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GAO-21-62R 1 (2020-10-14)

handle is hein.gao/gaobaebvw0001 and id is 1 raw text is: GAOU.S. GOVERNMENT ACCOUNTABILITY OFFICE 441 G St. N.W. Washington, DC 20548 October 14, 2020 Congressional Committees Disaster Recovery: COVID-19 Pandemic Intensifies Disaster Recovery Challenges for K- 12 Schools More than 260 presidentially-declared major disasters have occurred since 2017, affecting every state and several U.S. territories, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).1 Many of these natural disasters have had devastating effects, including rendering K-12 school facilities unusable for extended periods of time. These schools are now experiencing the compounding challenge of recovering from these natural disasters while managing effects of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). Social distancing practices and building closures are meant to keep staff and students safe, but may also complicate recovery efforts for disaster-affected districts. The Additional Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act of 2019 provided funds for GAO to audit issues related to presidentially-declared major disasters that occurred in 2018.2 We reviewed (1) how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected schools recovering from recent natural disasters, and (2) support the U.S. Department of Education (Education) has provided to help schools recover from recent natural disasters and how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected schools' use of these resources. In April 2020 we adjusted the scope of our work on school communities' recovery efforts from recent natural disasters to refocus on how such efforts were affected by the COVI D-19 pandemic. We interviewed 29 local education officials representing over 50 school districts in California, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Florida, and Hawaii, which were selected because they were affected by a diverse set of major natural disasters in 2018 that occurred in a mix of populated and less-populated areas.3 In addition, through a national school superintendents association, we convened a discussion group of seven district leaders who have experienced natural disasters and mentor other affected districts. We also reviewed 24 articles published in academic journals related to children recovering from natural disasters and interviewed several of the authors. Finally, we reviewed federal guidance and interviewed Education officials. We conducted this performance audit from October 2019 to October 2020 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain sufficient, appropriate evidence to provide a reasonable basis for our 1Under the Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act, as amended, the President may declare that a major disaster exists in response to a Governor's or tribal chief executive's request if the disaster is of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state, tribal, or territorial government and federal assistance is necessary. 42 U.S.C. § 5170. 2pub. L. No. 116-20 20, 133 Stat. 871, 892-893. 3Disasters included the Camp Fire and Tubbs Fire (California), Super Typhoon Yutu (Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands), Hurricane Michael (Florida), Hurricane Lane (Hawaii), and the Kilauea volcano eruption (Hawaii). Some of the local education officials were at the county offices of education that oversee numerous school districts. GAO-21-62R Disaster Recovery in K-12 Schools Page 1