Finding ref number: 2022-002 Finding caption: The District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with allowable activities and costs and restricted purpose requirements. Name, address, and telephone of School District contact person: Heather C. Pinkerton 310 SW 16th St Cheh...
Finding ref number: 2022-002 Finding caption: The District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with allowable activities and costs and restricted purpose requirements. Name, address, and telephone of School District contact person: Heather C. Pinkerton 310 SW 16th St Chehalis, WA 98532 360-807-7207 Corrective action the auditee plans to take in response to the finding: The Chehalis School District does not concur with the finding or the questioned costs. The State Auditor?s Office (SAO) reviewed various types of documentation and did not accept documentation presented by the District to reduce or eliminate questioned costs. The standard of documentation required by SAO to satisfy ?unmet need? would have been hard to meet even if the District hadn?t been in the midst of a pandemic. The District has internal controls over asset inventory and provided equipment only to students and staff with unmet needs, and all costs were allowable, reasonable and necessary. We continue to communicate with other agencies with the ultimate goal of helping the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) understand that they should not seek any recovery of funds resulting from ?documentation? issues considering the massive public health response, deployment logistics, vague federal guidance, and the effective return to in-person learning. Along with countless other districts across the State of Washington, we look forward to working with the FCC to resolve this finding. We appreciate the guidance that was provided by the FCC, as noted below. Guidance from the FCC Devices for remote learning could also be used at school. During the pandemic in Washington State we experienced times when classrooms, schools and or districts were closed by health department and state regulations because of outbreaks. Districts had to be prepared to support remote learning each day with constantly changing guidance on who was allowed to be in person. The following guidance from the Federal Communications Commission, titled ?Emergency Connectivity Fund Common Misconceptions?, ?Misconception #2: If schools have returned to in-class instruction for the upcoming school year, they are not eligible to participate. Answer: This is false. Equipment and services provided to students or school staff who would otherwise lack sufficient access to connected devices, and/or broadband internet access connection while off campus are eligible for Emergency Connectivity Fund Support.? From the Federal Communications Commission Order FCC-CIRC21-93-043021, question 77: ?We think schools are in the best position to determine whether their students and staff have devices and broadband services sufficient to meet their remote learning needs, and we recognize that they are making such decisions in the midst of a pandemic. We, therefore, will not impose any specific metrics or process requirements on those determinations.? And from question 53: ??we are sensitive to the need to provide some flexibility during this uncertain time. If those connected devices were purchased for the purpose of providing students?with devices for off-campus use consistent with the rules we adopt today, we will not prohibit such on-campus use.? Corrective action the auditee plans to take in response to the finding: The Chehalis School District does not concur with the finding or the questioned costs. The State Auditor?s Office (SAO) reviewed various types of documentation and did not accept documentation presented by the District to reduce or eliminate questioned costs. The standard of documentation required by SAO to satisfy ?unmet need? would have been hard to meet even if the District hadn?t been in the midst of a pandemic. The District has internal controls over asset inventory and provided equipment only to students and staff with unmet needs, and all costs were allowable, reasonable and necessary. We continue to communicate with other agencies with the ultimate goal of helping the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) understand that they should not seek any recovery of funds resulting from ?documentation? issues considering the massive public health response, deployment logistics, vague federal guidance, and the effective return to in-person learning. Along with countless other districts across the State of Washington, we look forward to working with the FCC to resolve this finding. We appreciate the guidance that was provided by the FCC, as noted below. Guidance from the FCC Devices for remote learning could also be used at school. During the pandemic in Washington State we experienced times when classrooms, schools and or districts were closed by health department and state regulations because of outbreaks. Districts had to be prepared to support remote learning each day with constantly changing guidance on who was allowed to be in person. The following guidance from the Federal Communications Commission, titled ?Emergency Connectivity Fund Common Misconceptions?, ?Misconception #2: If schools have returned to in-class instruction for the upcoming school year, they are not eligible to participate. Answer: This is false. Equipment and services provided to students or school staff who would otherwise lack sufficient access to connected devices, and/or broadband internet access connection while off campus are eligible for Emergency Connectivity Fund Support.? From the Federal Communications Commission Order FCC-CIRC21-93-043021, question 77: ?We think schools are in the best position to determine whether their students and staff have devices and broadband services sufficient to meet their remote learning needs, and we recognize that they are making such decisions in the midst of a pandemic. We, therefore, will not impose any specific metrics or process requirements on those determinations.? And from question 53: ??we are sensitive to the need to provide some flexibility during this uncertain time. If those connected devices were purchased for the purpose of providing students?with devices for off-campus use consistent with the rules we adopt today, we will not prohibit such on-campus use.? Anticipated date to complete the corrective action: We will work with the FCC to resolve this issue according to their timeline.