Finding 1055506 (2023-001)

FINDING 2023-001 – Controls over Preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards Federal Program Name: Education Stabilization Fund Project No.: 2022-4998 SE ALN No.: 84.425D Passed Through: Illinois State Board of Education Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education CRITERIA/SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: The Franklin, Johnson, Massac, and Williamson Counties Regional Office of Education No. 21 (ROE No. 21) is required to maintain a system of controls over the preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (SEFA). ROE No. 21’s internal controls over SEFA preparation should include adequately trained personnel with the knowledge and expertise to prepare and/or thoroughly review the SEFA to ensure that they are free of material misstatements and include all disclosures as required by federal guidelines. 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 510 – Financial Statements, establishes criteria and requirements related to the preparation of the schedule of expenditures of Federal awards. Title 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Guidance, section 302 – Financial Management, requires grantees to identify, in their accounts, all Federal awards received and expended and the Federal programs under which the awards were received. CONDITION: During the review of ROE No. 21’s SEFA, it was noted ROE No. 21 does not have sufficient internal controls over the preparation of the SEFA to ensure all federal expenditures during the fiscal year were reported in the SEFA and information in the SEFA was accurately reported. We noted the following in the originally submitted SEFA for our review: 1) Federal expenditures from the New Principal Mentoring Program of $63,495; Partners to LEAD-PTL2 of $82,894; Leading while Learning Program of $29,966; and The Bridge Project of $11,479; were reported in the SEFA. We verified that the sources are not coming from Federal sources. 2) Assistance Listing Number 84.425D, Social Emotional Learning and Trauma Response passed-through to subrecipients amount of $613,124 was not included on the SEFA. 3) Expenditures amounting to $8,262 were incorrectly reported on the SEFA as Assistance Listing Number 97.036 Public Assistance Program. The Regional Office of Education No. 21 subsequently revised its SEFA to correct these errors. FINDING 2023-001 – Controls over Preparation of the Schedule of Expenditures of Federal Awards (Concluded) QUESTIONED COSTS: None CONTEXT: Total expenditures of federal awards of all the programs were $2,954,610 and passed through to subrecipients of $517,652. Total expenditures of federal awards of the all the programs after the adjusted SEFA were $2,758,514 and passed through to subrecipients of $1,130,776. EFFECT: The Regional Office of Education No. 21 management or its employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, did not prevent or detect SEFA misstatements and disclosure omissions in a timely manner. In addition, inaccurate reporting of federal expenditures on the SEFA can change the required audit coverage to meet federal requirements and delay an audit beyond the reporting deadline. CAUSE: The Regional Office of Education No. 21’s management indicated this was an oversight. RECOMMENDATION: The Regional Office of Education No. 21 should implement comprehensive preparation and/or review procedures as part of their internal control over the preparation of the SEFA to ensure the SEFA, including disclosures, are complete and accurate. These procedures should be performed by a properly trained individual(s) possessing a thorough understanding of the applicable federal guidelines and knowledge of Regional Office of Education No. 21’s grant programs and activities.