A newly unsealed multi-county grand jury report in Oklahoma reveals millions of dollars in mismanagement. Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund (GEER).
The report says it found “gross negligence in federal funding” and the misuse of $40 million, denying Oklahomans the help they really need.
“Nevertheless, the grossly negligent handling of federal grants and the total lack of internal control and oversight of grant-funded efforts is irresponsible, unfortunate, and indefensible. Moreover, millions of dollars in wasted and mis-spent in emergency aid could easily have been prevented, most during a global pandemic. Vulnerable Oklahomans were denied much-needed assistance. They deserve more from their government,” the jury said.
Although the report alleges that there were other troubling acts and conduct, ultimately there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a crime had been committed.
“While our investigation uncovered highly troubling practices and actions (and inactions) by state government agencies, non-state agencies, and private individuals tasked with establishing and managing the BTG and SIS initiatives, , it was ultimately determined that there was insufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable amount of suspicion that a crime had been committed. We also found no intentional or corrupt misconduct or intentional misconduct,” the report said.
The report highlights that the grand jury ultimately found that the problem was largely due to the state's disregard of existing administrative safeguards, stating that “EKCO director approval for all integrated vendors on the platform , which effectively ignored all internal control options available to us.”
It goes on to say that as a result, “there are no restrictions in place from the outset on what products families can purchase with BTG funds, and no one monitors purchases on the back end to ensure they comply with program requirements.” There was no one there,” he said. It is surprising, therefore, that a large portion of BTG's award money (more than $1.7 million, as assessed by the State Comptroller) was used to purchase items that could not reasonably be considered to serve emergency educational purposes. Not. ”
Some of the items listed were household luxuries and had nothing to do with the educational system.
“Such impermissible purchases include 817 televisions, 385 clocks or smartwatches, 179 doorbell cameras, 174 cell phones and related accessories, 71 refrigerators, 27 Xbox systems, and three Christmas trees. The use of these funds to purchase non-educational items complies with the State's obligation to ensure that GEER Fund funds are used only for pandemic-related emergency education assistance. Not only was the money violated, but the funds may have been diverted to provide the pandemic relief for which it was actually intended,” the report states.
“The state authorized these individuals and entities to control millions of dollars in federal funds without any review process or formal agreements to ensure accountability to the state,” the grand jury said. .
The Oklahoma State Department of Education also released a statement regarding the findings.
“Superintendent Walters has prioritized the use of taxpayer funds in a prudent and efficient manner. Unfortunately, in this case, the vendors involved were not held to the same standards.Walters The Superintendent's deep commitment to fiscal responsibility and taxpayer accountability has been demonstrated during his time as Secretary and now as State Superintendent. Under his leadership, OSDE is as efficient as possible with taxpayer dollars. “We have established the highest standards for use in this field,” the ministry said.
