SUPPORTING STATEMENT FOR
PAPERWORK REDUCTION ACT SUBMISSION
OVERSEAS SCHOOLS
- GRANT STATUS REPORT
OMB
Number 1405-0033
DS-2028
Why is this collection necessary and what are the legal statutes that allow this?
The Office of Overseas Schools of the Department of State (A/OPR/OS) is responsible for determining that adequate educational opportunities exist at Foreign Service Posts for dependents of U.S. Government personnel stationed abroad, and for assisting American-sponsored overseas schools to demonstrate U.S. educational philosophy and practice.
OMB Guidelines contained in Circular A-110, require that Financial Status Reports on federal grants be submitted not less than annually. The Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2396(d)); Section 102 of the Mutual Educational and Cultural Affairs Act of 1961, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2452); and Section 29 of the Department of State Basic Authorities Act of 1956, as amended (22 U.S.C. 2701), authorize the function of A/OPR/OS. The description of the Consolidated Overseas Schools Program is in 2 FAM 610. GAO decision B-149441, December 6, 1962, 42 Comp. Gen. 289, states that grants to American-sponsored overseas schools are not statutory unconditional grants or gifts. It further states that it is the responsibility of the Department of State to ensure that the grant funds are applied to the purposes and objects for which they are made.
What business purpose is the information gathered going to be used for?
To comply with the financial reporting requirements under 22 CFR Section 145.52, the form DS-2028, Overseas Schools Grant Status Report, is required. Each American-sponsored overseas school submits a completed DS-2028 to embassy officials who approve the report and verify that the information submitted is consistent with post records. Information from the DS-2028 has provided A/OPR/OS professional and technical staff with the means by which obligations, expenditures and reimbursements of the grant funds are monitored to ensure the grantee is in compliance with the terms of the grant.
Is this collection able to be completed electronically (e.g. through a website or application)?
We continue to enhance our electronic form capabilities. Currently, we have placed the form DS-2028 in an Excel spreadsheet. Form DS-2028 is sent as a link to the school along with the grant documents. School officials can complete the form electronically and forward the form to post for forwarding to A/OPR/OS. Because of security concerns with schools accessing the Department of State domain, they cannot access the Department’s internal forms database to complete the DS-2028.
Does this collection duplicate any other collection of information?
No other agency gathers information from these schools. There is no duplication of the data. The Department does have access to an automated worldwide financial system (GFMS), which is used to assist in monitoring reimbursement of grant funding, but no duplicative system exists for obtaining information on obligation and expenditure of USG grant funding by the schools.
Describe any impacts on small business.
The collection of this information does not impact small entities or small businesses.
What are consequences if this collection is not done?
The DS-2028 provides the embassy and A/OPR/OS with reports, on an annual basis, of obligations, expenditures, and reimbursements under each grant. Without the data provided on the form by the respondents, the embassy and the Department would not be able to monitor the usage of USG funds as required by OMB guidelines, the Comptroller General and U.S. laws.
Are there any special collection circumstances?
No special circumstances exist with respect to this information collection
Document publication (or intent to publish) a request for public comments in the Federal Register
The Department published a notice in the Federal Register (86 FR 5310) on January 19, 2021 soliciting public comments. No comments were received.
Are payments or gifts given to the respondents?
No payments or gifts are made to respondents, other than remuneration of grantees.
Describe assurances of privacy/confidentiality
There are no assurances of confidentiality.
Are any questions of a sensitive nature asked?
The form solicits information only related to usage of USG grant funds and does not contain any questions of a sensitive nature.
Describe the hour time burden and the hour cost burden on the respondent needed to complete this collection
Since all information submitted on the DS-2028 by the respondents would customarily be maintained by the schools as part of their normal business practices, there is no separate burden related to collection of this information.
The Department estimates that 193 respondents will spend 15 minutes annually completing the DS-2028. The annual time burden will be 48.25 hours (193 x 0.25). Based on consultation with 10 potential respondents, the estimated average hourly wage for a school business manager is $39.56, multiplied by 0.25 ($9.89) multiplied by the number of respondents (193) gives a monetized time burden of $1,909.00 (rounded).
Describe the monetary burden to respondents (out of pocket costs) needed to complete this collection.
No annual costs will be attributed to respondents.
Describe the cost incurred by the Federal Government to complete this collection.
The estimated burden to the Federal Government is $6,740.00.
The Federal Government estimate is based on the number of responses (193) and the average hourly processing times and average hourly salaries for Post and the Office of Overseas Schools.
Post:
Average hourly processing time half an hour (0.5) x 193 = 96 hours
Average hourly salary of an FS-03/5 Management Officer ($46.75) x 96 = $4,488
Office of Overseas Schools:
Average hourly processing time fifteen minutes (0.25) x 193 = 48.25 hours
Average hourly salary of a GS-12/5 Program Analyst ($46.88) x 48.25 = $2,261.96
Total = $4,488.00 + $2,261.96 = $6,738.24, rounded to $ $6,750.00.
Explain any changes/adjustments to this collection since the previous submission
This collection represents a decrease in the number of respondents as there were fewer schools requesting a grant.
Specify if the data gathered by this collection will be published.
Information gathered by this collection is not published.
If applicable, explain the reason(s) for seeking approval to not display the OMB expiration date.
The Department will display the OMB expiration date.
Explain any exceptions to the OMB certification statement below.
The Department is not seeking exceptions to the certification statement.
This collection does not employ statistical methods.
| File Type | application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document |
| Author | Canfield, Danielle P |
| File Modified | 0000-00-00 |
| File Created | 2021-05-08 |