[Audit Report on On-Call Substitute Teachers, Department of Education, Government of Guam]
[From the U.S. Government Printing Office, www.gpo.gov]
Report No. 99-I-13
Title: Audit Report on On-Call Substitute Teachers, Department
of Education, Government of Guam
Date: October 21, 1998
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U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Inspector General
AUDIT REPORT
ON-CALL SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS,
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION,
GOVERNMENT OF GUAM
REPORT NO. 99-I-13
OCTOBER 1998
MEMORANDUM
TO: The Secretary
FROM: Richard N. Reback
Acting Inspector General
SUBJECT SUMMARY: Final Audit Report for Your Information
- "On-Call Substitute Teachers,
Department of Education,
Government of Guam" (No. 99-I-13)
Attached for your information is a copy of the subject final
audit report. The objective of the audit was to determine
whether Guam's Department of Education complied with applicable
laws and budgetary and accounting procedures in its
administration of the on-call substitute teachers program.
However, our review was limited because the Department did not
have manual or automated records that were adequate to identify
and determine the total cost of the program.
We found that the Department paid substitute teachers for hours
not worked, for hours worked on nonschool days, and for hours
that were not adequately supported by required documents. In
addition, the Department did not provide its schools with
access to or funding for an adequate number of qualified
substitute teachers. As a result, during fiscal years 1996 and
1997, the Department paid the substitute teachers in our sample
$10,766 in excess payments (the total excess payments to all
substitute teachers may be as high as $316,000) and $10,915 in
unsupported payments (the total unsupported payments to all
substitute teachers may be as high as $1 million). In
addition, schools had to combine classes and/or use school
aides in lieu of substitute teachers and therefore the
Department could not ensure that public school students
received a quality education.
To correct the conditions noted, we made four recommendations.
Specifically, we recommended that the Department of Education
(1) update payroll procedures for substitute teachers, (2)
prepare a handbook detailing the responsibilities and payment
procedures for substitute teachers, (3) submit a request to
amend the Guam retirement law to allow retired teachers to be
hired as substitute teachers without financial penalty, and (4)
improve the process of estimating the costs of substitute
teachers to permit more accurate budgeting.
Although we requested a response to the report by September 18,
1998, the Board of Education had not provided a response as of
September 30, 1998. However, based on the Department of
Education's September 17, 1998, submission to the Guam
Legislature of draft legislation to allow retired teachers to
work as substitute teachers without financial penalty, we
considered one recommendation resolved and implemented and the
three remaining recommendations unresolved.
If you have any questions concerning this matter, please
contact me at (202) 208-5745 or Mr. Robert J. Williams,
Assistant Inspector General for Audits, at (202) 208-4252.
Attachment
N-IN-GUA-004-97-B
Ms. Gloria Nelson
Chairperson
Interim Board of Education
Post Office Box DE
Hagatna, Guam 96932
Subject: Audit Report on On-Call Substitute
Teachers, Department of Education,
Government of Guam (No. 99-I-13)
Dear Ms. Nelson:
This report presents the results of our review of the
Department of Education's on-call substitute teacher
program. The objective of our review was to determine
whether the Department complied with applicable laws and
budgetary and accounting procedures in its administration of
its on-call substitute teacher program. The scope of the
audit included, for fiscal years 1996 and 1997, a review of
the number and costs of substitute teachers in public
schools; the procedures used to administer the selection,
use, and payment of substitute teachers; and the sources of
and controls over funding for substitute teachers. However,
our audit scope was limited because the Department did not
have manual or automated records that were adequate to
identify and determine the total cost of the on-call
substitute teacher program.
We concluded that the Department needed to make improvements
in its on-call substitute teacher program. Specifically,
the Department paid substitute teachers for hours not
worked, for hours worked on nonschool days, and for hours
that were not adequately supported by required documents.
In addition, the Department did not provide its schools with
access to or funding for an adequate number of qualified
substitute teachers.
These conditions occurred because the Department had not
provided adequate written guidance to the Department's
Payroll Section personnel, school timekeepers, and
substitute teachers to ensure that the substitute teachers
were paid only for hours actually worked and in compliance
with the Department's directives. In addition, the shortage
of substitute teachers and funding occurred because (1) the
Government of Guam's retirement law effectively prevented
retired teachers from working as substitute teachers despite
a shortage of qualified substitute teachers and (2) the
Department, during fiscal years 1996 and 1997, did not
allocate sufficient funds to pay for all needed substitute
teachers because the Department did not consider and
determine all of the costs associated with using school
aides as substitute teachers.
As a result, during fiscal years 1996 and 1997, the
Department paid the substitute teachers in our sample excess
payments of $10,766 (the total excess payments to all
substitute teachers may be as high as $316,000) and
unsupported payments of $10,915 (the total unsupported
payments to all substitute teachers may be as high as $1
million). In addition, the Department's schools sometimes
had to combine classes and/or use school aides in lieu of
substitute teachers and therefore could not ensure that
Guam's public school students received the quality of
education intended by Federal law and the Board of
Education's goals.
To correct the conditions noted, we recommended that you, as
the Chairperson of the Board of Education, instruct the
Director of the Department of Education to (1) prepare a
single set of written procedures for substitute teacher
timekeeping and payroll processing to be issued and used by
all school timekeepers and Payroll Section personnel; (2)
prepare and distribute a Substitute Teacher Procedures
Handbook, which contains guidelines and responsibilities for
all substitute teachers, including the specific limitations
and rights of substitute teachers relating to payment for
services; and (3) perform a financial analysis to estimate
the total financial cost of using school aides as substitute
teachers and, based on the costs identified, adjust the
annual Departmentwide and individual school budget
allocations to ensure adequate funding of substitute
teachers. Finally, we recommended that you submit a request
to the Guam Legislature to amend Title 4, Section 8121
("Suspension of Annuity Payments"), of the Guam Code
Annotated to exempt retired teachers from the required
suspension of retirement benefits when they are employed as
on-call substitute teachers.
Based on the Department of Education's September 17, 1998,
submission (Appendix 2) to the Guam Legislature of draft
legislation to allow retired teachers to work as substitute
teachers without financial penalty, we consider
Recommendation B.1 resolved and implemented. However, we
transmitted a draft of this report to you requesting your
comments by September 18, 1998, but we had not received a
response as of September 30, 1998. Therefore, this final
report is being issued without the benefit of your comments,
and Recommendations A.1, A.2, and B.2 are unresolved (see
Appendix 3).
The Inspector General Act, Public Law 95-452, Section
5(a)(3), as amended, requires semiannual reporting to the
U.S. Congress on all audit reports issued, the monetary
impact of audit findings (Appendix 1), actions taken to
implement audit recommendations, and identification of each
significant recommendation on which corrective action has
not been taken.
In view of the above, please provide a response, as required
by Public Law 97-357, to this report by November 25, 1998.
The response should be addressed to our Pacific Field
Office, 415 Chalan San Antonio, Baltej Pavilion, Suite 306,
Tamuning, Guam 96911. The response should provide the
information requested in Appendix 2.
We appreciate the assistance of management and staff of the
Department of Education in the conduct of our audit.
Sincerely,
Richard N. Reback
Acting Inspector General
cc: Director, Department of Education
Governor of Guam
CONTENTS Page
INTRODUCTION................................................... 1
BACKGROUND................................................. 1
OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE........................................ 2
PRIOR AUDIT COVERAGE....................................... 3
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS................................... 4
A. PAYMENTS TO SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS........................ 4
B. ACCESS TO AND FUNDING FOR SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS.......... 7
APPENDICES
1. CLASSIFICATION OF MONETARY AMOUNTS.................... 10
2. RESPONSE TO DRAFT REPORT 11
3. STATUS OF AUDIT REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS................ 15
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND
The original (1950) version of the Organic Act of Guam
(Title 48, Section 1421g(b), of the U.S. Code Annotated)
stated, "The Governor [of Guam] shall provide an
adequate public educational system of Guam, and to that
end shall establish, maintain, and operate public
schools according to the laws of Guam." On November 19,
1993, Guam Public Law 22-42 was enacted to repeal and
enact a new version of Title 17, Section 3101, of the
Guam Code Annotated, which established the Department of
Education within the Government of Guam. Section 3102
of the new version of Title 17 states, "The Department
[of Education] shall be administered through the
Territorial Board of Education . . . which shall be the
governing and policy-making body of the Department."
Further, Section 3102(a) states that the Territorial
Board will hire a Director and Deputy Director of
Education.
Prior to April 28, 1997, Education's primary funding was
provided by appropriations from the General Fund.
However, on April 28, 1997, Guam Public Law 24-17
created the School Operations Fund and changed the
Department's primary source of funding from General Fund
appropriations to the Gross Receipts Tax. Under this
law, 88 percent of the total monthly collections of
gross receipts taxes are to be transferred to the
Department of Education. Further, effective on May 21,
1997, Guam Public Law 24-34 amended Title 11 of the Guam
Code Annotated by adding Section 26208, which designated
the Director of Education as the official responsible
for receiving, accounting for, and disbursing all monies
in the School Operations Fund.
On February 27, 1998, Guam Public Law 24-142 was enacted
to divide the Board of Education into four elected
District Boards of Education, each with a District
Superintendent. In addition, a restructured Department
of Education, with the Director appointed by the
Governor, was created to provide guidance to and
coordinate the activities of the districts and to "serve
as the state educational agency for purposes of Federal
statutes, policies, grants, programs and regulations."
This law also provided for the existing school board to
serve on an interim basis for a 1-year transition period
and for the election, in November 1998, of the members
of the four new District Boards of Education.
During fiscal year 1997, the Department of Education had
total revenues of $168.8 million ($152.6 million from
local sources and $16.2 million from Federal sources)
and total expenditures of $167.2 million ($150.6 million
from local funds and $16.6 million[1] from Federal
funds). During the same fiscal year, the Department had
3,792 employees and administered 36 schools that had a
total enrollment of 32,923 students.
During fiscal years 1996 and 1997, the Department
employed about 400 individuals each year as substitute
teachers for regular elementary, middle, and high school
classes; for special education classes; for Language
Other Than English (LOTE) classes; and as one-to-one
aides for disabled children attending public schools.
The Department's Personnel Services Division provided
screening of applicants (substitute teachers are
required to be high school graduates and obtain police
clearances) and issued written certificates to all
substitute teachers authorized to work in the public
schools. However, because of the transient nature of
the jobs and the individuals who worked as substitute
teachers, the Department did not budget positions for a
specific number of or school locations for substitute
teachers. The Department considered substitute teachers
as temporary employees who generally were paid only for
the hours actually worked.
During fiscal year 1995, while the Department
reorganized the on-call substitute teacher program, the
Department's central office managed the substitute
teacher program budget.[2] However, for fiscal years
1996 and 1997, the Department emphasized site-based
management and in each year allocated $1.68 million for
the substitute teacher program among the 35 schools.[3]
Each school was delegated responsibility for the daily
management of its share of the substitute teacher
budget. According to Departmental officials, when
schools ran out of funds allocated for substitute
teachers, additional funds were allocated by the
Department to cover the costs. Although the
Department's accounting system could not provide exact
amounts, we found that the Department expended at least
$1.9 million in fiscal year 1996 and at least $2.3
million in fiscal year 1997 for on-call substitute
teachers.
OBJECTIVE AND SCOPE
The objective of our review was to determine whether the
Department of Education complied with applicable laws
and budgetary and accounting procedures in its
administration of the on-call substitute teachers
program. The scope of the audit included, for fiscal
years 1996 and 1997, a review of the number and cost of
substitute teachers in the public schools; the
procedures used to administer the selection, use, and
payment of substitute teachers; and the source of and
controls over funding for substitute teachers. However,
our review was limited because the Department did not
have manual or automated records that were adequate to
identify and determine the total cost of the on-call
substitute teacher program. For example, the Department
was not able to provide, nor were we able to develop
using school and payroll records, complete listings of
and the costs related to substitute teachers who worked
during specified pay periods at the schools reviewed.
We visited the Department of Education, the Department
of Administration, the Bureau of Budget and Management
Research, and 10 public schools (5 elementary, 3 middle,
and 2 high schools) to interview officials and review
records pertaining to the on-call substitute teacher
program.
Our review was made in accordance with the "Government
Auditing Standards," issued by the Comptroller General
of the United States. Accordingly, we included such
tests of records and other auditing procedures that were
considered necessary under the circumstances.
As part of the audit, we evaluated the system of
internal controls related to the operational and
financial management of the on-call substitute teacher
program to the extent that we considered necessary to
accomplish the audit objective. We identified internal
control weaknesses in the areas of payments to
substitute teachers and the budgeting for substitute
teachers, which are discussed in the Findings and
Recommendations section of this report. Our
recommendations, if implemented, should improve the
internal controls in these areas.
PRIOR AUDIT COVERAGE
During the past 5 years, neither the U.S. General
Accounting Office nor the Office of Inspector General
has issued any audit reports concerning the Department
of Education's on-call substitute teacher program.
However, an independent public accounting firm issued
single audit reports on Government of Guam operations
for fiscal years 1995 and 1996, which included findings
related to the on-call substitute teacher program.
Specifically, the 1995 single audit report stated that
the Department of Education (1) did not provide Federal
grantor agencies with the required estimates of the
number of disabled children and the personnel needed to
educate them, (2) did not provide all requested time
sheets and related payroll records to the auditors, and
(3) did not properly authorize payroll records. These
findings were still unresolved at the time of the single
audit for fiscal year 1996. Although the Department's
single audit for fiscal year 1997 (which began in July
1998) will again be conducted as part of the Government
of Guam's single audit, the Department will be audited
as a component unit instead of as a line agency within
the Executive Branch.
**FOOTNOTES**
[1]:Expenditures from Federal funds exceeded revenues from
Federal sources because the Department had carryover funds
from fiscal year 1996 that were available for use during
fiscal year 1997.
[2]:Although the Department's budget request included $3.5
million for on-call substitute teachers for fiscal year 1995,
Departmental personnel could not provide information on the
actual amount of funding included in the fiscal year 1995 budget
for substitute teachers.
[3]:A 36th school was opened in August 1997, and its expenses
for substitute teachers are included in the $2.3 million expended
by the Department in fiscal year 1997.
FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
A. PAYMENTS TO SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS
The Department of Education paid substitute teachers for
hours not worked, hours worked on nonschool days, and
hours that were not adequately supported by required
documents. Title 17, Section 3102(g), of the Guam Code
Annotated states, "The Board [of Education] shall
establish and approve rules and regulations for the
administration of the Department which are consistent
with recognized sound business principles and
management." Sections 906.197(3) and (4) of the Board
of Education Policy 906.00 ("Certification and
Appointments") establish pay guidelines, qualifications,
and restrictions on the use of substitute teachers, and
Department of Education Operating Instructions No.
OI: 94-47 identifies the official reporting procedures
required for processing payments to substitute teachers.
Despite these requirements, the Department had not
provided adequate written guidance to the Department's
Payroll Section personnel, school timekeepers, and
substitute teachers to ensure that substitute teachers
were paid only for hours actually worked and in
compliance with the Department's directives. As a
result, during fiscal years 1996 and 1997, the
Department paid the substitute teachers in our sample
excess payments of $10,766 (the total excess payments to
all substitute teachers may be as high as $316,000) and
unsupported payments of $10,915 (the total unsupported
payments to all substitute teachers may be as high as $1
million).
According to Departmental records, the Department paid
382 substitute teachers $1.9 million in fiscal year 1996
and 444 substitute teachers $2.3 million in fiscal year
1997.[4] We reviewed the Department's records for
payments to substitute teachers for 10 pay periods
(5 in fiscal year 1996 and 5 in fiscal year 1997) at 10
of 35 public schools and determined that for the pay
periods and schools reviewed, the Department paid
223 substitute teachers a total of $140,620[5] for
15,714.5 hours of work. For these 223 substitute
teachers, we traced the hours worked, as recorded in the
Biweekly Attendance Sheet (the official payroll
document), to (1) the Daily Substitute Teachers Report,
(2) the payroll records maintained at the Payroll
Section, (3) the personnel records at the Personnel
Services Division for 44 of the 223 substitute teachers,
and (4) the actual amounts the Department paid to each
substitute teacher reviewed. The results of our reviews
are discussed in the paragraphs that follow.
**FOOTNOTES**
[4]:Manual and automated records maintained by the
Department's schools and Central office were not adequate to
provide a complete and accurate listing of all substitutes
who worked and the amounts paid to them. For example, we
verified, for 3 of the 10 schools tested, the accuracy of a
Department labor distribution report that listed substitute
teachers and identified 20 substitutes who had worked at the
3 schools during the pay periods tested but who were not
listed in the labor distribution report.
[5]:The total does not include payments made by the Department
for the Government's share of Social Security Federal Insurance
Compensation Act tax and Guam retirement system
contributions. Although the labor distribution report for
substitute teachers included these amounts, the reports did not
include all substitute teachers. Therefore, we did not estimate
the total amount of Government contributions.
Excess Payments
Board of Education Policy 906.197(4) states, "Short-term
appointees and on-call substitutes . . . are entitled to
pay only for hours worked, except that assignment for
five (5) consecutive school days or more (to substitute
for the same teacher) shall entitle the person to pay
for an eight-hour day beginning on the sixth day `if the
assignment includes lesson preparation/grading.'"
Further, in memoranda dated September 14, 1995, and
September 5, 1996, the Associate Superintendent, Special
Education, notified all school principals that the "Fair
Labor Standards Act (FLSA) requires that an employee be
granted a minimum of a one-half hour lunch. The hours
paid are exclusive of the lunch hour." Finally,
principals at 2 of the 10 schools reviewed had prepared
substitute teacher handbooks, and one of the handbooks
provided substitute teachers with instructions for
keeping and submitting time sheets, stating that
"substitute teachers will be paid for only the hours
they have worked during the day."
We determined that the Department paid substitute
teachers $10,766 (of the $140,620) for 1,171 hours in
excess of hours authorized by substitute teacher payment
guidelines. The excess payments included payments for
lunch periods, 8-hour days before the substitute
teachers qualified under the extended work provision of
Board of Education Policy 906.197(4), and work during
days when children were not present because of such
activities as parent/teacher conferences. The Payroll
Section Supervisor told us that she "misunderstood" the
guidelines on extended substitute teaching. The school
timekeepers at the 10 schools reviewed stated that the
Payroll Section had instructed them to pay substitute
teachers for 8 hours per day from the first day of an
extended teaching assignment instead of from the sixth
day, as required by Departmental policy. According to
school timekeepers, substitute teachers were used for
parent/teacher conferences when they filled vacant
teaching positions. Although we believe that this
practice is reasonable, we questioned the payment of
$819 for 91 hours charged on nonteaching days because
the written guidance provided by the Department does not
address this issue. Based on the results of our limited
review of payments to substitute teachers, we estimated
that the Department could have overpaid substitute
teachers as much as $132,700 in fiscal year 1996 and
$183,900 in fiscal year 1997.
Unsupported Payments
Department of Education Operating Instructions No. OI:
94-47 states, "Principals shall: complete the attached
Daily Substitute Teacher Report for every day that a
substitute is used; and submit it and the attendant
information . . . to the Payroll Section at the end of
each pay period." The Daily Substitute Teacher Report
form states, "The teachers' leave form and substitutes'
time sheets must be attached to this form." In addition,
the report form requires that the payroll clerk sign the
document and the school administrator certify that the
report is correct.
We reviewed records for five pay periods at three
schools (one elementary, one middle, and one high
school) and determined that the Department paid
substitute teachers at least $10,915 for 1,199 hours
without the documentation of Daily Substitute Teacher
Reports to support that the substitute teachers actually
worked and replaced a particular teacher or performed an
authorized teaching assignment. According to the
timekeepers at the three schools, this condition
occurred for reasons such as the following: (1) the aide
assigned to complete the forms "did not do the job
properly," (2) the alternate timekeeper "didn't make
the proper entries," and (3) the responsible
individuals "made errors in filling out the forms"
through oversights. Although we did not quantify the
dollar impact for the other seven schools tested, we did
note similar problems at each of the other schools. For
example, officials at one middle school could not locate
any records for the pay period ending October 14, 1995,
and officials at another middle school did not prepare
the Daily Substitute Teacher Reports. Based on our
limited review, we estimated that the Department may
have paid substitute teachers as much as $769,100 in
fiscal year 1996 and $230,500 in fiscal year 1997
without adequate support for the payments.
Recommendations
We recommend that the Chairperson of the Board of
Education instruct the Director of the Department of
Education to:
1. Update and consolidate the written procedures for
substitute teacher timekeeping and payroll processing to
be issued to and used by all school timekeepers and
Payroll Section personnel.
2. Prepare and distribute a Substitute Teacher
Procedures Handbook which contains guidelines and
responsibilities for all substitute teachers, including
the specific limitations and rights of substitute
teachers relating to payment for services.
Board of Education Response and Office of Inspector
General Reply
The Board of Education did not respond to the draft
report. Therefore, Recommendations 1 and 2 are unresolved
(see Appendix 3).
B. ACCESS TO AND FUNDING FOR SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS
The Department of Education did not provide its schools
with access to or funding for an adequate number of
qualified substitute teachers. Title 48, Section
1421g(b), of the U.S. Code Annotated states,
"The Government of Guam shall provide an adequate public
educational system of Guam." In addition, the Board of
Education adopted, as one of its nine educational goals,
the goal of ensuring that every adult on Guam possesses
the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global
economy. The shortage of substitute teachers occurred,
at least in part, because the Government of Guam's
retirement law effectively prevented retired teachers
from working as substitute teachers despite a shortage of
qualified substitute teachers. In addition, during fiscal
years 1996 and 1997, the Department did not allocate
funds to pay for a sufficient number of substitute
teachers because it did not consider and determine
the incremental costs necessary to hire additional
substitute teachers instead of using school aides in
lieu of substitute teachers. As a result, the
Department's schools had to combine some classes and/or
use school aides in lieu of substitute teachers and
therefore could not ensure that Guam's public school
students received the quality of education intended by
Federal law and the Board of Education goals.
Obtaining Qualified Substitute Teachers
Title 4, Section 8121 ("Suspension of Annuity Payments")
, of the Guam Code Annotated states, "A retired member who
subsequently becomes an employee not ineligible for
membership . . . shall upon becoming so employed, have
his right to receive payment of his annuity suspended
for the duration of his employment." This section of
the Code also provides an exemption for certain
categories of personnel employed (not temporarily) as
(1) classroom teachers when a critical need arises; (2)
Chamorro language teachers; and (3) hospital personnel,
such as nurses. However, the section does not provide
an exemption for retired teachers temporarily employed
as substitute teachers. According to school principals
and Departmental administrators, retired teachers,
although they would like to work as substitute teachers,
could not afford to lose their retirement benefits while
being employed as substitute teachers. Departmental
officials also stated that retired teachers had "far
more to offer students" (because of their teaching
experience) than most of the other substitute teachers.
Officials at the 10 schools reviewed stated that they
often had a shortage of substitute teachers and had to
address the problem in different ways, including having
the principal or assistant principal teach the classes
and combining some classes to provide adult supervision.
Officials at two of the three middle schools and at both
high schools reviewed told us that classes had to be
combined because of a shortage of substitute teachers.
For example, during our testing of the pay period ending
February 3, 1996, we noted that at one high school, for
8 of the 10 school days during the pay period, the lack
of substitute teachers necessitated combining from 6 to
11 classes per day in the school cafeteria. In
addition, during the same pay period, one of the high
school mathematics classes spent 1 week in the
cafeteria. Departmental administrators stated that
students learn very little in such a situation when
compared with learning in a classroom environment. In
our opinion, public school students, because of the
effects of the retirement law, did not have the benefit
of both the teaching experience and the additional
number of substitute teachers who would have been
available from the ranks of retired teachers.
Funding for Substitute Teachers
Title 17, Section 3102(g), of the Guam Code Annotated
directs the Department of Education to establish rules
and regulations that are consistent with recognized
sound business principles and management. In addition,
Section 906.197 of Department of Education Board Policy
906.00 ("Certification and Appointments") requires that
substitute teachers be high school graduates. Further,
Department of Education Special Instruction No. 95-9
states, "School aides assigned to classrooms, except the
computer lab, are not to be used for regular classroom
substitute purposes." Finally, the school aide job
descriptions state, and our review of school aide
personnel files confirmed, that school aides were not
required to have high school diplomas to be either
employed or promoted.
To calculate the annual budget allocation for fiscal
years 1996 and 1997 for substitute teachers and to
distribute the funds among the 35 public schools, the
Department's central office used a formula based on the
prior year's expenditures for substitute teachers and
the percentage of teacher absences. However, according
to Departmental administrators, the Department's budget
allocation for substitute teachers did not reflect the
schools' use of school aides as substitute teachers
because information was not available on the incremental
costs necessary to hire an adequate number of substitute
teachers. Based on our review, we determined that the
schools did not maintain records of the frequency or
cost of using school aides as substitute teachers
because the aides were detailed from other duties at the
same schools. Officials at all 10 of the schools
reviewed stated that they frequently had to use school
aides as substitute teachers, and officials at 6 of the
10 schools specifically cited a shortage of funding for
substitute teachers as the reason why school aides were
used in lieu of substitute teachers. According to
Departmental officials, the Department, although funding
allocations for substitute teachers may have been
insufficient, provided schools with additional
substitute teacher funding as needed and requested.
However, for the schools that used aides to substitute
teach, public school students did not have the benefit
of the teaching experience and training provided by on-
call substitute teachers and may not have received
adequate instruction from the school aides used in lieu
of substitute teachers.
Recommendations
We recommend that the Chairperson of the Board of
Education:
1. Submit a request to the Guam Legislature to amend
Title 4, Section 8121 ("Suspension of Annuity Payment"),
of the Guam Code Annotated to exempt retired teachers
from the required suspension of retirement benefits if
they are employed as on-call substitute teachers.
2. Instruct the Director of the Department of
Education to perform a financial analysis to estimate
the total financial cost of using school aides as
substitute teachers and, based on the costs identified,
adjust the annual Departmentwide and individual school
budget allocations for on-call substitute teachers to
ensure adequate funding of substitute teachers.
Board of Education Response and Office of Inspector
General Reply
In response to Recommendation 1, the Department of
Education's legal counsel provided us, by letter dated
September 18, 1998 (Appendix 2), a copy of draft
legislation which was submitted to the Chairman, Committee
on Education,Guam Legislature, on September 17, 1998.
The legislation would amend Title 4, Section 8121, of the
Guam Code Annotated to allow retired teachers to be hired
as substitute teachers without financial penalty. Based on
the draft legislation submitted, we consider
Recommendation 1 resolved and implemented. However, the
Board of Education did not respond to the draft report.
Therefore, Recommendation 2 is unresolved (see Appendix 3).
APPENDIX 1
CLASSIFICATION OF MONETARY AMOUNTS
Funds To Be
Put
Finding Area
To Better Use*
A. Payment of Substitute Teachers
Excess Payments $10,766
Unsupported Payments 10,915
Total $21,681
*The amounts represent local funds.
APPENDIX 2
Page 1 of 4
RESPONSE TO DRAFT REPORT
APPENDIX 3
STATUS OF AUDIT REPORT RECOMMENDATIONS
-----------------------------------------------------------
Finding/Recommendation
Reference Status Action Required
_________ ______ _______________
A.1 Unresolved Reconsider the
recommendation, and provide
a response indicating
concurrence or
nonconcurrence. If
concurrence is indicated,
provide a plan of action
that identifies the target
date and the title of the
official responsible for
updating and consolidating
the written procedures for
substitute teacher
timekeeping and payroll
processing which are to be
issued to and used by all
school timekeepers and
Payroll Section personnel.
A.2 Unresolved Reconsider the
recommendation, and provide
a response indicating
concurrence or
nonconcurrence. If
concurrence is indicated,
provide a plan of action
that identifies the target
date and the title of the
official responsible for
preparing and distributing
the Substitute Teacher
Procedures Handbook, which
contains guidelines and
responsibilities for all
substitute teachers,
including the specific
limitations and rights of
substitute teachers relating
to payment for services.
B.1 Implemented No further action is
required.
B.2 Unresolved Reconsider the
recommendation, and provide
a response indicating
concurrence or
nonconcurrence. If
concurrence is indicated,
provide a plan of action
that identifies the target
date and the title of the
official responsible for
performing a financial
analysis to estimate the
total cost of using school
aides as substitute teachers
and, based on the costs
identified, for adjusting
the annual Departmentwide
and individual school budget
allocations for on-call
substitute teachers to
ensure adequate funding of
substitute teachers.
-------------------------------------------------------------
ILLEGAL OR WASTEFUL ACTIVITIES SHOULD BE REPORTED
TO THE OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL BY:
Sending written documents to:
Within the Continental United States
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Inspector General
1849 C Street,N.W.
Mail Stop 5341
Washington, D.C. 20240
Calling:
Our 24 hour
Telephone HOTLINE
1-800-424-5081 or
(202) 208-5300
TDD for hearing impaired
(202) 208-2420 or
1-800-354-0996
Outside the Continental United States
Caribbean Region
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Inspector General
Eastern Division- Investigations
1550 Wilson Boulevard
Suite 410
Arlington, Virginia 22209
Calling:
(703) 235-9221
North Pacific Region
U.S. Department of the Interior
Office of Inspector General
North Pacific Region
238 Archbishop F.C. F'lores Street
Suite 807, PDN Building
Agana, Guam 96910
Calling:
(700) 550-7428 or
COMM 9-011-671-472-7279