A multi-county Grand Jury investigation in Oklahoma finds pervasive mismanagement and waste in the Governor's Emergency Educational Relief or GEER fund.

 

 The Grand Jury probe found significant misspending of millions of dollars that were ear-marked to reduce the disruption students faced from the Covid-19 pandemic. The Grand Jury report found no criminal intent or purposeful corruption, the report characterized the handling of the grant money as irresponsible and indefensible.

 

Among the findings in the report released yesterday were preferential treatment for private schools and that certain families were allowed to apply before the official launch of public programs.

 

The Grand Jury offered several recommendations to address the issues found in its report. Among those recommendations are to improve the training of state employees and elected officials regarding recording keeping, fraud prevention, and conflicts of interest, as well as an establishment of written rules for any state agency receiving more than $10 million annually.

 

“While many of the issues revealed by our investigation were caused by ill-advised decisions by private individuals, the State bears the ultimate responsibility to account for its own misuse of federal funds. It cannot delegate or contract away this duty,” the report states.