Finding Text
Finding 2024-001; US Department of Education, passed through the Pennsylvania Department of Education – COVID-19 - American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) Funds-Assistance Listing No. (ALN) 84.425U, Education Stabilization Fund 7% Set Aside – ALN 84.425, and ARP ESSER – Homeless Children – ALN 84.425; Award Nos. 223-210670, 225-210670, and 181-212588; Grant period – Year ended June 30, 2024
Criteria: As a subrecipient of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the School is not required to submit Federal Financial Reports (FFR). However, per the Award Agreement Reporting section the,
“Grantee shall submit any required program and or fiscal reports that are designated by the Department and/or federal awarding agencies for the purpose of determining program outcomes and compliance. During the life of this Agreement, unless otherwise provided in Program Guidelines, Grantee shall submit the following financial reports to the Comptroller’s Office or the Department:
1. Reconciliation of Cash on Hand Quarterly Report PDE Form No. 2030, and
2. Final Expenditure Report”
Condition: The quarterly PDE reports, did not reconcile to the School’s quarterly financial records for FY 2024.
Cause: Adequate financial records were not maintained by the School in order to complete the quarterly PDE reports.
Effect: Total expenditures per the PDE reports tested exceeded total expenditures per the School’s records for FY 2024 by nearly $4.5 million.
Questioned Costs: None.
Context: During compliance testing, we noted that the School was required to submit quarterly reports (PDE Form No. 2030) to the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Although the final numbers for the grants will be adjusted subsequent to the fourth quarter submission and this will be included in the final expenditure report, submissions completed during the fiscal year were not supported by adequate financial records.
Identification of Repeat Finding: Reported as 2022-001 & 2023-001.
Auditor’s Recommendation: The School should develop policies to ensure that the quarterly reports are based on actual general ledger activity for the quarter.