Joint audit questions $29M in Guam DOE spending

We first brought you a story back in 2024 about pallets of public school textbooks apparently ending up in a landfill.  Now a joint investigative audit by the Office of Public Accountability and the Guam Department of Education is taking a closer look at the situation, with the report questioning millions in costs. 

Two years ago education officials grilled then-GDOE superintendent Dr. Kenneth Swanson over pallets of textbooks, some still in brand-new condition, ending up tossed in a landfill following campus cleanups.  Now, the OPA in collaboration with GDOE has released an investigative audit of the department’s accountability of textbooks — revealing collective deficiencies totaling $29 million in questioned costs. The report noting textbook orders exceeding documented enrollment needs, resulting in $7 million in excess inventory. 

A deeper look revealing English textbooks across all grade levels went over projected needs by 152%, while high school math books exceeded needs by 87%. 

And despite $7.5 million in locally-appropriated funds for textbooks between Fiscal Years 2020-2024, the report finding Guam DOE had not used those monies since 2021, instead, relying heavily on federal grants — putting GovGuam's largest agency at risk for supplanting. 

Also contributing to total amount in questioned costs: $23.9 million related to missing contracts, records, and required attorney general review, and $1.7 million in unsupported sole-source procurements. 

Now Guam DOE must come up with a corrective action plan to implement audit recommendations. 

KUAM reached out to GDOE for comment.