Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 97.036, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (Presidentially Declared Disasters) Federal Award Identification Number and Year - 752894 and 752895; 2025 Pass through Entity - Michigan State Police (MSP) Finding Type - Material weakness and material noncompliance with laws and regulations Repeat Finding - No Criteria - According to 2 CFR § 200.403(f), which outlines factors affecting the allowability of costs under federal awards, costs must not be included as a cost or used to meet cost-sharing or matching requirements of any other federally financed program in either the current or a prior period. This provision is intended to prevent duplication of federal funding and ensure that each program bears only its fair share of costs. Condition - Costs charged to ALN 97.036 - Disaster Grants - Public Assistance were also charged to ALN 84.425 - Education Stabilization Fund (Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief - ESSER) in prior fiscal years, indicating potential duplication of expenditures across federal programs. Questioned Costs - $70,015,657 If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - N/A - questioned costs were determinable. Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - Questioned costs represent all of the expenditures reported on the SEFA for the year ended June 30, 2025. Refer to the Context section below for additional details. Context -In April 2022, FEMA issued an advisory regarding its funding support for the in-person operation of schools and school districts. The advisory clarified that schools and districts could utilize ESSER funds under ALN 84.425, administered by the U.S. Department of Education, to cover upfront costs for health and safety measures. These costs could later be submitted for reimbursement through FEMA’s Public Assistance program. However, the advisory emphasized that once FEMA reimbursement is received, the district must return the corresponding amount to the ESSER grant. The School District was awarded two grants under ALN 97.036 in December 2024 and January 2025. These grants were used to cover costs associated with COVID-19 diagnostic and screening testing. The ESSER grant period concluded on September 30, 2024. On October 16, 2025, the School District received reimbursement from MSP. Cause and Effect - The obligation dates for the FEMA awards occurred after the end of the ESSER grant period under ALN 84.425. Although FEMA’s advisory permitted districts to use ESSER funds for eligible upfront costs, the School District was unable to reimburse the ESSER grant prior to the expiration of its period of availability. As a result, approximately $70 million in expenditures are considered questioned costs. Recommendation - Because the obligation dates for the FEMA awards occurred after the conclusion of the ESSER grant period, we recommend that the School District coordinate with the Michigan Department of Education as the pass-through entity for ESSER funding and the Michigan State Police as the pass-through entity for FEMA funding. This collaboration is essential to address the timing misalignment, which prevented reimbursement to the ESSER grant prior to its period of availability. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan - The School District applied for reimbursement of potentially eligible COVID-19 expenditures in 2022. Per an April 5, 2022 FEMA memo, "FEMA Continues Funding to Support the Safe Operations of Schools," school districts could apply for reimbursement for ESSER-funded expenditures and then, upon approval of application, shift the funds to general fund. “Schools and school districts may utilize FEMA Public Assistance to receive full reimbursement for costs for the purposes above. Schools and districts may also use Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funding from the U.S. Department of Education as a way to provide the up-front cost for the above health and safety measures, and later seek reimbursement through the FEMA Public Assistance process. For example, a local education agency (LEA) may use ESSER funds for costs that may ultimately be covered by FEMA; however, once it receives funds from FEMA for those costs, it must reimburse the ESSER grant account.” FEMA provided district award notification for COVID-19 testing in December 2024 and January 2025. By this time, the ESSER grant had closed on September 30, 2024 and the final expenditure reports for ESSER had been submitted to MDE in November 2024. Therefore, the School District could not complete the allowable general fund swaps. The School District notified Michigan Department of Education and Michigan State Police of the timing issue. Upon request from Michigan State Police, the School District provided documentation that general funds were available to conduct the swaps if the FEMA approval had been received in a timely manner.
Assistance Listing, Federal Agency, and Program Name - 84.424, U.S. Department of Education, Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program Federal Award Identification Number and Year - 250750; 2025 Pass through Entity - Michigan Department of Education Finding Type - Significant deficiency Repeat Finding - No Criteria - Per 2 CFR § 200.303(a), nonfederal entities must establish, document, and maintain effective internal control over the federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the recipient or subrecipient is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition - The School District's controls did not prevent, or detect and correct in a timely manner, duplicative costs charged to the grant. Questioned Costs - None If questioned costs are not determinable, description of why known questioned costs were undetermined or otherwise could not be reported - N/A Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed - N/A Context - Within a sample of 40 special pay home visit payroll transactions, there was one transaction identified that consisted of duplicative costs where the same payroll costs were charged to the grant twice. The School District determined that duplicative costs were submitted for pay during a time of staffing transition in the department that is responsible for tracking home visits. The costs were submitted to payroll by the former employee responsible for tracking the time, as well as submitted by the new employee within that role. Special pay for home visits does not follow the standard payroll procedures; instead, it is processed and approved manually. The costs submitted did go through a manual review process prior to being charged to the grant, but the review in place did not operate effectively to identify the duplicative costs. The School Districted identified a total of five transactions in total that amounted to $3,023 in duplicative costs. Cause and Effect - Controls in place did not prevent or detect and correct duplicative costs charged to the program. As a result, the School District received reimbursement in excess of the actual amount spent on the grant and the initial SEFA provided to the auditors was overstated by $3,023. The schedule of expenditures of federal awards for the year ended June, 30, 2025 was corrected. Recommendation - We recommend that the School District review the controls in place to ensure that the review control is at a sufficient level to address the risk of duplicative expenses being charged to the grant. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - The School District annually processes thousands of supplemental payments for home visits. The audit found only five individual payments were duplicated. The duplication was caused by human error during an internal staff transition within the Family and Community Engagement (FACE) department. This led the new manager to incorrectly report employee home visit logs twice. The FACE team will add internal controls during staff transitions to ensure documentation is not duplicated.