Local
D.C. forced to pay back $11M in federal education grants
By: Bill Myers
Examiner Staff Writer
October 27, 2008
D.C.’s failing school system has handed back more than $11 million to the federal government after an internal investigation determined that officials had illegally overdrawn their federal accounts, The Examiner has learned.
The money, coming from 24 separate grants and including interest, was wired back to the U.S. Department of Education last week, finance office e-mails obtained by The Examiner show. The millions represent dollars that were spent beyond grant limits set by the federal government. The overdrafts weren’t discovered until this summer, shortly after State Superintendent Deborah Gist took over the grants office from the public schools and began checking accounts, according to city sources.
It’s unclear why the federal government would allow the schools to keep drawing money on an already tapped grant. But the U.S. has designated the 50,000-student school system “high risk” as a recipient of federal funds because of lax control over the purse strings. Returning the grants comes as the city is struggling to cover a massive budget gap. Last year, the Fenty administration asked for nearly $96 million after overspending the $1 billion school budget.
Finance office spokesman David Umansky said Friday that the $11 million refund “was a problem of poor record keeping and poor follow-up.”
“But the systems have been put in place so that it will not happen again,” he said. He declined to elaborate.
Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee declined comment. Gist did not respond to requests for comment.
The grants refund will sap programs for the coming school year. The refunded grants covered an array of programs, ranging from initiatives for neglected or delinquent children to special education services, finance office e-mails show.
Some of the grants that were returned had covered health and education services for the children of migrant workers. As reported by The Examiner earlier this year, the schools paid $1.75 million to settle a federal lawsuit after it emerged that there were no such children in the city’s schools.
D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, said she was dismayed to hear about the refunded grants but tried to find a silver lining.
“As painful as this information is, great credit goes to Deborah Gist for bringing this to light,” Cheh said. “Once again, she’s proved to be the quiet, most effective force for good in the Fenty administration.”
The money, coming from 24 separate grants and including interest, was wired back to the U.S. Department of Education last week, finance office e-mails obtained by The Examiner show. The millions represent dollars that were spent beyond grant limits set by the federal government. The overdrafts weren’t discovered until this summer, shortly after State Superintendent Deborah Gist took over the grants office from the public schools and began checking accounts, according to city sources.
It’s unclear why the federal government would allow the schools to keep drawing money on an already tapped grant. But the U.S. has designated the 50,000-student school system “high risk” as a recipient of federal funds because of lax control over the purse strings. Returning the grants comes as the city is struggling to cover a massive budget gap. Last year, the Fenty administration asked for nearly $96 million after overspending the $1 billion school budget.
Finance office spokesman David Umansky said Friday that the $11 million refund “was a problem of poor record keeping and poor follow-up.”
“But the systems have been put in place so that it will not happen again,” he said. He declined to elaborate.
Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee declined comment. Gist did not respond to requests for comment.
The grants refund will sap programs for the coming school year. The refunded grants covered an array of programs, ranging from initiatives for neglected or delinquent children to special education services, finance office e-mails show.
Some of the grants that were returned had covered health and education services for the children of migrant workers. As reported by The Examiner earlier this year, the schools paid $1.75 million to settle a federal lawsuit after it emerged that there were no such children in the city’s schools.
D.C. Councilwoman Mary Cheh, D-Ward 3, said she was dismayed to hear about the refunded grants but tried to find a silver lining.
“As painful as this information is, great credit goes to Deborah Gist for bringing this to light,” Cheh said. “Once again, she’s proved to be the quiet, most effective force for good in the Fenty administration.”
