Audit 390196

Criteria: Reporting. All quarterly expenditure reports must be filed with the Illinois State Board of Education no later than 20 days after the end of the quarter. Condition: We noted that 2 of the 5 required quarterly expenditure reports submitted for FY25 were not filed in a timely manner. Questioned Costs: There are no questioned costs. Context: ARP Homeless (2024) 9/30/24 report was 52 days late. Elevating Educators (2025) 9/30/24 report was 55 days late. Effect: Reporting requirements were not met. This was an oversight by management personnel in the District due to turnover in the District Office. Cause: The District did not employ proper oversight to ensure that the quarterly expenditure reports were filed timely. Recommendation: We recommend that steps are taken, including oversight by a second employee, to ensure that all quarterly expenditure reports are filed by the due dates. Management's Response: The District will take the necessary steps to file all quarterly expenditure reports on time in the future.

Criteria: Equipment property records must be maintained for equipment purchased with federal funds. A federal inventory log must include a description of the property, a serial number or other identification number, the source of funding for the property (including the federal award identification number), who holds title, the acquisition date, cost of the property, percentage of federal participation in the project costs for the federal award under which the property was acquired, the location, use and condition of the property, and any ultimate disposition data including the date of disposal and sales price of the property. Condition: Equipment records were not maintained for all items purchased with federal funds. Questioned Costs: There are no questioned costs. Context: The District claimed several capital outlay purchases in the grant this year that are included within the fixed asset listing, but are not captured in a federal inventory log. This includes equipment for the Weight Room, Chiller Replacement, Gym Floor, Stage Floor, Ice Maker, and Scoreboard Replacement. Effect: The District did not comply with the equipment compliance requirement regarding the proper recordkeeping for equipment purchased with federal funds. Cause: The District does not maintain a capital asset listing made with federal funds that contains all pertinent purchase criteria. Recommendation: We recommend that the District attempts to put together an inventory log for equipment purchased with federal funds for the current year and continues to maintain the log going forward. Management's Response: Management agrees to take the necessary steps to ensure compliance requirements are met and will discuss implementing an inventory record-keeping process.

Criteria: Reporting. The accounts used to record expenditures on the quarterly expenditure reports should match the general ledger accounts where the expenditures are recorded. Condition: It was noted that there was an inconsistency when comparing the general ledger to what was reported on the expenditure reports. Questioned Costs: There are no questioned costs. Context: The accounts used to record expenditures on the quarterly expenditure reports did not match the general ledeger accounts. In total, approximately $141,593 of costs were posted to an account in the general ledger that did not match the final ISBE classification of expenditure reported for the year. No expenses were duplicated across another grant, and all expenses were allowable in the grant. Effect: The expenditures were not recorded/reported consistently between the District's financial records and the reports to ISBE. This makes the monitoring of budget to actual expense by grant line item difficult. Cause: Expenses claimed in the grant were incorrectly coded on the general ledger. Recommendation: We recommend that steps are taken, including oversight by a second employee, to reconcile the general ledger to the expenditure reports in detail before submission. We also recommend implementing a detailed reconciliation spreadsheet that lists claimed expenses by account. Management's Response: The District will add a verification process to reconcile the general ledger to the budget and expenditure reports before submitting.

Criteria: Reporting. The accounts used to record expenditures on the quarterly expenditure reports should match the general ledger accounts where the expenditures are recorded. Condition: It was noted that there was an inconsistency when comparing the general ledger to what was reported on the expenditure reports. Questioned Costs: There are no questioned costs. Context: The accounts used to record expenditures on the quarterly expenditure reports did not match the general ledeger accounts where the expenditures are recorded. In total, approximately $222,759 of costs across Title I: School Improvement and Accountability (2025), Title I (2025), and Title I (2024) were posted to a location in the general ledger that did not match the final ISBE expenditure report for the year. No expenses were duplicated across another grant, and all expenses were allowable in the grant. Effect: The expenditures were not recorded/reported consistently between the District's financial records and the reports to ISBE. This makes the monitoring of budget to actual expense by grant line item difficult. Cause: Expenses claimed in the grant were incorrectly coded on the general ledger. Recommendation: We recommend that steps are taken, including oversight by a second employee, to reconcile the general ledger to the expenditure reports in detail before submission. We also recommend implementing a detailed reconciliation spreadsheet that lists claimed expenses by account. Management's Response: The District will add a verification process to reconcile the general ledger to the budget and expenditure reports before submitting.