Finding 1081747 (2024-001)

Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund (ESSER) - COVID-19 - Assistance Listing No. 84.425D; Grant Period: Year Ended June 30, 2024 and American Rescue Plan - Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ARP ESSER) - COVID-19 - Assistance Listing No. 84.425U; Grant Period: Year Ended June 30, 2024 Criteria and Condition: The School is required to submit an annual performance report with data on expenditures, planned expenditures, subrecipients, and use of funds. Additionally, grant recipients must have controls in place to ensure the information submitted on the report is accurate. We found the School did not have adequate internal controls in place to ensure compliance with the Act. Context: The School filed the annual report which included expenses under two grant, ESSER and ARP ESSER. The total expenses reported for the reporting period were $310,463 for ESSER and $675,415 for ARP ESSER. Actual expenses under ESSER and ARP ESSER for the reporting period were $166,786 and $633,101, respectively. Thus, total expenses were over stated by $185,991. The School did not have controls in place to ensure reporting was accurate. Effect: This resulted in a report filed with inaccurate information. Cause: Review of the report prior to submission was not complete enough to identify and correct the error, and thus, the School did not have proper controls in place to ensure all compliance requirements were met. Recommendation: The School should ensure that processes are in place to understand reporting requirements and ensure that the data being reported is accurate. Views of responsible officials and planned corrective actions: The School is in the process of reviewing the reporting requirements and implementing controls to ensure compliance with the Act.