Finding Text
CRITERIA/SPECIFIC REQUIREMENT: The grant award agreements between the Regional Office of Education No. 39 and Illinois State Board of Education require the Regional Office of Education No. 39 to complete and submit expenditure reports quarterly. The quarterly expenditure reports are due 20 calendar days after the end of the reporting quarter. The Code of Federal Regulations (Code) (2 CFR. §200.303 (a)) requires the Regional Office of Education No. 39 to establish and maintain effective internal control over the federal award to provide reasonable assurance the Regional Office of Education No. 39 is managing the federal award in compliance with federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award. Effective internal controls should include procedures to ensure compliance with grant reporting requirements and expenditure reports are properly supported. CONDITION: The Regional Office of Education No. 39 did not submit or timely submit the required reports to the Illinois State Board of Education in compliance with the grant award agreement. CONTEXT: During testing of the Regional Office of Education No. 39’s compliance with the grant reporting requirements, we noted the following: One of 44 (2%) quarterly expenditure reports were submitted 31 days late. Five of 44 (11%) quarterly expenditure reports lacked sufficient documentation to support expenditures reported; therefore, we were unable to determine if the quarterly expenditure reports were accurately reported. EFFECT: Failure to meet grant reporting requirements is a noncompliance with the related grant agreement and could result in loss of grant funding in future years. CAUSE: Management indicated that the required reports were not timely submitted, and supporting documentation was unavailable due to oversight and access limitations under the previous finance staff. RECOMMENDATION: We recommend the Regional Office of Education No. 39 implement procedures to ensure adherence to the grant reporting requirements and to ensure quarterly expenditure reports are properly supported. MANAGEMENT’S RESPONSE: The Regional Office of Education No. 39 agrees with the audit findings and will provide close oversight for the timely submission of grant expenditures and performance reports. Checklist, due dates, and reminders are shared from the Regional Superintendent to the Business Office Manager and Program Directors. Management will review the grant report submissions in Illinois Web Application Security (IWAS) for accuracy and completion before approving and submitting to Illinois State Board of Education.