Finding Text
Reporting – Education Stabilization Funds Federal Program and Award: Education Stabilization Funds The objective of the GEER Fund (84.425C) is to provide local educational agencies (LEAs), and other education-related entities with emergency assistance as a result of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19). The objective of the ESSER Fund (84.425D) is to provide state educational agencies (SEAs) and LEAs, including charter schools that are LEAs, with emergency relief funds to address the impact that COVID-19 has had, and continues to have, on elementary and secondary schools across the nation. CFDA Numbers: 84.425C & 84.425D Pass-Through Entity: None Subrecipient Information: None Criteria: The Uniform Guidance (2 CFR Part 200) specific to these specific CFDA numbers (84.425C and 84.425D) requires that the District support the various reports filed for compliance with proper documentation of the revenues and expenses. Type of Compliance Requirement: Reporting Direct or Indirect: Direct Condition: The District provided no documentation for the associated reports that could be deciphered in any reasonable fashion to substantiate the accuracy of the information reported Cause: The business manager in place at the time of the audit did not possess the skills knowledge and experience to properly maintain and operate an accounting system for the respective grant funds. The external certified public accountant that was hired did all they could to help get the District grant reporting processed. This individual also did not receive adequate response or documentation from District personnel. Effect: Reports that were required to be filed with the respective granting agency for ESSR I, ESSR II, and GEER expenditures under CFDA numbers 84.425C and 84.425D. Questioned Costs: None Prior Year Finding: No Recommendation: The District must document and retain records for all federal expenditures as part of their system of internal controls over financial reporting and compliance with federal grant expenditures. The District should keep these records electronically in a cloud or server-based environment. Reports should be reviewed by an individual outside the process to ensure that proper documentation is being performed should the reports need to be recreated in the future. The current process is retaining records in paper filing and several binders of printout which was inadequate as the information was unable to be located as well as the corresponding support. Business managers also hold information on their hard drives and when turnover occurs in the position under difficult circumstances the information is deleted. A cloud based information retention process would eliminate this undue risk.