by Krystal Paco

Guam - It's that time of year when the Guam Department of Education gets a report card from its federal counterpart. DOE deputy superintendent of finance and administrative services Taling Taitano says USDOE officials are here until the end of the week to validate that Guam DOE is making progress on their corrective action plan to get out of high-risk status.

The USDOE is concerned with the way DOE manages funds; part of the Corrective Action Plan includes implementing a new financial management system, which went live in April for finances and live in July with payroll.

Taitano feels good about their visit, saying DOE has made progress. Other points to improve upon are procurement, fixed assets, internal controls, and agreements between intergovernmental agencies.

Taitano says USDOE officials didn't know the status of our recent request for extension on the September 30th ARRA deadline, but hope to release the decision before Friday. The off-island officials are also set to meet with the governor, the OPA's Office, DOE's third-party fiduciary agent Alvarez and Marsal, and DOE's internal audit group.