FINDING 2023-007
Finding Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) – Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost
Principles, Earmarking, Period of Performance
Summary of Finding:
Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles
The School Corporation did not have adequat...
FINDING 2023-007
Finding Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) – Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost
Principles, Earmarking, Period of Performance
Summary of Finding:
Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles
The School Corporation did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that only employees
performing duties for the Special Education Program were being paid out of the grant funds. The
Corporation Treasurer was reviewing a total amount paid from each fund account; however, a detailed
payroll report was not being reviewed that would have identified the employees being paid from the grant
fund.
Earmarking
The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that they were in compliance
with the earmarking requirements. The Special Education Director and Corporation Treasurer compiled
and reviewed the proportionate share reports that get sent to Indiana Department of Education to track
non-public school expenses, however, that control was not able to be verified as the reports were not
retained.
Period of Performance
The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls to
ensure transactions made from Special Education funds occurred within the appropriate period of
performance. Claims for the Special Education programs were paid without an appropriate level of review
or oversight to ensure the expenditures charged to each grant were within the allowed time frame.
Although the reimbursement requests submitted to the Indiana Department of Education were prepared
by the Corporation Treasurer and approved by the Special Education Director, the School was unable to
provide tangible audit evidence of this review and approval process, which may have included a review of
the costs included on each request to verify they were within the correct period of performance.
Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Ashley Compton, Director of Special Education and
Allison Vanover, Corporation Treasurer
Contact Phone Number and Email Address: 812-246-3375 alcompton@scsc.school
avanover@scsc.school
Views of Responsible Officials:
We concur with the finding.
Description of Corrective Action Plan:
The Special Education Director and the Corporation Treasurer have a standing meeting once per month to
review expenditures and receipts to prepare a reimbursement. At that time, the period of performance is also
checked for accuracy. During this meeting they will also review payroll (salary and benefits) to identify
employees who are included in the grant. All reimbursements and proportionate share documents are
reviewed, signed and filed in an individual grant binder, housed in the special education office. Special
education director will code initial expenditures to grant appropriation lines and submit to payroll and
corporation treasurer. Payroll then confirms that the expenditure can be taken from that line in the working
grant document for the corresponding grant. Oversight and review of grant allocations and approved totals
with grant budgets are reviewed monthly at the time reimbursements are completed.
Anticipated Completion Date: April 2024