Puerto Rico Department of Education’s Use of ARP ESSER Funds to Measure Student Academic Progress - Inspection Report

Oct 15, 2026

Inspection report assessing whether the Puerto Rico Department of Education ensured contracted and ARP ESSER–funded services to measure students’ academic progress were delivered as required, and whether assessment results were used as intended to adjust individual instructional plans and prevent academic failure. The Office of Inspector General found deficiencies in contractor performance and in teachers’ use of assessment results, leading to $3.9 million in ARP ESSER funds wasted due to late or missing interim assessments. Recommendations target supervision and payment controls.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages27

Reading Time1 h 8 min

AccessFree to download

Results in Brief

Why Did the OIG Perform This Inspection?

What Did the OIG Find?

What Is the Impact?

What Are the Next Steps?

| | U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General | | --- | --- | | Puerto Rico Department of Education’s Use ofARP ESSER Funds to Measure Student Academic Progress
March 17, 2026
ED-OIG/ I25GA0233
INSPECTION REPORT | | Statements that managerial practices need improvements, as well as other conclusionsand recommendations in this report, represent the opinions of the Office of Inspector General. The appropriate Department of Education officials will determine what corrective actions should be taken. In accordance with Freedom of Information Act (Title 5, United States Code, Section 552), reports that the Office of Inspector General issues are available to members of the press and general public to the extent information they contain is not subject to exemptions in the Act. March 17, 2026 Eliezer Ramos Parés Secretary of Education Puerto Rico Department of Education P.O. Box 190759 San Juan, P. R. 00919-0759 Dear Secretary Ramos Parés: Enclosed is our final report,“Puerto Rico Department of Education’s Use of ARP ESSER Funds to Measure Student Academic Progress,” Control Number ED-OIG/I25GA0233 . This report incorporates the comments you provided in response to the draft report. The U.S. Department of Education’s policy is to expedite inspection resolution by timely acting on findings and recommendations. Therefore, if you have any additional comments or information that you believe may have a bearing on the resolution of this inspection, you should send them directly to the following Department of Education official, who will consider them before taking final Departmental action on this inspection: Kirsten Baesler Assistant Secretary Office of Elementary and Secondary Education U.S. Department of Education 400 Maryland Ave., SW Washington, D.C. 20202 We appreciate your cooperation during this inspection. If you have any questions, please contact Juan E. Santiago-Díaz, Assistant Director, Elementary and Secondary Education Oversight Team, at [Juan.Santiago@ed.gov](Juan.Santiago@ed.gov) or (202) 987-0370; or me at [Ben.Sanders@ed.gov](Ben.Sanders@ed.gov) or (916) 213-7630. Sincerely, /s/ Ben C. Sanders Director, Elementary and Secondary Education Oversight Team Enclosure U. S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General Results in Brief Puerto Rico Department of Education’s Use ofARP ESSER Funds to Measure Student Academic Progress Why Did the OIG Perform This Inspection? Congress passed three coronavirus relief acts within a 1-year period that provided more than $275 billion for an Education Stabilization Fund to prevent, prepare for, and respond to the coronavirus, including $189.5 billion for the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) . The American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) provided $122 billion for ESSER to help State educational agencies (SEA) and local educational agencies (LEA) safely reopen and sustain the safe operation of schools and address the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on students. Ensuring that ARP ESSER funds are used effectively by grantees and achieve the intended impact is critical to help address the needs of students and educators. The Puerto Rico Department of Education (Puerto Rico DOE) was allocated about $3 billion in ARP ESSER funds to support 860 schools serving about 261,000 students. The objective of our inspection was to determine whether Puerto Rico DOE ensured that (1) services contracted for and paid with ARP ESSER funds to measure students’ academic progress were provided as required and (2) results were used as intended to modify individual students’instructional plans and help prevent academic failure. What Did the OIG Find? | We found that Puerto Rico DOE did not ensure that the services contracted for and paid with ARP ESSER funds to measure students’ academic progress were provided in accordance with the executed contract. It also did not ensure that teachers used the

FAQs

Why did the Office of Inspector General perform this inspection?

Congress funded education stabilization through ARP ESSER and similar acts to address pandemic impacts. The OIG inspected whether ARP ESSER funds were used effectively to measure and improve student outcomes as intended.

What did the OIG find about Puerto Rico DOE’s use of ARP ESSER funds?

Puerto Rico DOE did not ensure required contracted services were provided under the executed contract. It also did not ensure teachers used contractor-administered assessment results to modify instructional plans to help prevent academic failure.

What was the impact of the identified issues?

The OIG reports that $3.9 million in ARP ESSER funds was wasted because the contractor did not perform all required services before payment and assessments were not administered as required. The report states these funds could have supported students and mitigated learning loss from the pandemic.

Oct 15, 2026

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