CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN
Oversight Agency for Audit: U.S. Department of Treasury
The City of Peabody, Massachusetts respectfully submits the following corrective action plan for the year ended June 30, 2023.
Name and address of independent public accounting firm:
Powers & Sullivan, LLC
100 Qu...
CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN
Oversight Agency for Audit: U.S. Department of Treasury
The City of Peabody, Massachusetts respectfully submits the following corrective action plan for the year ended June 30, 2023.
Name and address of independent public accounting firm:
Powers & Sullivan, LLC
100 Quannapowitt Parkway, Suite 101
Wakefield, MA 01880
Audit period: July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023
The finding from the June 30, 2023, schedule of findings and questioned costs is discussed below. The finding is numbered consistently with the number assigned in the schedule.
FINDINGS—FEDERAL AWARD PROGRAMS AUDITS
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Passed through Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies
Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Federal Assistance Listing No. 84.010
2023-005: Affirmation of Consultation Forms to Private Schools
Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions
Type of Finding: Compliance and Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance
Criteria or Specific Requirement: Grantees must provide equitable services to eligible private school children, their teachers, and their families. Grantees must conduct timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials to determine the kind of educational services to provide to eligible private school children. Grantees must also ensure that planned services are provided and that the required amount was used for private school children.
Condition: The City was required to ensure that a portion of this grant was available for the equitable participation of students, families, and educators in non-profit, non-public (private) schools. Public school officials were required to initiate contact and make good faith efforts to have timely and meaningful consultation with private school officials regarding participation in programs and services. The City was also required to document these consultations via signed Affirmation of Consultation forms. The supporting documentation was not available upon request and was not provided in a timely manner. The information required to perform this testing was requested in May 2023, and was not provided until January 2024, after several repeated requests were made throughout that time.
Context: The City did not provide sufficient documentation to demonstrate compliance with its requirement to conduct timely and meaningful consultations with officials from eligible private schools in a timely manner.
Effect: The City has not complied with the grant requirements.
Cause: Management has not established guidelines and procedures to ensure that the required consultations with private schools take place and that the consultations performed are adequately documented, retained and filed in an organized manner that is made readily available upon request.
Questioned Costs: None reported.
Recommendation: The City should implement internal control procedures to ensure compliance with all grant requirements including the completion and retention of all required forms. The documentation should be filed in an organized manner and readily available upon request.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The School District will implement internal control procedures to ensure that timely consultations with private schools occur, and that the required documentation is completed, retained and maintained in an organized manner. Management plans to implement these procedures in 2024.
If the Oversight Agency has questions regarding this plan, please call Samuel Rippin, School Business Manager, at 978-536-6520.
Sincerely yours,
Samuel Rippin
School Business Manager
City of Peabody