Audit 396063

Criteria or Specific Requirement: The Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Title 2, part 180.220 states that non-Federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making sub-awards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended or debarred. Condition: The District did not obtain debarment certification or document their vendor search in the System for Award Management website for vendors contracted in excess of $25,000 related to the grant program. Upon further review, it was determined that the vendors were not suspended or debarred. Questioned Costs: This condition resulted in no identified questioned costs. Context: The District does not have internal controls in place to verify that vendors are not suspended or debarred. Effect: Noncompliance with the federal award program's suspension and debarment compliance requirements could occur and not be detected and corrected timely. Cause: Written procedures are not in place to verify if vendors contracted in excess of $25,000 related to the Child Nutrition Cluster program are not suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded from doing business. Recommendation: Procedures need to be implemented to ensure all vendors contracted with have not been suspended or debarred or otherwise excluded from doing business, prior to procuring their services. Management's Response: The District did verify vendors on the System for Award Management website, but lack written documentation. In the future, ISBE Form 85-34 will be completed in all future bid packets.

Criteria or Specific Requirement: Per 2 CFR 200.303 - Internal Controls and the OMB Compliance Supplement: Education Stabilization Fund, Reporting- The District is required to have internal controls, including segregation of duties, over reporting for quarterly expenditure claims. These internal controls should be effective in preventing, detecting, and correcting misstatements in the reports. Condition: Multiple individuals are responsible for the preparation and submission of the District's quarterly expenditure reports; however, the expenditure reports filed for September 30, 2024 included expenditures in the amount of $22,040 that were neither obligated nor liquidated by the date of the report. Questioned Costs: None. Context: The District's internal controls did not identify and correct a material misstatement in the Septmeber 30, 2024 expenditure report for the 2025 Covid-19 - Community Partnership grant - C3 program. Effect: The September 30, 2024 expenditure report was filed overstating expenditures by $22,040. Cause: The individual responsible for reviewing the expenditure report did not have adequate knowledge of the federal reporting requirements; consequently, errors on quarterly expenditure reports were not identified in the review. Recommendation: Personnel with adequate knowledge of reporting requirements should review all expenditure reports to ensure any errors are identified and corrected before the expenditure report is submitted. Management's Response: Management does not disagree with this finding, and competent personnel will review all future expenditure reports.

Criteria or Specific Requirement: The ISBE State and Federal Grant Administration Policy, Fiscal Requirements, and Procedures handbook requires that grantees must expend state or federal funds prior to the project end date and submit quarterly expenditure reports that reflect the funds utilized by the grantee. Condition: The District's expenditure reports filed for September 30, 2024 included expenditures in the amount of $22,040 that were neither obligated nor liquidated by the date of the report. Questioned Costs: This condition resulted in questioned costs of $22,040. Context: The District reported expenditures on the September 30, 2024 expenditure report for the Covid-19 - Community Partnership Grant - C3 that were not expended prior to the project end date. Effect: The District was reimbursed for expenditures that were made after the project end date. Cause: The District's review process for expenditure reports did not identify or correct the reporting issues before the expenditure report was submitted to ISBE. Recommendation: The review process for grant expenditure reporting should be modified so that any reporting issues are identified and corrected before the expenditure report is submitted. Management's Response: Management does not disagree with this finding, and management will monitor all future federal reimbursement requests.