Audit 36747

Finding Number: 2022-001 Repeat Finding: No Program Name/Assistance Listing Title: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listing Number: 84.010 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award Number: S010A210003 Pass-Through Agency: Arizona Department of Education Questioned Costs: N/A Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency Compliance Requirement: Eligibility CRITERIA According to Title I, ?1113(a)-(c) of the ESEA (20 USC 6313(c)), a local educational agency shall allocate funds to eligible schools in rank order and to determine allocations using the same measure of poverty, which measure shall be the number of children ages five through 17 in poverty counted in the most recent census data approved by the Secretary, the number of children eligible for free and reduced priced lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, the number of children in families receiving assistance under the state program funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, or the number of children eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program, or a composite of such indicators, with respect to all school attendance areas in the local educational agency. CONDITION The District was not readily able to provide support for the low-income counts reported on the Title I School Eligibility worksheet. CAUSE The District?s internal controls over eligibility were not properly designed to ensure that the correct low-income students counts were reported to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). In addition, the District did not maintain proper documentation for the low-income student counts. EFFECT The District was determined to be in compliance with the eligibility of school attendance provisions of Title I, Part A. CONTEXT Upon initial review, low-income counts from the District's records did not agree to counts reported to ADE. After an audit inquiry, the District revised the counts reported and used a previous fiscal year as the base year for student counts to be reported for Title I eligibility, which they were allowed to do per ADE. While the counts reported were ultimately supported and the District was in compliance, the District was not able to provide this support timely and was unaware of the allowability for using a different fiscal year for the support. RECOMMENDATION The District should retain all documentation to support low-income student counts for eligibility purposes, and enhance controls in place to ensure correct student counts are used for reporting purposes. VIEWS OF RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS See Corrective Action Plan.

Finding Number: 2022-001 Repeat Finding: No Program Name/Assistance Listing Title: Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Assistance Listing Number: 84.010 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award Number: S010A210003 Pass-Through Agency: Arizona Department of Education Questioned Costs: N/A Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency Compliance Requirement: Eligibility CRITERIA According to Title I, ?1113(a)-(c) of the ESEA (20 USC 6313(c)), a local educational agency shall allocate funds to eligible schools in rank order and to determine allocations using the same measure of poverty, which measure shall be the number of children ages five through 17 in poverty counted in the most recent census data approved by the Secretary, the number of children eligible for free and reduced priced lunches under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act, the number of children in families receiving assistance under the state program funded under part A of title IV of the Social Security Act, or the number of children eligible to receive medical assistance under the Medicaid program, or a composite of such indicators, with respect to all school attendance areas in the local educational agency. CONDITION The District was not readily able to provide support for the low-income counts reported on the Title I School Eligibility worksheet. CAUSE The District?s internal controls over eligibility were not properly designed to ensure that the correct low-income students counts were reported to the Arizona Department of Education (ADE). In addition, the District did not maintain proper documentation for the low-income student counts. EFFECT The District was determined to be in compliance with the eligibility of school attendance provisions of Title I, Part A. CONTEXT Upon initial review, low-income counts from the District's records did not agree to counts reported to ADE. After an audit inquiry, the District revised the counts reported and used a previous fiscal year as the base year for student counts to be reported for Title I eligibility, which they were allowed to do per ADE. While the counts reported were ultimately supported and the District was in compliance, the District was not able to provide this support timely and was unaware of the allowability for using a different fiscal year for the support. RECOMMENDATION The District should retain all documentation to support low-income student counts for eligibility purposes, and enhance controls in place to ensure correct student counts are used for reporting purposes. VIEWS OF RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS See Corrective Action Plan.