Kansas and the Unified School District #473 in Chapman, Kansas, Did Not Properly Administer $50 Million of FEMA Grant Funds

The Unified School District #473 in Chapman, Kansas (Chapman), received an award of $65.2 million in FEMA grant funds for damages from severe storms, tornadoes, and flooding that occurred in May and June 2008. After the devastating storms, Chapman did an outstanding job of reopening all schools by August 18, 2008. However, a year after the storms, Chapman began work to rebuild its schools, but did not follow Federal procurement standards in awarding contracts valued at $50 million. As a result, FEMA has no assurance that contract costs were reasonable; full and open competition did not occur; and small and minority/women-owned firms did not receive opportunities to bid on Federal contracts.