2 FAM 630
STANDARD PROVISIONS OF THE AWARD UNDER 22 U.S.C. 2701 (SECTION 29 OF THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE BASIC AUTHORITIES ACT OF 1956, AS AMENDED BY THE FOREIGN SERVICE ACT OF 1980)
(CT:GEN-603; 02-26-2024)
(Office of Origin: A/OPR/OS)
2 FAM 631 AWARD DEFINITIONS
(CT:GEN-603; 02-26-2024)
(Uniform State/USAID)
For the purposes of the 2 FAM 600, the following definitions apply:
Award: Financial assistance that a Federal agency provides to a recipient to carry out a program.
Department: The U.S. Department of State.
Direct costs: Any costs identified with an award purpose.
Foreign Affairs Manual (FAM): The collection of the Department of State's
policy directives and procedures.
Obligation: A valid claim against the recipient of the award resulting from an authorized official action pursuant to orders placed, contracts awarded, services issued, and similar payable transactions.
Office of Overseas Schools (A/OPR/OS): Department of State office that is responsible for administering the Overseas Schools Assistance Program.
Post: A Foreign Service establishment in a country in which the U.S. Department of State maintains representation.
Recipient: An elementary or secondary school in a foreign country and/or a U.S. educational organization receiving assistance pursuant to criteria in 2 FAM 614.
2 FAM 632 AWARD ARTICLE I—LIAISON
(CT:GEN-603; 02-26-2024)
(Uniform State/USAID)
All liaisons with the U.S. Government concerning the rights and responsibilities that a recipient of an award incurs shall be, through the post, with the Office of Overseas Schools (A/OPR/OS).
2 FAM 633 AWARD ARTICLE II—PERFORMANCE
(CT:GEN-603; 02-26-2024)
(Uniform State/USAID)
a. The recipient certifies that it has the capability to plan, organize, and make all arrangements necessary to carry out the educational activities and projects in connection with the award.
b. The recipient certifies that it can make adequate progress to initiate the obligation of each line item in this award within the award period.
c. The recipient agrees, as a condition of receiving this award, to accept as students, at no more than the school's normal tuition rates, all dependent children of U.S. citizens under Chief of Mission authority engaged in carrying out U.S. Government activities who request admission and can meet the school's standards of admission.
d. The recipient warrants that it has not employed or retained any person or selling agency to solicit or secure this award through an agreement or understanding for a commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee. For breach or violation of this warranty, the U.S. Government shall have the right to annul this award without liability or at its discretion to deduct from the amount of the award or otherwise recover the full amount of such commission, percentage, brokerage, or contingent fee.
e. The recipient shall not, except with the consent of the post and the Office of Overseas Schools (A/OPR/OS), transfer or assign any part of the sum made available in this award to another individual, institution or organization for the performance of the functions, duties, or obligations that the recipient assumes under the award.
f. The recipient agrees that in connection with transportation paid for with funds made available under this award, that it will normally perform all travel consistent with Federal Travel Regulations. In extenuating circumstances that the recipient must justify in writing, the recipient may perform travel that A/OPR/OS has specifically authorized in advance. The recipient shall ensure that its employees including contract employees will use U.S.-flag airlines unless they are not available or their use is not feasible, and that the recipient and its employees including contract employees will not use travel funds available under the award to provide first-class accommodations.
g. The post shall disburse funds provided in this award by reimbursing for direct costs that the recipient incurs (excluding any of the recipient’s overhead expenses) in carrying out the approved purposes of this award and within a maximum time limit of 12 months, using Form DS-1909, Federal Assistance Award. The Post shall limit reimbursement to direct costs which the recipient has incurred for specified purposes from and after the effective date of this award unless A/OPR/OS has approved pre-award costs. The post shall not reimburse indirect costs under this award.
h. If the time prescribed should prove insufficient for the recipient to perform the purposes listed in the budget/purposes attachment of the award, A/OPR/OS, upon the request from the school and the post's concurrence, may initiate a one-time extension of the expiration date of the award for up to twelve (12) months, which the Director of the Office of Overseas Schools must approve. The recipient is responsible for ensuring that it submits a request for extension of the period of the award to the post sufficiently before the expiration date on Form DS-1909, to allow the post and A/OPR/OS to process it. Extension will be effective on the date the appropriate school official signs Form DS-1909, which A/OPR/OS has prepared and sent to the post and school.
i. If the recipient fails to abide by any of the conditions set forth in this award or if the U.S. Government deems it in the best interest of the United States to terminate the award, the U.S. Government may terminate it by giving the recipient no less than ten days' notice in writing, except in case of emergencies. If the Government terminates the award, the recipient shall immediately terminate any contracts or other obligations which it may have made and shall return to the U.S. Government any balance of funds received from the U.S. Government which is unused and is unnecessary to liquidate outstanding obligations.
j. Nothing contained in this award shall be construed as creating a contractual relationship between the U.S. Government and any person, contractor, or subcontractor that the recipient employed or retained.
k. The recipient agrees to maintain a responsibly governed institution that is organized pursuant to accepted practices for similar schools, with final authority over policy, finances, and other fundamental aspects of administration vested in a competent board of responsible persons, including U.S. citizen representatives.
l. The recipient, through its governing body's exercise of sound management and fiscal policies, agrees to follow financial policies which give reasonable certainty that the school will be capable of sustaining operations out of tuition or other school income. A recipient that expends $750,000 or more in awards during the recipient’s fiscal year in Department of State awards must have a single or program-specific audit conducted for that year in accordance with the provisions of 2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F. In addition, the recipients are subject to the audit requirements found in the Single Audit Act of 1984, 31 U.S.C. 7501-7506. The cost of an audit may be charged to the award in accordance with 2 CFR 200.425. If the recipient undergoes an audit for another Federal agency, a second audit does not need to be procured so long as the Department’s funding was analyzed under the same audit. A program-specific audit means an audit of one Federal award program. Single audit means an audit that includes both the recipient’s financial statements and the Department awards received to be conducted in accordance with Generally Accepted Government Auditing Standards (GAGAS). The audit must be independently and professionally executed in accordance with GAGAS either prescribed by a government’s Supreme Audit Institution with auditing standards approved by the Comptroller General of the United States, or in accordance with the host country’s laws or adopted by the host country’s public accountants or associations of public accountants, together with generally accepted international auditing standards. However, foreign entity audits consistent with International Standards for Auditing or other auditing standards are acceptable with the GO’s approval.
m. The recipient agrees to provide an assessment of the impact on the educational program for the use of grant funds under the A/OPR/OS prescribed accountability process.
n. The recipient shall provide a copy of the audit to A/OPR/OS and CGFS/FPRA/FAFM. The recipient will have one year to comply with recommendations to improve weaknesses that the post or the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of State has noted before the Department of State denies the recipient an award.
o. The recipient agrees to endeavor to offer a well-rounded program of studies in which instruction is provided in the English language, and to maintain teacher and academic standards that approximate in quality those in comparable public elementary and/or secondary schools in the United States.
p. The recipient agrees to offer the type of curriculum and instruction that will reflect U.S. theory and practice in education to the most reasonable extent practicable in consideration of:
(1) The location in a foreign country;
(2) Local laws and regulations; and
(3) The needs of the student body as a whole.
q. The recipient agrees that, when it considers U.S. citizens for employment, the recipient will not discriminate against any employee or applicant, because of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or mental or physical handicap.
2 FAM 634 AWARD ARTICLE III—PAYMENT
(CT:GEN-603; 02-26-2024)
(Uniform State/USAID)
a. Except as provided for in 2 FAM 634, paragraph c, reimbursement of expenditures the recipient has incurred pursuant to this award shall be made through the recipient's presentation to the post certifying officer of a voucher or other request for reimbursement, listing expenditures for which the recipient claims and provides supporting documentation.
b. The recipient must submit requests for the reimbursement of award funds no later than one hundred twenty(120) calendar days from the award's expiration date. The request must be aligned with the submission of the recipient’s final report.
c. The post, upon the recipient's request, may make an advance of an amount, not to exceed two months' estimated costs. If an advance is made, in accord with 2 CFR 200 and/or 2 CFR 600 and/or 22 CFR 135, the post and the Department may require the recipient to provide a blanket fidelity bond or other acceptable security. The post will reimburse the recipient, upon receipt of a properly documented request, an amount equal to reported expenditures, which when added to the initial advance, equals the total amount available under the award. Thereafter, the post will not reimburse requests that the recipient submits for reimbursement for expenditures, but will apply them to liquidate the remaining outstanding advance. If the total amount of subsequent vouchers is insufficient to liquidate the amount of the outstanding advance, the recipient will refund the difference to the U.S. Government.
2 FAM 635 AWARD ARTICLE IV—FINANCIAL ACCOUNTABILITY AND REPORTING
(CT:GEN-603; 02-26-2024)
(Uniform State/USAID)
a. The recipient should, where practicable, deposit all advanced funds provided under U.S. Government awards in an insured bank account, regardless of the authority under which the funds are granted. The recipient shall, however, maintain a separate accounting record for each award.
b. The recipient agrees not to furnish, advance, lend, pledge, or otherwise divert awards, credit, or property that the U.S. Government has made available to other operations of the recipient or other persons or institutions except as the post and the Office of Overseas Schools (A/OPR/OS) have approved in advance.
c. The recipient agrees that the post, A/OPR/OS, the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of State, , and/or the Comptroller General of the United States, or any of their authorized representatives, shall have access to and the right to examine any books, documents, papers, and records of the recipient pertaining to the purposes of this award during its term. The recipient shall maintain these records until three years have expired after A/OPR/OS has closed the award, which would include making final payments. and receiving final financial reports and audits that the award requires. During this period, the post, A/OPR/OS, the OIG of the Department of State , and/or the Comptroller General of the United States shall have access to and the right to examine such records.
d. Within the total amount in the award, the post and A/OPR/OS may approve in writing an increase or decrease of individual line items listed in the award's budget/purposes attachment in such a way as not to change any of the amounts set forth by more than ten percent, the standard Office of Management and Budget deviation from award, and only after the recipient receives written approval of the post. However, the post and A/OPR/OS may change an amount exceeding ten percent of the amounts set forth by not more than twenty percent if the Government Accountability Office approves. The post shall send one copy of each approval to A/OPR/OS. If the recipient requires percentage changes greater than ten percent (, the recipient shall obtain prior written approval of A/OPR/OS and the Government Accountability Office. In no event, may such written approval exceed the total amount of the award. Following the request of the school and the post and A/OPR/OS' concurrence, A/OPR/OS will prepare Form DS-1909, Federal Assistance Award, to modify the line items. The appropriate school official will sign the amendment and return one copy to post and one copy to A/OPR/OS.
e. The recipient may not change the purposes described in the budget/purposes attachment of the award, unless A/OPR/OS approves them in advance.
f. If the recipient does not obligate any of the funds the post advances by the completion date of this award, the recipient shall return such funds to the U.S. Government, except as provided for in 2 FAM 633, subparagraph i.
g When the post determines that dollar funds provided under this award must be converted to local currency before disbursement to the recipient, the appropriate post disbursing officer shall make the conversion.
i. The recipient shall not receive U.S. dollars for carrying out the purposes of this award in any country in which the post-disbursing officer holds foreign currencies which exceed the needs of the U.S. Government, except where U.S. dollars are required to carry out the purposes of the award. The recipient shall receive all such currencies solely from the post-disbursing officer at the rate of exchange such officer uses at the time of disbursement.
j. The recipient must comply with the property management and disposition requirements in 2 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) 200, sections 310 through 316 (2 CFR 200.310 through 2 CFR 200.316). These sections of the CFR address standards for property that the recipient purchases or partially purchases with funds from the award, as applicable. These sections include insurance coverage, real property, federally owned and exempt property, equipment, supplies, intangible property, and property trust relationships.
k. If the recipient expends funds this award provides for purposes that the U.S. Government determines the award does not authorize, the recipient shall promptly refund or pay to the U.S. Government funds equal to such unauthorized expenditures.
l. The recipient shall submit to post for certification and transmittal to A/OPR/OS a final financial report on SF-425, Overseas Schools – Grant Status Report no later than one hundred twenty (120) calendar days after completion of award and after the post has fully reimbursed the grantee under the terms of the award.
m. The recipient agrees to provide an assessment of the impact on the educational program for the use of grant funds under the A/OPR/OS prescribed accountability process.
2 FAM 636 THROUGH 639 UNASSIGNED