Audit 386184

U.S. Department of Education Passed-through Mississippi Department of Education Program Name: Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief II & ARP (ESSER) Program CFDA: 84.425D & 84.425U Compliance Requirement: Equipment and Real Property Management CRITERIA: Recipients of federal funds must have internal controls in place to account for equipment purchased using grant funding. CONDITION: During a grant monitoring by the Mississippi Department of Education (MDE), the district was unable to locate computers and related equipment purchased with ESSER funds. As a result, the district had to reimburse MDE $154,673, which represents the costs of the unaccounted-for equipment. CONTEXT: The school district did not follow requirements related equipment and real property management. CAUSE: The cause is a result of not properly implementing a designed system of accounting and internal controls. EFFECT: Noncompliance with federal grant requirements. IDENTIFICATION OF REPEAT FINDING: No QUESTIONED COSTS: None RECOMMENDATION: The school district should implement policies and procedures to ensure all applicable compliance requirements are being met. VIEWS OF RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS: We will implement policies or procedures to establish an internal control system that will ensure strong financial accountability, including compliance with state and federal grant requirements.