Department of Education.
Notice of intent to compromise claim with request for comments.
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
We must receive your comments on the proposed action on or before May 16, 2011.
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.
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 (
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.
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
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
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
The official version of this document is the document published in the
20 U.S.C. 1234a(j).