Audit 407741

Criteria: Semi-annual certifications are required for Title I personnel whose compensation is funded solely from the Title I grant. Additionally, time and effort documentation is required for Title I personnel whose time is charged in part to Title I and in part to other revenue sources (split-funded staff). Condition: During our testing, we noted insufficient documentation for fifteen employees to substantiate time charged to Title I for thirty-five paychecks selected for testing out of a sample of sixty. Questioned Costs: While testing payroll expenditures, we noted thirty-five of sixty pay checks where supporting documentation for fifteen employees was incomplete resulting in known questioned costs of $47,473.17. Projected to the population as a whole, questioned costs are estimated to be approximately $426,460.89. Context: Total salaries charged to Title I were $509,091 for the year ended June 30, 2025. Payments were made to actual employees of the district in a district that is Title I eligible. However, single audit procedures require costs not adequately supported to be questioned. Effect: The District was not in compliance with the Federal requirement. Cause: The District was unaware that semi-annual certifications, time and effort logs, or a substitute system for time-and-effort reporting needed to be documented for employees working on multiple cost objects. Recommendation: We recommend that the District complete the required semi-annual certifications or time and effort logs for each employee who has time allocated to a grant. Management's Response: The District will begin completing the necessary semi-annual certifications of time and effort distribution records.

Criteria: For employees that allocate time to multiple cost centers, time and effort documentation is essential to support the amounts of time charged to each program. That documentation should be approved by the employee's supervisor. Condition: We found that time sheets supporting the amount of time charged to the grant program contained no evidence of supervisory approval. Questioned Costs: None. Context: Total salaries charged to Title I were $509,091 for the year ended June 30, 2025. Effect: Increases the risk that inappropriate time charges could be applied to the grant program resulting in overcharging the grant for costs incurred. Our test was a statistical sample of 60 expenditures and 33 did not have supervisory approval. Cause: The District was not aware that approval needed to be documented on these timesheets. Recommendation: We recommend that the Superintendent approves all timesheets and the approval is documented and maintained. Management's Response: The Superintendent will begin to document his approval for all timesheets.

Criteria: Per the Illinois State Board of Education "Title I, Part A is designed to provide all children significant opportunity to receive a fair, equitable, and high-quality education, and to close educational achievement gaps." Condition: The District paid $61 for pre-k playground equipment with Title I: Grants to Local Educational Agencies funds. These items are not allowable costs of the grant as they do not support the educational needs of students. The District charged $133 to the grant with no supporting documentation to support if the expenditure was allowable. Questioned Costs: $193.90 of known question costs and $706.22 of projected questioned costs. Context: Total grant expenditures for Title I: Grants to Local Educational Agencies were $987,452 for the year ended June 30, 2025. Effect: The District received reimbursement for expenditures that were not allowable under the grant agreement. Cause: The District recorded these expenditures as Title I expenditures in error. Recommendation: We recommend that the District only charge costs that are allowable under the grant agreement. We also recommend that the District conact ISBE to discuss if the District will need to return the funds reimbursed by the Illinois School Board of Education for these unallowed expenditures. Management's Response: The District will ensure that all costs charged to the Title I grant are allowable per the grant agreement going forward.