Finding Text
Federal Program Information:
Funding Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Title: Impact Aid (Title VII of ESEA)
FAL Number: 84.041
Passthrough: N/A
Award Year: 2024
Criteria: Title 34 Subtitle B Chapter III Part 300 Section 300.202 Use of Amounts
(a) General. Amounts provided to the LEA under Part B of the Act—
(1) Must be expended in accordance with the applicable provisions of this part;
(2) Must be used only to pay the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with
disabilities, consistent with paragraph (b) of this section; and
(3) Must be used to supplement State, local, and other Federal funds and not to supplant those funds.
Condition: During our review of information provided in the Impact Aid application we identified the following issue:
The District used Impact Aid special education funds to pay 85% of the salary of the District Safety Coordinator
through mid-December 2023 after which it was changed to 15% of the salary from the special education funds.
There was no justification in the files reviewed that identified why the individual’s responsibilities related to special
education funding.
Questioned Costs: $70,265 – The questioned costs are calculated as the entire salary of the employee paid from special education
funds ($56,213) plus a 25% load for benefits. We did not identify any other employees who did not have a legitimate reason for
being charged to Impact Aid funds.
Cause: The District did not ensure the funds expended were related to special education.
Effect: The District is not in compliance with Federal regulations related to internal control procedures and compliance
requirements in relation to the grant and could put funding in jeopardy or require the District to reimburse the program.
Auditor’s Recommendation: We recommend that the District establish policies which require proper review and approval from
department heads for expenditures of funds on salaries. This process will ensure that any program directors are fully aware of any
funds being spent and can verify if those are appropriate expenditures from the particular Federal funds. Additionally, we
recommend that documentation be put in files to demonstrate why a reason was made for coverage of salaries in a Federal program
when there may be questions as to why this was justified. Responsible official’s view:
● Specific corrective action plan for the finding:
The Special Education Department will review expenditures to determine allowable criteria are met during the
requisition review process. The salary funding source was changed July 1, 2024 and is no longer charged to Impact Aid.
● Timeline for completion of corrective action plan:
July 1, 2024
● Employee positions(s) responsible for meeting the timeline:
Special Ed. Director, Special Ed. Coordinator, Special Ed. Specialist, Finance Director