Finding Text
Finding 2025-002 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Passthrough Entity: Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Assistance Listing Number and Federal Program: 84.027 Special Education Grants to States Compliance Requirement: B. Allowable Costs Criteria: Per 2 CFR 200.430(g)(1)(i), the District is required to have records that are supported by a system of internal control that provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated. The District uses semi-annual certifications to determine if the salaries and/or employee benefits of its employees are allowable for the grant. These certifications are to be completed after each semi-annual period by the Special Education program director. These certifications show that the teachers’ time was spent under the Special Education program, and their salaries and benefits are allowable for the Special Education program. Condition: During the course of our audit, we reviewed semi-annual certifications for all teachers whose salaries and/or employee benefits are allocated to the Special Education program, as required. These certifications are used to verify that employees spent all or a portion of their time working on these programs. Per requirements, these certifications should be completed for all teachers whose salaries and/or employee benefits are allocated to the Special Education program. During our testing, we noted that one of the teachers selected for testing was not included on the semi-annual certifications. Cause: There is a lack of oversight in this area. The program director should ensure that applicable teachers have semi-annual certifications completed for their time spent on the Special Education program during each semi-annual period. Also, a second party should be reviewing the signed certifications to ensure the program requirements are followed to avoid any noncompliance issues and consequences. Effect: Semi-annual certifications are listed under the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirement. In order to apply expenditures to the Special Education program, the program director needs to certify that all teachers whose salaries and/or benefits that are going to be applied to the program are spending all or a portion of their time on that program. Without this certification, it is not clear that the amounts reported as Special Education expenditures are indeed eligible expenditures. Questioned Costs: No questioned costs noted. Perspective Information: This appears to be an isolated problem as further review of the semi-annual certifications show that all other teachers whose salaries and/or employee benefits applied to the Special Education program had semi-annual certifications for their time spent on the program. Identification of Repeat Findings: Not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommend that the District implement stronger oversight in this area by assigning a review of the certifications after they are completed. Once the certifications are signed by the program director, they should be forwarded to a second party for their review and signature. This review should occur to ensure each Special Education teacher has a semi-annual certification completed for their time spent on the program. Review of the certifications should also have due dates of twice per year to ensure they are done timely and are not overlooked.