowable costs, including costs that are necessary, reasonable, and allocable to the respective grants as required by 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E, and that are procured in accordance with applicable procurement requirements in 2 CFR §§ 200.318—200.326. Where there is a question as to whether a cost is allowable, the Agent must raise this question with GDOE and, if the Agent deems it necessary, may also request assistance from ED in determining the allowability of any expenditure.
- GDOE must coordinate the timing of draw downs and disbursements with the Agent to ensure that payments to staff, vendors and providers are prompt and timely. To the extent feasible, GDOE must draw down firnds in a timely manner so that funds under the grants are deposited to the separate bank account on the same day that funds are drawn from the account to liquidate obligations under the grants. GDOE, as appropriate and at the Agent’s direction, must draw down sufficient funds under a grant to cover each approved request for payment.
- GDOE must charge its grants only for costs resulting from obligations that were properly made during the period of availability for the funds, including any carryover period. To ensure against the lapsing of ED funds, GDOE must provide the Agent with the amount and nature of all obligations in a timely manner to ensure that obligations are liquidated no later than 90 days after the end of the funding period, or during any extension of that period authorized by ED, in accordance with 2 CFR § 200.343(b).
- GDOE must establish and maintain an effective process for tracking and reporting time and effort spent by all employees whose salaries are paid under ED grants, including, but not limited to, maintaining accurate and up-to-date employee staffing lists and notices of personnel actions, distributing time among different funding sources for split-time employees, making timely and accurate adjustments to time and effort information entered into the payroll system, and properly allocating salary costs among ED grants based on records that accurately and properly record the distribution of each employee’s work on multiple cost objectives, the time the employee attends work, and, for those employees who work on a single cost objective, semiannual certifications. GDOE must carry out these responsibilities consistent with Federal requirements in 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E, and more specifically, 2 CFR §§ 200.430 and 200.431.
- GDOE must work with the Agent to ensure that the charging of direct and indirect costs against the respective ED grants is consistent with the applicable restricted and unrestricted indirect cost rates negotiated with, and approved by, the U.S. Department of Interior (GDOE’s cognizant Federal agency), and that copies of any indirect cost rate proposals or agreements are provided to the Agent and comply with the applicable requirements of 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E, and 34 CFR §§ 75.560-564 (discretionary grants) and 34 CFR §§ 76.560569 (formula grants).
- GDOE must grant the Agent authority to enter into contracts with vendors on behalf of GDOE, and in doing so, GDOE must cooperate with the Agent to ensure compliance with the provisions for procurement set forth in 2 CFR §§ 200.318-200.326.
- GDOE must provide effective oversight of proposed procurement, including, but not limited to, training all staff on, and reviewing all requisitions against, local and ED requirements for procuring goods and services, to facilitate the timely review and approval of purchase orders by the Agent, and to reduce the number of requisitions that are disallowed by the Agent for not meeting these requirements.
- GDOE must ensure that within 24 hours of receipt of a vendor’s invoice from the Agent, GDOE staff must (i) accept or reject the goods or services, and, if accepted, (ii) draw down funds for the vendor payment for deposit into the separate bank account maintained by the Agent.
- GDOE must work with the Agent to ensure that all tangible personal property procured under ED grants is managed in accordance with the requirements of 2 CFR §§ 200.313(a) and (c)-(e) to ensure that such property is properly inventoried, maintained, and stored to prevent loss, damage, or theft of such property.
- All transactions under the contract between GDOE and the Agent must be consistent with all applicable Federal requirements, including those in the Uniform Guidance at 2 CFR Part 200 and EDGAR at 34 CFR Parts 75 or 76, as appropriate.
- In transferring to a new Financial Management Improvement System (FMIS), GDOE must work with the Agent as the Agent assists in (1) training the appropriate GDOE employees, (ii) providing transition assistance (including, but not limited to, transferring all necessary data from the Agent to the new FMIS), and (iii) communicating information from the Agent to any other contractor involved in implementing the new FMIS.
- Except as noted herein, GDOE shall comply with all applicable provisions of EDGAR.
- GDOE may include any other terms in the contract with the Agent, consistent with those above, as are necessary to ensure timely liquidation of all ED funds; timely payment to staff, providers and vendors; and general financial management consistent with applicable Federal regulations and ED grant awards.
Specific Conditions
GDOE IS SUBJECT TO SPECIFIC CONDITIONS FOR ALL FEDERAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS IT ADMINISTERS.
Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations § 200.207 Specific Conditions for Individual Recipients:
A. The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may impose additional specific award conditions as needed, in accordance with paragraphs (b) and (c) of this section, under the following circumstances:
- Based on the criteria set forth in § 200.205 Federal awarding agency review of risk posed by applicants;
- When an applicant or recipient has a history of failure to comply with the general or specific terms and conditions of a Federal awards;
- When an applicant or recipient fails to meet expected performance goals as described in § 200.210 Information contained in a Federal award; or
- When an applicant or recipient is not otherwise responsible.
B. These additional Federal award conditions may include items such as the following:
- Requiring payments as reimbursements rather than advance payments;
- Withholding authority to proceed to the next phase until receipt of evidence of acceptable performance within a given period of performance;
- Requiring additional, more detailed financial reports;
- Requiring additional project monitoring
- Requiring the non-Federal entity to obtain technical or management assistance; or
- Establishing additional prior approvals.
C. The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity must notify the applicant or non-Federal entity as to:
- The nature of the additional requirements;
- The reason why the additional requirements are being imposed;
- The nature of the action needed to remove the additional requirement, if applicable;
- The time allowed for completing the actions if applicable, and
- The method for requesting reconsideration of the additional requirements imposed.
D. Any specific conditions must be promptly removed once the conditions that prompted them have been corrected.
Ed Letters
(CORRECTED) AMENDED FFY 2018 SPECIFIC CONDITIONS LETTER
2018 AMENDED SPECIFIC CONDITIONS
2018 AMENDED SPECIFIC CONDITIONS COVER LETTER
2018 SPECIFIC CONDITIONS
2017 SPECIAL CONDITIONS
Rep
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