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OFFICE OF THE GOVERNOR
PRESS RELEASE
(for immediate release – Wednesday, October 8, 2008)
Contact: click here to email newsroom
Office: (684) 633-4116 - Fax: (684) 633-2269 - Cell: (684) 733-4680
Governor Togiola announces DOE funds draw down approved
(UTULEI) - Governor Togiola Tulafono announced today the US Department of Education (ED) has approved the American Samoa Government Corrective Action Plan (CAP) and has lifted the high risk special conditions on draw down of 2007 grant funds.
Governor Togiola expressed his happiness in receiving the great news.
“This is wonderful news because we have worked hard on our action plans and we have addressed all the concerns by the US Department of Education. We had two special conditions that we had to meet for Federal Fiscal Year 2007, and we have satisfied them, and we can now draw down those funds. We now address the two conditions for 2008 funds and once that is approved, we also draw down those funds. This is encouraging news because we have an ongoing commitment to provide quality education for our children, so we’re very thankful and appreciate this great news from the US Department of Education. And we will continue to work even harder because there is still a lot of work to be done,” said Governor Togiola.
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Letter to Governor Togiola Tulafono from US Department of Education
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Office of the Secretary
October 7, 2008
Honorable Togiola Talalelei Tulafono
Governor of American Samoa
Office of the Governor
Executive Office Building
Pago Pago, AS 96799
Dear Governor Tulafono:
Thank you for your letter dated September 15, 2008, in which you provided the U.S. Department of Education (ED) copies of the American Samoa Government’s (ASG) High Risk Corrective Action Plan (CAP). We also acknowledge receipt, via email on September 19, 2008, from Attorney Toetasi Tuiteleleapaga, of the R.C. Holsinger & Associates P.C.’s (RCHA) final Payroll Attestation Report and ASG’s official response to that report. We appreciate your continued support and efforts in addressing the systemic internal control and operational weaknesses identified in ASG’s single audits and payroll attestation.
As a “high risk” grantee under 34 C.F.R. § 80.12, ED imposed special conditions on ASG’s grant awards for Federal Fiscal Year (FFY 2008) and on ED grants previously awarded to ASG that remain available for obligation or liquidation. Under those conditions, ASG agreed that it may not draw down any of the remainder of its FFY 2007 grant funds or any FFY 2008 grant funds until after ASG has met the following two conditions: (1) completed and submitted the comprehensive corrective action plan that was required under the FFY 2007 special conditions and the Department has approved the plan; and (2) obtained and provided to the Department a final report based on the Examination Level Payroll Attestation required under the FFY 2007 special conditions and performed by public accountant RCHA in February/March 2008. The special conditions further provide that after ASG has met these two conditions, all FFY 2007 grant funds remaining available for obligation or liquidation will be available for draw down by ASG, but there will be a restriction on the amount of FFY 2008 grant funds that ASG may draw down until after it has met the following additional conditions: (1) submitted the FY 2007 single audit to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse; and (2) developed a Payroll Attestation Corrective Action Plan (PCAP) approved by ED to address the deficiencies identified in the final report based on the Attestation performed by RCHA.
ED is pleased to inform you that the CAP that ASG submitted on September 15 is approved. In addition, as noted above, ASG has submitted the final Payroll Attestation Report issued by RCHA. ASG has therefore met the conditions originally imposed in the FFY 2007 special conditions, and, under the terms of section II.A.2.a of the FFY 2008 special conditions, as outlined above, all FFY 2007 grant funds remaining available for obligation or liquidation are now available for draw down by ASG. Funds under ASG’s FFY 2008 grant awards are also now available for drawdown by ASG; however, a restriction applies to the draw down of FFY 2008 grant funds. Specifically, as ASG agreed, ED will allow ASG to draw down only up to fifty percent of the funds available in each FFY 2008 grant award issued on or after the date of the FFY 2008 special conditions until such time as ASG has submitted the FY 2007 single audit to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse and submitted an acceptable PCAP to ED. As of the date of this letter, ASG has not yet submitted the FY 2007 single audit to the Federal Audit Clearinghouse. While ASG has developed a PCAP and submitted it to ED, ED is in the process of reviewing it and will respond to ASG under separate cover as to approval or any changes required prior to approval. ED will notify ASG when it has met the requirements necessary for removal of the restriction on draw down of FFY 2008 grant funds.
Finally, ASG will now be required to report semiannually on its progress under the CAP, as outlined in section II.B.2 of the FY 2008 special conditions (please note that these CAP semiannual reports will replace the semiannual high-risk reports that were required under previous versions of ASG’s special conditions (i.e. the program progress and expenditure reports)). As set forth in section 1l.B.2 of the FY 2008 special conditions, ASG is required to provide a semiannual report to ED on its progress in implementing measures required under the CAP, including the current status of ASG's implementation of the various measures and, if necessary, any changes in the targeted completion dates and/or person(s) responsible for ensuring that a particular corrective action is implemented. ASG must submit the CAP reports to ED no later than thirty days after the end of each semiannual period. Therefore, semiannual reports shall be submitted to ED by April 30th for the period covering October 1st to March 31st and by October 31st for the period covering April 1st to September 30th. The first semiannual CAP report must cover the period October 1, 2008 to March 31, 2009 and must be submitted to ED by April 30, 2009. As stated in the special conditions, if the report is not timely or is not considered acceptable by ED, it may result in ED taking one or more remedies including the following for any applicable program(s): the reinstatement of quarterly reporting; the imposition of further conditions; the recovery of misspent funds; or the implementation of a contract with a third party to provide services.
We appreciate your dedication and willingness to take actions necessary to improve ASG's internal and operational controls, and to improve the administration of Federal education funds. These actions will help improve ASG’s accountability and strengthen its fiscal operations and reporting. We recognize that ASG’s management is still facing significant challenges as it strives to improve its operations and oversight of ED’s grant funds, but we are encouraged by the demonstrated actions ASG has taken to date in addressing its significant deficiencies. To that end, we look forward to your continued efforts and the benefits those efforts will bring to the children of American Samoa.
Sincerely,
Philip A. Maestri, Director
Risk Management Service
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