FINDING 2022-002 Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States Assistance Listing Number: 84.027 Federal Award Number: 20611-001-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Findings: Significant Deficiency Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards:? (g) Be adequately documented.... " 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed..." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range Condition: The School Corporation is a member of the Adams Wells Special Services Cooperative (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2021-2022, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member schools. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school, the school corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. There was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that the Cooperative complied with the earmarking requirements. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public school students with disabilities was met for each member school. The Cooperative did not have effective internal controls to ensure non-public school expenditures were appropriately identified and reported. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreements and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 20611-001-PN01 grant award could not be verified for the individual member schools. Total non-public expenditures were posted as expended. The member school proportionate share expenditures were then determined by applying a budgeted percentage to the total non-public expenditures. These were the amounts reported to IDOE. As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per member school was expended and properly reported to IDOE as required. The School Corporation?s Non-Public Proportionate Share for the 20611-001-PN01 grant application was $5,368. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes. Finding 2020-002 in prior audit report. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FA 2022-01 Improve Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 ? 84.425D ? Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 ? 84.425U ? American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Numbers: S425D200012 (Year: 2020), S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $265,630.00 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $19,775,985.12 were expended and reported on the Colquitt County Board of Education?s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the Institution is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 ? Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 ? Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that ?costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity? (g) Be adequately documented?? In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 202.403 ? Reasonable Costs state that ?a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm?s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award? (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award?s cost.? Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.318 ? General Procurement Standards state that ?the non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations? for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward?? Condition: Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that payments were made to a janitorial company and a staffing services company utilized by the School District to provide ?retention? bonuses to contractors who were not employees of the School District. These individuals were assigned to work within the School District by the private companies. Per review of the contracts in place during the fiscal year under review, it was noted that these bonuses represented amounts in excess of the agreed upon price. Furthermore, the School District does not have the authority or ability to retain these individuals as they were not employees of the School District and contract provisions requiring the individuals to remain employed by the companies and in the service of the School District for a stated period of time were not reflected within the associated contract. Therefore, expenditures totaling $265,630.00 were not considered to be reasonable and necessary for the performance of the ESSER program and deemed unallowable. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $265,630.00 were identified for expenditures that were not incurred for a necessary and reasonable purpose and did not follow the School District?s policies and procedures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs. Cause: Per discussion with management, the School District believed that the expenditures were allowable as the expenditures were approved by GaDOE through the Consolidated Application process and approved by the local Board of Education; however, they were not aware that contract amendments should be initiated prior to the expenditure of funds in this manner. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are in line with provisions reflected within the associated contract and/or contract amendments. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District?s purchasing policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2022-01 Improve Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 ? 84.425D ? Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 ? 84.425U ? American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Numbers: S425D200012 (Year: 2020), S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $265,630.00 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $19,775,985.12 were expended and reported on the Colquitt County Board of Education?s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the Institution is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 ? Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 ? Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that ?costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity? (g) Be adequately documented?? In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 202.403 ? Reasonable Costs state that ?a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm?s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award? (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award?s cost.? Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.318 ? General Procurement Standards state that ?the non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations? for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward?? Condition: Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that payments were made to a janitorial company and a staffing services company utilized by the School District to provide ?retention? bonuses to contractors who were not employees of the School District. These individuals were assigned to work within the School District by the private companies. Per review of the contracts in place during the fiscal year under review, it was noted that these bonuses represented amounts in excess of the agreed upon price. Furthermore, the School District does not have the authority or ability to retain these individuals as they were not employees of the School District and contract provisions requiring the individuals to remain employed by the companies and in the service of the School District for a stated period of time were not reflected within the associated contract. Therefore, expenditures totaling $265,630.00 were not considered to be reasonable and necessary for the performance of the ESSER program and deemed unallowable. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $265,630.00 were identified for expenditures that were not incurred for a necessary and reasonable purpose and did not follow the School District?s policies and procedures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs. Cause: Per discussion with management, the School District believed that the expenditures were allowable as the expenditures were approved by GaDOE through the Consolidated Application process and approved by the local Board of Education; however, they were not aware that contract amendments should be initiated prior to the expenditure of funds in this manner. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are in line with provisions reflected within the associated contract and/or contract amendments. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District?s purchasing policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2022-001 Improve Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 ? 84.425D ? Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 ? 84.425U ? American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Numbers: S425D200012 (Year: 2020), S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $358,390 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $14,705,523 were expended and reported on the Barrow County Board of Education?s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 ? Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 ? Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that ?costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity? (g) Be adequately documented?? In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.404 ? Reasonable Costs state that ?a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm?s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award? (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award?s cost.? Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.318 ? General Procurement Standards state that ?the non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations? for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward?? Condition: Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that ?retention? bonuses were paid to individuals who were not employees of the School District. These individuals were hired to perform specific functions as detailed within the associated contracts and were paid amounts in excess of the stated rate noted within these contracts. Additionally, the School District does not have the authority or ability to retain these individuals as they were not employees of the School District and contract provisions requiring the individuals to remain in the service of the School District for a stated period of time was not reflected within the associated contract. Furthermore, auditors contacted ED?s ESSER program management to discuss the allowability of these bonus payments as ED is the grantor of the funds and the cognizant agency charged with administering the ESSER program. Officials at ED advised auditors that bonuses may be allowable if such bonuses are reflected within the contract; however, as noted previously, no such contract provisions were present. Moreover, ED emphasized that published guidance associated with the issuance of bonuses or premium pay from ESSER funds pertained to school personnel, not contractors. Therefore, based upon this information, auditors determined that expenditures totaling $358,390 were not reasonable and necessary for the performance of the ESSER program and deemed these expenditures to be unallowable. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $358,390 were identified for expenditures that were not incurred for a necessary and reasonable purpose and did not follow the School District?s policies and procedures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs. Cause: Per discussion with management, the School District believed that the expenditures were allowable as the expenditures were approved by GaDOE through the Consolidated Application process; however, they were not aware that contract amendments should be initiated prior to the expenditure of funds in this manner. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are in line with provisions reflected within the associated contract and/or contract amendments. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District?s purchasing policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2022-001 Improve Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 ? 84.425D ? Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 ? 84.425U ? American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Numbers: S425D200012 (Year: 2020), S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $358,390 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $14,705,523 were expended and reported on the Barrow County Board of Education?s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 ? Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 ? Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that ?costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity? (g) Be adequately documented?? In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.404 ? Reasonable Costs state that ?a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm?s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award? (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award?s cost.? Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.318 ? General Procurement Standards state that ?the non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations? for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward?? Condition: Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that ?retention? bonuses were paid to individuals who were not employees of the School District. These individuals were hired to perform specific functions as detailed within the associated contracts and were paid amounts in excess of the stated rate noted within these contracts. Additionally, the School District does not have the authority or ability to retain these individuals as they were not employees of the School District and contract provisions requiring the individuals to remain in the service of the School District for a stated period of time was not reflected within the associated contract. Furthermore, auditors contacted ED?s ESSER program management to discuss the allowability of these bonus payments as ED is the grantor of the funds and the cognizant agency charged with administering the ESSER program. Officials at ED advised auditors that bonuses may be allowable if such bonuses are reflected within the contract; however, as noted previously, no such contract provisions were present. Moreover, ED emphasized that published guidance associated with the issuance of bonuses or premium pay from ESSER funds pertained to school personnel, not contractors. Therefore, based upon this information, auditors determined that expenditures totaling $358,390 were not reasonable and necessary for the performance of the ESSER program and deemed these expenditures to be unallowable. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $358,390 were identified for expenditures that were not incurred for a necessary and reasonable purpose and did not follow the School District?s policies and procedures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs. Cause: Per discussion with management, the School District believed that the expenditures were allowable as the expenditures were approved by GaDOE through the Consolidated Application process; however, they were not aware that contract amendments should be initiated prior to the expenditure of funds in this manner. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are in line with provisions reflected within the associated contract and/or contract amendments. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District?s purchasing policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2022-001 Improve Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 ? 84.425D ? Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 ? 84.425U ? American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Numbers: S425D200012 (Year: 2020), S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $358,390 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $14,705,523 were expended and reported on the Barrow County Board of Education?s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 ? Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 ? Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that ?costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity? (g) Be adequately documented?? In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.404 ? Reasonable Costs state that ?a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm?s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award? (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award?s cost.? Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.318 ? General Procurement Standards state that ?the non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations? for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward?? Condition: Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that ?retention? bonuses were paid to individuals who were not employees of the School District. These individuals were hired to perform specific functions as detailed within the associated contracts and were paid amounts in excess of the stated rate noted within these contracts. Additionally, the School District does not have the authority or ability to retain these individuals as they were not employees of the School District and contract provisions requiring the individuals to remain in the service of the School District for a stated period of time was not reflected within the associated contract. Furthermore, auditors contacted ED?s ESSER program management to discuss the allowability of these bonus payments as ED is the grantor of the funds and the cognizant agency charged with administering the ESSER program. Officials at ED advised auditors that bonuses may be allowable if such bonuses are reflected within the contract; however, as noted previously, no such contract provisions were present. Moreover, ED emphasized that published guidance associated with the issuance of bonuses or premium pay from ESSER funds pertained to school personnel, not contractors. Therefore, based upon this information, auditors determined that expenditures totaling $358,390 were not reasonable and necessary for the performance of the ESSER program and deemed these expenditures to be unallowable. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $358,390 were identified for expenditures that were not incurred for a necessary and reasonable purpose and did not follow the School District?s policies and procedures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs. Cause: Per discussion with management, the School District believed that the expenditures were allowable as the expenditures were approved by GaDOE through the Consolidated Application process; however, they were not aware that contract amendments should be initiated prior to the expenditure of funds in this manner. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are in line with provisions reflected within the associated contract and/or contract amendments. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District?s purchasing policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FA 2022-001 Improve Controls over Expenditures Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Procurement and Suspension and Debarment Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 ? 84.425D ? Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 ? 84.425U ? American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Numbers: S425D200012 (Year: 2020), S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $358,390 Description: The policies and procedures of the School District were insufficient to provide adequate internal controls over expenditures as it relates to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $14,705,523 were expended and reported on the Barrow County Board of Education?s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 ? Internal Controls. Provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 ? Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that ?costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity? (g) Be adequately documented?? In addition, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.404 ? Reasonable Costs state that ?a cost is reasonable if, in its nature and amount, it does not exceed that which would be incurred by a prudent person under the circumstances prevailing at the time the decision was made to incur the cost. The question of reasonableness is particularly important when the non-Federal entity is predominantly federally-funded. In determining reasonableness of a given cost, consideration must be given to: (a) Whether the cost is of a type generally recognized as ordinary and necessary for the operation of the non-Federal entity or the proper and efficient performance of the Federal award. (b) The restraints or requirements imposed by such factors as: sound business practices; arm?s-length bargaining; Federal, state, local, tribal, and other laws and regulations; and terms and conditions of the Federal award? (d) Whether the individuals concerned acted with prudence in the circumstances considering their responsibilities to the non-Federal entity, its employees, where applicable its students or membership, the public at large, and the Federal Government. (e) Whether the non-Federal entity significantly deviates from its established practices and policies regarding the incurrence of costs, which may unjustifiably increase the Federal award?s cost.? Furthermore, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.318 ? General Procurement Standards state that ?the non-Federal entity must have and use documented procurement procedures, consistent with State, local, and tribal laws and regulations? for the acquisition of property or services required under a Federal award or subaward?? Condition: Auditors performed a review of expenditure activity associated with the ESSER program to determine if appropriate internal controls were implemented and applicable compliance requirements were met. This testing revealed that ?retention? bonuses were paid to individuals who were not employees of the School District. These individuals were hired to perform specific functions as detailed within the associated contracts and were paid amounts in excess of the stated rate noted within these contracts. Additionally, the School District does not have the authority or ability to retain these individuals as they were not employees of the School District and contract provisions requiring the individuals to remain in the service of the School District for a stated period of time was not reflected within the associated contract. Furthermore, auditors contacted ED?s ESSER program management to discuss the allowability of these bonus payments as ED is the grantor of the funds and the cognizant agency charged with administering the ESSER program. Officials at ED advised auditors that bonuses may be allowable if such bonuses are reflected within the contract; however, as noted previously, no such contract provisions were present. Moreover, ED emphasized that published guidance associated with the issuance of bonuses or premium pay from ESSER funds pertained to school personnel, not contractors. Therefore, based upon this information, auditors determined that expenditures totaling $358,390 were not reasonable and necessary for the performance of the ESSER program and deemed these expenditures to be unallowable. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $358,390 were identified for expenditures that were not incurred for a necessary and reasonable purpose and did not follow the School District?s policies and procedures. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs. Cause: Per discussion with management, the School District believed that the expenditures were allowable as the expenditures were approved by GaDOE through the Consolidated Application process; however, they were not aware that contract amendments should be initiated prior to the expenditure of funds in this manner. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance, ED, or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate policies and procedures are followed when expending federal funds may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should review current internal control procedures related to ESSER program expenditures. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that expenditures are in line with provisions reflected within the associated contract and/or contract amendments. In addition, the School District should implement a monitoring process to ensure that all expenditures are compliant with the School District?s purchasing policies and procedures. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listings Number: 84.425U Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): S425U200013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context The School Corporation was a participating member in the Central Nine Career Center (Center). As a member, the School Corporation was responsible for providing financial contributions to support the Center's operations. In 2019, the Center's Executive Director commissioned a facilities study for purposes of addressing the increase in enrollment at the Center. Based on the results of the study, the Center's Governing Board approved an expansion project in May of 2021, with the construction costs to be split between the member schools based upon each member school's student enrollment at the Center. As a result of that calculation, the School Corporation's contribution to the Center for the construction costs was $472,963. The School Corporation elected to use the American Rescue Plan - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) funds awarded under the COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund to pay this obligation to the Center in December 2021. Although the School Corporation incurred the financial obligation within the grant's period of performance, the origins of the project predated the COVID-19 pandemic. The project's stated purpose did not provide any evidence that it was to prevent, prepare for, or respond to COVID-19. Additionally, the payment was made without proper supporting documentation. The claim for payment was prepared based upon an invoice submitted to the School Corporation from the Center that listed the amount due on a single line item without a breakdown or itemized detail to support the expense from the federal award. We consider the total payment of $472,963 to be questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was isolated to this single payment. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." American Rescue Plan Act section 2001(e) states in part: "Uses of Funds. - A local education agency that receives funds under this section - . . . (2) shall use the remaining funds for any of the following: . . . (E) Coordination of preparedness and response efforts of local education agencies with State, local, Tribal, and territorial public health departments, and other relevant agencies, to improve coordinated responses among such entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. . . . (G) Developing and implementing procedures and systems to improve the preparedness and response efforts of local educational agencies. . . ." 2 CFR 200.302(b) states in part: "The financial management system of each non-Federal entity must provide for the following . . . (3) Records that identify adequately the source and application of funds for federallyfunded activities. These records must contain information pertaining to Federal awards, authorizations, financial obligations, unobligated balances, assets, expenditures, income and interest and be supported by source documentation. . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. . . . (g) be adequately documented. . . ." Cause The system of internal controls over the review of federal award expenditures developed by management of the School Corporation was not properly implemented, nor was it operating effectively to ensure expenditures were in compliance with the terms and conditions of the federal award, as well as the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Effect Without a proper system of internal controls in place that operated effectively, material noncompliance remained undetected. Noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs Questioned costs in the amount of $472,963, were identified as noted in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a proper system of internal controls to ensure expenditures made from federal awards are in compliance with the terms and conditions of the federal award, as well as the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): SY 20-21 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective system of internal controls was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for 3 of 11 employees tested, were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for 2 employees tested did not agree to the rate stated in the Board approved salary schedule. The School Corporation could not provide documentation or other justification to support their rate of pay. Additionally, the School Corporation did not retain time records for audit for the Food Service Director after leave of employment. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to fiscal year 2020-2021. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 16 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 17 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs, enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure that documentation will be maintained and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): SY 20-21 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective system of internal controls was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for 3 of 11 employees tested, were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for 2 employees tested did not agree to the rate stated in the Board approved salary schedule. The School Corporation could not provide documentation or other justification to support their rate of pay. Additionally, the School Corporation did not retain time records for audit for the Food Service Director after leave of employment. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to fiscal year 2020-2021. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 16 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 17 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs, enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure that documentation will be maintained and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): SY 20-21 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective system of internal controls was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for 3 of 11 employees tested, were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for 2 employees tested did not agree to the rate stated in the Board approved salary schedule. The School Corporation could not provide documentation or other justification to support their rate of pay. Additionally, the School Corporation did not retain time records for audit for the Food Service Director after leave of employment. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to fiscal year 2020-2021. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 16 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 17 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs, enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure that documentation will be maintained and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): SY 20-21 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective system of internal controls was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for 3 of 11 employees tested, were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for 2 employees tested did not agree to the rate stated in the Board approved salary schedule. The School Corporation could not provide documentation or other justification to support their rate of pay. Additionally, the School Corporation did not retain time records for audit for the Food Service Director after leave of employment. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to fiscal year 2020-2021. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 16 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 17 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs, enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure that documentation will be maintained and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Number and Year (or Other Identifying Number): SY 20-21 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective system of internal controls was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for 3 of 11 employees tested, were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for 2 employees tested did not agree to the rate stated in the Board approved salary schedule. The School Corporation could not provide documentation or other justification to support their rate of pay. Additionally, the School Corporation did not retain time records for audit for the Food Service Director after leave of employment. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to fiscal year 2020-2021. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 16 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 17 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs, enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure that documentation will be maintained and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-112-PN01, 20611-112-PN01, 21611-112-PN01, 19619-112-PN01, 20619-112-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for three of six employees tested were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for one employee tested did not agree to the rate stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. The rate paid was more than the amount stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. In addition, the School Corporation could not provide a contract for two of the employees tested. The total amount paid in unsupported salaries, $86,043, was considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 18 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "(1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS) . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs of $86,043 were identified as noted in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls, as well as to appropriately maintain documentation supporting costs, to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-112-PN01, 20611-112-PN01, 21611-112-PN01, 19619-112-PN01, 20619-112-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for three of six employees tested were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for one employee tested did not agree to the rate stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. The rate paid was more than the amount stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. In addition, the School Corporation could not provide a contract for two of the employees tested. The total amount paid in unsupported salaries, $86,043, was considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 18 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "(1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS) . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs of $86,043 were identified as noted in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls, as well as to appropriately maintain documentation supporting costs, to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-112-PN01, 20611-112-PN01, 21611-112-PN01, 19619-112-PN01, 20619-112-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for three of six employees tested were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for one employee tested did not agree to the rate stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. The rate paid was more than the amount stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. In addition, the School Corporation could not provide a contract for two of the employees tested. The total amount paid in unsupported salaries, $86,043, was considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 18 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "(1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS) . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs of $86,043 were identified as noted in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls, as well as to appropriately maintain documentation supporting costs, to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-112-PN01, 20611-112-PN01, 21611-112-PN01, 19619-112-PN01, 20619-112-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Payroll disbursements for three of six employees tested were not supported by the School Corporation's records. The hourly rate for one employee tested did not agree to the rate stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. The rate paid was more than the amount stated in the School Board approved salary schedule. In addition, the School Corporation could not provide a contract for two of the employees tested. The total amount paid in unsupported salaries, $86,043, was considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 18 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "(1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS) . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 ROCHESTER COMMUNITY SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs of $86,043 were identified as noted in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls, as well as to appropriately maintain documentation supporting costs, to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
Criteria: According to 2 CFR Part 200.403, to be allowable under federal awards, costs must be adequately documented, be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the federal award, and be allocable thereto under the principles in 2 CFR Part 200, Subpart E. Additionally, according to 2 CFR Part 200.430, charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed, be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated, and comply with established accounting policies and practices of the entity. Condition: Accurate and complete records to support disbursements were not maintained for the program. We specifically noted the following: ? SFRC is currently allocating payroll costs to the program based on budget estimates. There is not a process in place to compare the budget estimates to actual time and effort to ensure that budget estimates are accurate. ? For two of 16 payroll disbursements tested, the wages paid to the employee (used as the basis for the amount allocated to the program) did not agree with the payroll register for the selected pay period. ? For three of three non-payroll disbursements tested, the amount allocated to the program did not agree to the amount paid to the vendor. Context: 16 of 16 payroll transactions tested were allocated to the program based on budget estimates. Two of 16 payroll disbursements and three of three non-payroll disbursements did not agree with source documentation. Questioned Costs: $505 Cause: SFRC has not developed a process to compare the budget estimates to actual time and effort to ensure that budget estimates are accurate. Additionally, there was not adequate review of reimbursement requests to ensure that payroll and non-payroll disbursements agree with source documentation Effect: SFRC may not be able to demonstrate that costs charged to federal programs are allowable. Auditor?s Recommendation: SFRC should implement a process of comparing actual time and effort of employees to SFRC?s budget estimates at least bi-annually. Alternatively, SFRC could require employees to report their actual daily time on federal awards to ensure amounts charged are accurate and properly allocated. Additionally, SFRC should implement a review process of reimbursement requests to ensure that disbursements agree with source documentation. Management?s Response: Management is implementing a job/cost time and labor system as part of the current Paylocity system currently in place. This new time tracking system will allow individuals working directly on contracts to record time spent on grants on their individual weekly timecards. This system will allow management to report time spent by person by contract within our current payroll and financial system. This enhancement will not be in place until January 2023. In the meantime, management has formalized a quarterly manual review process to document actual time spent per employee per contract along with any needed adjustments to allocation percentages.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-001 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 20-21, FY 21-22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. A total of 40 food service program disbursements were selected for testing. Across four contracted vendors, there were 12 disbursements that had items purchased that were not charged in accordance with contracted prices. An additional 9 disbursements, from a single vendor, did not have supporting documentation to determine if the amount charged per the invoices agreed to the initial bid pricing documentation. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, cost must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause Management had not developed an effective system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system enabled noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal control to ensure compliance and comply with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-005 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20619-127-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit. The prior audit finding number was 2020-010. Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Proportionate share is an amount of funds that must be expended on special education/related services for parentally-placed private school and homeschooled students. The amount to be spent is automatically calculated within each grant application. The School Corporation had not designed, nor implemented policies and procedures to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public students was met for each grant. The School Corporation failed to maintain records of actual time spent providing services to the participating nonpublic schools for Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, and 20619-127-PN01 grant awards. The salaries reported as expended for the nonpublic school expenditures were based on an estimate of time instead of actual time spent. As such, we could not verify that the minimum amount per grant award was expended. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to the 19611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, and 20619-127-PN01 grant awards. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal awards. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed . . ." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Cause Management had not developed a system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures, to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-005 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20619-127-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit. The prior audit finding number was 2020-010. Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Proportionate share is an amount of funds that must be expended on special education/related services for parentally-placed private school and homeschooled students. The amount to be spent is automatically calculated within each grant application. The School Corporation had not designed, nor implemented policies and procedures to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public students was met for each grant. The School Corporation failed to maintain records of actual time spent providing services to the participating nonpublic schools for Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, and 20619-127-PN01 grant awards. The salaries reported as expended for the nonpublic school expenditures were based on an estimate of time instead of actual time spent. As such, we could not verify that the minimum amount per grant award was expended. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to the 19611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, and 20619-127-PN01 grant awards. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal awards. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed . . ." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Cause Management had not developed a system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures, to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-005 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20619-127-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit. The prior audit finding number was 2020-010. Condition and Context An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Proportionate share is an amount of funds that must be expended on special education/related services for parentally-placed private school and homeschooled students. The amount to be spent is automatically calculated within each grant application. The School Corporation had not designed, nor implemented policies and procedures to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public students was met for each grant. The School Corporation failed to maintain records of actual time spent providing services to the participating nonpublic schools for Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, and 20619-127-PN01 grant awards. The salaries reported as expended for the nonpublic school expenditures were based on an estimate of time instead of actual time spent. As such, we could not verify that the minimum amount per grant award was expended. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were isolated to the 19611-127-PN01, 19619-127-PN01, 20611-127-PN01, and 20619-127-PN01 grant awards. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal awards. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed . . ." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Cause Management had not developed a system of internal control that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Effect The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures, to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.
FINDING 2022-002 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles, Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.533, 10.555 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): SY 2020/2021, SY 2021/2022 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Allowable Cost/Cost Principles, Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . . " 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; FINDING 2022-002 (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." 34 CFR 76.730 states: "A State and a subgrantee shall keep records that fully show: (a) The amount of funds under the grant or subgrant; (b) How the State or subgrantee uses the funds; (c) The total cost of the project; (d) The share of that cost provided from other sources; and (e) Other records to facilitate an effective audit." 34 CFR 76.731 states: "A State and a subgrantee shall keep records to show its compliance with program requirements." 7 CFR 220.7(e) states in part: ?. . . the School Food Authority shall, with respect to participating schools under its jurisdiction: (1) . . . . (ii) . . .use all revenues received by such food service only for the operation or improvement of that food service. . . ? 7 CFR 210.14(a) states: ?Nonprofit school food service. School food authorities shall maintain a nonprofit school food service. Revenues received by the nonprofit school food service are to be used only for the operation or improvement of such food service, except that, such revenues shall not be used to purchase land or buildings, unless otherwise approved by FNS, or to construct buildings. Expenditures of nonprofit school food service revenues shall be in accordance with the financial management system established by the State agency under ?210.19(a) of this part. . . . ? Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Cause: Management had not developed a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Context: The School Corporation did not have effective controls in place to ensure that only applicable employees were paid from program funds. Six of the 24 employees? time charged to the program, did not have adequate documentation to support their wage allocations. The School Corporation paid a portion of the wages for three Elementary School Teachers, two Elementary Instructional Assistants, and one Library Aide from the School Lunch Fund based on fixed percentages. There was no supporting documentation to indicate how the percentages were determined. Wages and benefits charged to the program for the above noted employees totaled $19,073. This amount was considered questions costs. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system by the School Corporation enabled noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions - School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements could result in the loss of federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: $19,073. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-002 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles, Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.533, 10.555 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): SY 2020/2021, SY 2021/2022 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Allowable Cost/Cost Principles, Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . . " 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; FINDING 2022-002 (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." 34 CFR 76.730 states: "A State and a subgrantee shall keep records that fully show: (a) The amount of funds under the grant or subgrant; (b) How the State or subgrantee uses the funds; (c) The total cost of the project; (d) The share of that cost provided from other sources; and (e) Other records to facilitate an effective audit." 34 CFR 76.731 states: "A State and a subgrantee shall keep records to show its compliance with program requirements." 7 CFR 220.7(e) states in part: ?. . . the School Food Authority shall, with respect to participating schools under its jurisdiction: (1) . . . . (ii) . . .use all revenues received by such food service only for the operation or improvement of that food service. . . ? 7 CFR 210.14(a) states: ?Nonprofit school food service. School food authorities shall maintain a nonprofit school food service. Revenues received by the nonprofit school food service are to be used only for the operation or improvement of such food service, except that, such revenues shall not be used to purchase land or buildings, unless otherwise approved by FNS, or to construct buildings. Expenditures of nonprofit school food service revenues shall be in accordance with the financial management system established by the State agency under ?210.19(a) of this part. . . . ? Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Cause: Management had not developed a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Context: The School Corporation did not have effective controls in place to ensure that only applicable employees were paid from program funds. Six of the 24 employees? time charged to the program, did not have adequate documentation to support their wage allocations. The School Corporation paid a portion of the wages for three Elementary School Teachers, two Elementary Instructional Assistants, and one Library Aide from the School Lunch Fund based on fixed percentages. There was no supporting documentation to indicate how the percentages were determined. Wages and benefits charged to the program for the above noted employees totaled $19,073. This amount was considered questions costs. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system by the School Corporation enabled noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions - School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements could result in the loss of federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: $19,073. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-002 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Allowable Costs/Cost Principles, Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program Assistance Listing Numbers: 10.533, 10.555 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): SY 2020/2021, SY 2021/2022 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Allowable Cost/Cost Principles, Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . . " 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; FINDING 2022-002 (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." 34 CFR 76.730 states: "A State and a subgrantee shall keep records that fully show: (a) The amount of funds under the grant or subgrant; (b) How the State or subgrantee uses the funds; (c) The total cost of the project; (d) The share of that cost provided from other sources; and (e) Other records to facilitate an effective audit." 34 CFR 76.731 states: "A State and a subgrantee shall keep records to show its compliance with program requirements." 7 CFR 220.7(e) states in part: ?. . . the School Food Authority shall, with respect to participating schools under its jurisdiction: (1) . . . . (ii) . . .use all revenues received by such food service only for the operation or improvement of that food service. . . ? 7 CFR 210.14(a) states: ?Nonprofit school food service. School food authorities shall maintain a nonprofit school food service. Revenues received by the nonprofit school food service are to be used only for the operation or improvement of such food service, except that, such revenues shall not be used to purchase land or buildings, unless otherwise approved by FNS, or to construct buildings. Expenditures of nonprofit school food service revenues shall be in accordance with the financial management system established by the State agency under ?210.19(a) of this part. . . . ? Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Cause: Management had not developed a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Context: The School Corporation did not have effective controls in place to ensure that only applicable employees were paid from program funds. Six of the 24 employees? time charged to the program, did not have adequate documentation to support their wage allocations. The School Corporation paid a portion of the wages for three Elementary School Teachers, two Elementary Instructional Assistants, and one Library Aide from the School Lunch Fund based on fixed percentages. There was no supporting documentation to indicate how the percentages were determined. Wages and benefits charged to the program for the above noted employees totaled $19,073. This amount was considered questions costs. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system by the School Corporation enabled noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions - School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements could result in the loss of federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: $19,073. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls related to the grant agreement and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and Special Tests & Provisions ? Non-Profit School Food Service Accounts compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Finding 2022-004 Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster ? Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-007-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Finding: Significant Deficiency Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards:? (g) Be adequately documented.... " 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed..." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Condition and Context: The School Corporation is a member of the Daviess-Martin Special Education Cooperative (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2020-2021, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member schools. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school, the school corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. However, there was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that the Cooperative complied with the earmarking requirements. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public school students with disabilities was met for each member school. The Cooperative did not have effective internal controls to ensure non-public school expenditures were appropriately identified and reported. The Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-007-PN01 grant award could not be verified for the individual member schools. Total grant expenditures were posted as expended. The nonpublic proportionate share expenditures were then determined by applying the budgeted percentage for non-public school expenditures to the total expenditures. These were the amounts reported to IDOE. As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per the grant awards was expended and properly reported to IDOE as required. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was isolated to the 19611-007-PN01 grant award. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreements and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Identification as a repeat finding: No. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Finding 2022-004 Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster ? Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-007-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Finding: Significant Deficiency Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards:? (g) Be adequately documented.... " 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed..." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Condition and Context: The School Corporation is a member of the Daviess-Martin Special Education Cooperative (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2020-2021, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member schools. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school, the school corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. However, there was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that the Cooperative complied with the earmarking requirements. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public school students with disabilities was met for each member school. The Cooperative did not have effective internal controls to ensure non-public school expenditures were appropriately identified and reported. The Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-007-PN01 grant award could not be verified for the individual member schools. Total grant expenditures were posted as expended. The nonpublic proportionate share expenditures were then determined by applying the budgeted percentage for non-public school expenditures to the total expenditures. These were the amounts reported to IDOE. As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per the grant awards was expended and properly reported to IDOE as required. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was isolated to the 19611-007-PN01 grant award. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreements and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Identification as a repeat finding: No. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Finding 2022-004 Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster ? Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-007-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Finding: Significant Deficiency Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards:? (g) Be adequately documented.... " 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed..." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Condition and Context: The School Corporation is a member of the Daviess-Martin Special Education Cooperative (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2020-2021, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member schools. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school, the school corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. However, there was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that the Cooperative complied with the earmarking requirements. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public school students with disabilities was met for each member school. The Cooperative did not have effective internal controls to ensure non-public school expenditures were appropriately identified and reported. The Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-007-PN01 grant award could not be verified for the individual member schools. Total grant expenditures were posted as expended. The nonpublic proportionate share expenditures were then determined by applying the budgeted percentage for non-public school expenditures to the total expenditures. These were the amounts reported to IDOE. As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per the grant awards was expended and properly reported to IDOE as required. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was isolated to the 19611-007-PN01 grant award. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreements and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Identification as a repeat finding: No. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Finding 2022-004 Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster ? Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-007-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Finding: Significant Deficiency Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards:? (g) Be adequately documented.... " 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed..." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Condition and Context: The School Corporation is a member of the Daviess-Martin Special Education Cooperative (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2020-2021, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member schools. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school, the school corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. However, there was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that the Cooperative complied with the earmarking requirements. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public school students with disabilities was met for each member school. The Cooperative did not have effective internal controls to ensure non-public school expenditures were appropriately identified and reported. The Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-007-PN01 grant award could not be verified for the individual member schools. Total grant expenditures were posted as expended. The nonpublic proportionate share expenditures were then determined by applying the budgeted percentage for non-public school expenditures to the total expenditures. These were the amounts reported to IDOE. As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per the grant awards was expended and properly reported to IDOE as required. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was isolated to the 19611-007-PN01 grant award. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreements and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Identification as a repeat finding: No. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Finding 2022-004 Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster ? Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-007-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Finding: Significant Deficiency Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards:? (g) Be adequately documented.... " 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed..." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Condition and Context: The School Corporation is a member of the Daviess-Martin Special Education Cooperative (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2020-2021, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member schools. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school, the school corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. However, there was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that the Cooperative complied with the earmarking requirements. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public school students with disabilities was met for each member school. The Cooperative did not have effective internal controls to ensure non-public school expenditures were appropriately identified and reported. The Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-007-PN01 grant award could not be verified for the individual member schools. Total grant expenditures were posted as expended. The nonpublic proportionate share expenditures were then determined by applying the budgeted percentage for non-public school expenditures to the total expenditures. These were the amounts reported to IDOE. As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per the grant awards was expended and properly reported to IDOE as required. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was isolated to the 19611-007-PN01 grant award. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreements and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Identification as a repeat finding: No. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Finding 2022-004 Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster ? Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-007-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking Audit Finding: Significant Deficiency Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO)...." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards:? (g) Be adequately documented.... " 2 CFR 200.208(b) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may adjust specific Federal award conditions as needed..." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Condition and Context: The School Corporation is a member of the Daviess-Martin Special Education Cooperative (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2020-2021, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member schools. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school, the school corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. However, there was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that the Cooperative complied with the earmarking requirements. The Cooperative did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that the required level of expenditures for non-public school students with disabilities was met for each member school. The Cooperative did not have effective internal controls to ensure non-public school expenditures were appropriately identified and reported. The Non-Public Proportionate Share expenditures for the 19611-007-PN01 grant award could not be verified for the individual member schools. Total grant expenditures were posted as expended. The nonpublic proportionate share expenditures were then determined by applying the budgeted percentage for non-public school expenditures to the total expenditures. These were the amounts reported to IDOE. As such, we were unable to identify if the minimum amount per the grant awards was expended and properly reported to IDOE as required. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance was isolated to the 19611-007-PN01 grant award. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreements and the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. The failure to establish an effective internal control system, as well as adequately document costs of federal awards, prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the earmarking requirements of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Identification as a repeat finding: No. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish an effective system of internal controls, as well as appropriately document and identify federal award expenditures to ensure compliance with the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, After School Snack Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY2021, FY2022 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . . 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE?s definition of IBS); . . . . (iv) Support the distribution of the employee?s salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and a non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect costs activity. . . .? Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation had not designed or implemented adequate internal controls to ensure that payroll disbursements were only for food service-related services. Payroll disbursements comprise approximately 45% of the program costs charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report, which is broken out by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-21 year. Additionally, payroll disbursements for custodial employees were allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster based on a percentage of the custodial employees? salaries. However, there were no time and effort logs or other documentation maintained to support the percentage of the custodial salaries allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster. The custodial salaries make up approximately 3% of the total payroll disbursements charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. This was an issue throughout the audit period. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-004 Recommendation: We recommended that management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Additionally, we recommended that the School maintain written documentation supporting the portion of salaries paid from the School Lunch fund for custodial personnel. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, After School Snack Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY2021, FY2022 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . . 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE?s definition of IBS); . . . . (iv) Support the distribution of the employee?s salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and a non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect costs activity. . . .? Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation had not designed or implemented adequate internal controls to ensure that payroll disbursements were only for food service-related services. Payroll disbursements comprise approximately 45% of the program costs charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report, which is broken out by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-21 year. Additionally, payroll disbursements for custodial employees were allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster based on a percentage of the custodial employees? salaries. However, there were no time and effort logs or other documentation maintained to support the percentage of the custodial salaries allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster. The custodial salaries make up approximately 3% of the total payroll disbursements charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. This was an issue throughout the audit period. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-004 Recommendation: We recommended that management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Additionally, we recommended that the School maintain written documentation supporting the portion of salaries paid from the School Lunch fund for custodial personnel. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, After School Snack Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY2021, FY2022 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . . 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE?s definition of IBS); . . . . (iv) Support the distribution of the employee?s salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and a non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect costs activity. . . .? Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation had not designed or implemented adequate internal controls to ensure that payroll disbursements were only for food service-related services. Payroll disbursements comprise approximately 45% of the program costs charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report, which is broken out by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-21 year. Additionally, payroll disbursements for custodial employees were allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster based on a percentage of the custodial employees? salaries. However, there were no time and effort logs or other documentation maintained to support the percentage of the custodial salaries allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster. The custodial salaries make up approximately 3% of the total payroll disbursements charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. This was an issue throughout the audit period. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-004 Recommendation: We recommended that management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Additionally, we recommended that the School maintain written documentation supporting the portion of salaries paid from the School Lunch fund for custodial personnel. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-004 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, After School Snack Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY2021, FY2022 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . . 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non-Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE?s definition of IBS); . . . . (iv) Support the distribution of the employee?s salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and a non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect costs activity. . . .? Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation had not designed or implemented adequate internal controls to ensure that payroll disbursements were only for food service-related services. Payroll disbursements comprise approximately 45% of the program costs charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report, which is broken out by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-21 year. Additionally, payroll disbursements for custodial employees were allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster based on a percentage of the custodial employees? salaries. However, there were no time and effort logs or other documentation maintained to support the percentage of the custodial salaries allocated to the Child Nutrition Cluster. The custodial salaries make up approximately 3% of the total payroll disbursements charged to the Child Nutrition Cluster. This was an issue throughout the audit period. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-004 Recommendation: We recommended that management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Additionally, we recommended that the School maintain written documentation supporting the portion of salaries paid from the School Lunch fund for custodial personnel. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-008 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 20611-109-PN01, 21611-109-PN01, 21619-109-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (c) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (e) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (f) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (i) Be adequately documented. . . . Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented internal controls over recording transactions for payroll and fringe benefit disbursements to ensure the accuracy and classification of the payroll disbursements. Payroll disbursements make up 100% of the program costs charged to the Special Education grants. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-2021 year. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-006 Recommendation: We recommended management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has implemented their corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-008 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 20611-109-PN01, 21611-109-PN01, 21619-109-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (c) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (e) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (f) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (i) Be adequately documented. . . . Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented internal controls over recording transactions for payroll and fringe benefit disbursements to ensure the accuracy and classification of the payroll disbursements. Payroll disbursements make up 100% of the program costs charged to the Special Education grants. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-2021 year. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-006 Recommendation: We recommended management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has implemented their corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-008 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Number: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 20611-109-PN01, 21611-109-PN01, 21619-109-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (c) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (e) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (f) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (i) Be adequately documented. . . . Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented internal controls over recording transactions for payroll and fringe benefit disbursements to ensure the accuracy and classification of the payroll disbursements. Payroll disbursements make up 100% of the program costs charged to the Special Education grants. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-2021 year. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: Yes, see Finding 2020-006 Recommendation: We recommended management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has implemented their corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-005 Subject: COVID-19 ? Education Stabilization Fund ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 ? Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425D, 84.425U Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D200013, S425U200013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Material Noncompliance Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (b) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (c) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (d) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (h) Be adequately documented. . . . Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: (a) The School Corporation planned to utilize a portion of the grant funds for chiller repairs and included the costs in the award budget. The School Corporation subsequently also received insurance proceeds for a portion of the repair costs. (b) The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls over payroll disbursements which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: (a) The School Corporation received a grant payment for expenses that were subsequently also recovered from insurance proceeds. Therefore, the school has overdrawn ARP ESSER funds by that amount. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements could result in the future loss of funds to the School Corporation. (b) The failure to establish an effective internal control system over payroll disbursements could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $106,755 were identified. Context: (a) During allowable cost testing for vendor disbursements, we noted a portion of ARP ESSER funds were utilized to repair the chiller at the middle and high schools. The School Corporation incurred a total of approximately $284,000 in chiller repair costs between September 2021 and May 2022 and requested reimbursement for those expenditures from ARP ESSER funds in full. In October 2021, the School Corporation received an insurance claim check in the amount of $106,755 to cover a portion of the repair costs. The School Corporation did not deduct the amount received through insurance from the amount requested for reimbursement from federal funds, resulting in an overpayment of federal funds during the audit period. (b) Additionally, the School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented internal controls over recording transactions for payroll and fringe benefit disbursements to ensure the accuracy and classification of the payroll disbursements. Payroll disbursements make up approximately 45% of the program costs charged to the Education Stabilization Fund. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report, which is broken out by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-2021 year. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No Recommendation: (a) We recommend management ensure any insurance proceeds or non-federal sources of funding are applied first to costs incurred before charging the costs to federal awards. (b) We recommend management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-005 Subject: COVID-19 ? Education Stabilization Fund ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 ? Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425D, 84.425U Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D200013, S425U200013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Material Noncompliance Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (b) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (c) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (d) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (h) Be adequately documented. . . . Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: (a) The School Corporation planned to utilize a portion of the grant funds for chiller repairs and included the costs in the award budget. The School Corporation subsequently also received insurance proceeds for a portion of the repair costs. (b) The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls over payroll disbursements which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: (a) The School Corporation received a grant payment for expenses that were subsequently also recovered from insurance proceeds. Therefore, the school has overdrawn ARP ESSER funds by that amount. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements could result in the future loss of funds to the School Corporation. (b) The failure to establish an effective internal control system over payroll disbursements could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $106,755 were identified. Context: (a) During allowable cost testing for vendor disbursements, we noted a portion of ARP ESSER funds were utilized to repair the chiller at the middle and high schools. The School Corporation incurred a total of approximately $284,000 in chiller repair costs between September 2021 and May 2022 and requested reimbursement for those expenditures from ARP ESSER funds in full. In October 2021, the School Corporation received an insurance claim check in the amount of $106,755 to cover a portion of the repair costs. The School Corporation did not deduct the amount received through insurance from the amount requested for reimbursement from federal funds, resulting in an overpayment of federal funds during the audit period. (b) Additionally, the School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented internal controls over recording transactions for payroll and fringe benefit disbursements to ensure the accuracy and classification of the payroll disbursements. Payroll disbursements make up approximately 45% of the program costs charged to the Education Stabilization Fund. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report, which is broken out by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-2021 year. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No Recommendation: (a) We recommend management ensure any insurance proceeds or non-federal sources of funding are applied first to costs incurred before charging the costs to federal awards. (b) We recommend management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FINDING 2022-005 Subject: COVID-19 ? Education Stabilization Fund ? Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 ? Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425D, 84.425U Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D200013, S425U200013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Material Noncompliance Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (b) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (c) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (d) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (h) Be adequately documented. . . . Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the requirements related to the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Cause: (a) The School Corporation planned to utilize a portion of the grant funds for chiller repairs and included the costs in the award budget. The School Corporation subsequently also received insurance proceeds for a portion of the repair costs. (b) The School Corporation's management had not designed or implemented internal controls over payroll disbursements which would have ensured compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: (a) The School Corporation received a grant payment for expenses that were subsequently also recovered from insurance proceeds. Therefore, the school has overdrawn ARP ESSER funds by that amount. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements could result in the future loss of funds to the School Corporation. (b) The failure to establish an effective internal control system over payroll disbursements could enable material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements listed above could have resulted in the loss of funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $106,755 were identified. Context: (a) During allowable cost testing for vendor disbursements, we noted a portion of ARP ESSER funds were utilized to repair the chiller at the middle and high schools. The School Corporation incurred a total of approximately $284,000 in chiller repair costs between September 2021 and May 2022 and requested reimbursement for those expenditures from ARP ESSER funds in full. In October 2021, the School Corporation received an insurance claim check in the amount of $106,755 to cover a portion of the repair costs. The School Corporation did not deduct the amount received through insurance from the amount requested for reimbursement from federal funds, resulting in an overpayment of federal funds during the audit period. (b) Additionally, the School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented internal controls over recording transactions for payroll and fringe benefit disbursements to ensure the accuracy and classification of the payroll disbursements. Payroll disbursements make up approximately 45% of the program costs charged to the Education Stabilization Fund. One employee was responsible for processing payroll. Payroll reports were submitted to the School Board and Treasurer for review and approval; however, the reports only provided a total gross amount paid from each fund. The reports did not list the employees who were paid from the fund. In March 2021, the Treasurer implemented a review of the payroll distribution report, which is broken out by fund and individual employee. The lack of controls related to payroll disbursements was isolated to the 2020-2021 year. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No Recommendation: (a) We recommend management ensure any insurance proceeds or non-federal sources of funding are applied first to costs incurred before charging the costs to federal awards. (b) We recommend management continue to document controls surrounding payroll disbursement through review of the payroll distribution report each pay period. Views of Responsible Officials: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
FA 2022-002 Improve Controls over Indirect Costs Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed/Unallowed Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Internal Control Impact: Significant Deficiency Compliance Impact: Nonmaterial Noncompliance Federal Awarding Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass-Through Entity: Georgia Department of Education AL Numbers and Titles: COVID-19 ? 84.425D ? Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund COVID-19 ? 84.425U ? American Rescue Plan Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Award Numbers: S425D210012 (Year: 2021), S425U210012 (Year: 2021) Questioned Costs: $559,442.53 Description: The School District charged indirect cost expenditures to the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund program in excess of the maximum amount allowed. Background: On March 27, 2020, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act was signed into law. The CARES Act was designed to mitigate the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in a variety of ways, including providing additional funding for local educational agencies (LEAs) navigating the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak. Provisions included in Title VIII of the CARES Act created the Education Stabilization Fund to provide financial resources to educational entities to prevent, prepare for, and respond to coronavirus. The CARES Act allocated $30.75 billion, the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act allocated an additional $81.9 billion, and the American Rescue Plan Act added $165.1 billion in funding to the Education Stabilization Fund. Multiple Education Stabilization Fund subprograms were created and allotted funding through the various COVID-19-related legislation. Of these programs, the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Fund was created to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. ESSER funding was granted to the Georgia Department of Education (GaDOE) by the U.S. Department of Education (ED). GaDOE is responsible for distributing funds to LEAs and overseeing the expenditure of funds by LEAs. ESSER funds totaling $199,433,680.30 were expended and reported on the DeKalb County Board of Education?s Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA) for fiscal year 2022. Criteria: As a recipient of federal awards, the School District is required to establish and maintain effective internal control over federal awards that provides reasonable assurance of managing the federal awards in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal awards pursuant to Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 200.303 ? Internal Controls. Additionally, provisions included in the Uniform Guidance, Section 200.403 ? Factors Affecting Allowability of Costs state that ?costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles, (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items, (c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity, (d) Be accorded consistent treatment. A cost may not be assigned to a Federal award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been allocated to the Federal award as an indirect cost?? To assist school districts in improving their financial management systems and associated compliance over federal programs, GaDOE published the Financial Management for Georgia Local Units of Administration (FMGLUA) manual. The FMGLUA manual requires that LEAs exclude certain costs in the calculation of the net expenditures to which the approved indirect cost rate can be applied, including the cost of capitalizable assets, rental costs, tuition remission, scholarships and fellowships, payments to charter schools, and subawards in excess of $25,000. Condition: A review of the School District?s accounting records and supporting documentation revealed that costs associated with capitalizable equipment, payments to charter schools, and rental costs were not appropriately deducted in the calculation of the net expenditures to which the approved unrestricted indirect cost rate was applied. Therefore, the School District claimed an additional $559,442.53 in indirect costs beyond the maximum indirect cost amount allowed. Questioned Costs: Known questioned costs of $559,442.53 were identified for excess indirect cost expenditures claimed. These known questioned costs related to expenditures that were not tested as part of a sample, and therefore, should not be projected to a population to determine likely questioned costs. Cause: In discussing these deficiencies with management, they stated that inadequate controls over decentralized activity input led to the School District?s failure to establish appropriate internal control procedures over recording ledger activity. Effect: The School District is not in compliance with the Uniform Guidance or GaDOE guidance related to the ESSER program. Failure to ensure that appropriate indirect cost amounts are charged to the ESSER program may expose the School District to unnecessary financial strains and shortages as GaDOE may require the School District to return funds associated with these unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: The School District should revise current internal control procedures related to the ESSER program. Where vulnerable, the School District should develop and/or modify its policies and procedures to ensure that ledger activity is recorded accurately. In addition, management should develop and implement a monitoring process to ensure that control procedures are being followed. Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with this finding.
Finding 2022-009: Period of Performance: payroll costs Repeat Finding Yes (2021-007) Federal Program Title: U.S. Department of Justice Passed through Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority 16.575; Crime Victim Assistance Award Year Award# 220040: June 1, 2022 ? November 30, 2023 Criteria: Article 1.4 of the Illinois Criminal Justice Information Authority grant agreement states that the term of the agreement is determined as the period between June 1, 2022 to November 30, 2023 for grant #220040. CFR 200.403 requires that costs must be incurred during the grant period of the Federal award. Condition: There were 22 instances of expenses that were submitted for reimbursement that fell outside the allowable grant period . Cause: Due to turnover in upper financial management, program oversight was not performed timely. Effect: Costs submitted for reimbursement outside of the allowable grant period are considered unallowable under Article 1.4. Questioned costs: The total expenditures requested for reimbursement outside the period of performance was $8,686. Context: Out of 120 selections, there were 22 selections that were charged to the grant outside the grant period, all of which were payroll costs. Recommendation: We recommend that management review the period of performance of the grant agreement in conjunction with the review of each expense to ensure that the expense occurred during the allowed grant period. Views of responsible officials: Management agrees with this finding. Please see corrective action plan attached.