Finding 11343 (2023-001)

Reference # and title: 2023-001 Controls and Compliance over Reporting Federal program and specific federal award identification: CFDA Number Award Year FEDERAL GRANTER/ PASS THROUGH GRANTOR/PROGRAM NAME United States Department of Education; passed through Louisiana Department of Education Education Stabilization (ESSER II – Formula & Incentive) 84.425D 2021 Education Stabilization (ESSER III – Formula, Incentive & 84.425U 2021 EB Interventions) Criteria or specific requirement: In accordance with the ESSER guidelines, the School Board is required to submit an annual performance report with data on expenditures, planned expenditures, subrecipients, and uses of funds, including for mandatory reservations. The key line items include the School Board’s expenditures by ESSER subgrant, which comes from the periodic expense reports, the number of specific positions supported with ESSER funds, allocation of ESSER funds to schools and criterial used to allocate the funds to the schools and the full-time equivalent positions paid with ESSER funding. Condition found: In testing a sample of a periodic expense report from each of the School Board’s ESSER subgrants, it was noted that the ESSER III Formula subgrant did not agree with the School Board’s general ledger expenditures. In testing the information submitted through the Louisiana Department of Education’s portal for the other key line items, it was noted that the School Board could not locate their original support used to submit this information; and therefore, the auditor could not adequately test the information submitted. Context: This finding appears to be systemic. Possible asserted effect (cause effect): Cause: The School Board did not maintain all records in a secure location used to complete the report and did not reconcile the information submitted to the general ledger. Effect: The School Board did not meet all federal compliance requirements over special reporting. Recommendations to prevent future occurrences: The School Board should establish procedures to ensure all information used in completing reports to LDOE is not only maintained but also reconciles to their accounting records. Origination date and prior year reference (if applicable): This finding originated fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. View of responsible official: School Board agrees with the assessment of the auditors stated above. Due to a change in personnel, the new Grants Manager was unable to produce the documentation used by the previous Grants Manager to complete the report.