Finding Text
COVID-19 Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Grant - 2024 Passed through: ISBE Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Project Number: 2024-4998-E3 ALN 84.425U Criteria or specific requirement (including statutory, regulatory, or other citation): In accordance with 2 CFR 200.403, 2 CFR 200.404, and applicable ESSER grant requirements, all costs charged to federal awards must be adequately documented, supported, allowable, allocable, and reasonable. Supporting documentation, including vendor invoices, must be maintained to substantiate expenditures. Condition: The District could not provide supporting documentation for one (1) invoice charged to the program. Questioned Cost: $2,324.25 Context: During testing of ESSER program expenditures, a sample of disbursements was selected for review. We requested supporting documentation to verify the allowability and accuracy of the charges. The District was unable to provide documentation for one invoice included in the sample. Effect: Without adequate supporting documentation, we are unable to determine whether the expenditure is allowable, allocable, and reasonable under ESSER program requirements. As a result, the cost is considered unsupported and questioned. Cause:The District did not maintain or was unable to locate the required supporting documentation for the expenditure, indicating weaknesses in documentation retention and internal controls over grant expenditures. Recommendation: We recommend that management strengthen internal controls over documentation retention to ensure all expenditures charged to ESSER are properly supported and readily available for review. Management should also conduct a review of recordkeeping procedures to ensure compliance with federal grant requirements. Management's Response: Management agrees with this finding and response is included within the corrective action plan.