Information on the federal program: Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) –Earmarking Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 22611-047-PN01, 22611-047-ARP, 23611-047-PN01, 22619-047-PN01, 22619-047-ARP, 23619-047-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Matching, Level of Effort, and Earmarking Audit Finding: Significant Deficiency, Other Matters Criteria: 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO).... 2 CFR 200.207(a) states in part: "The Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity may impose additional specific award conditions as needed . . ." 511 IAC 7-34-7(b) states: "The public agency, in providing special education and related services to students in nonpublic schools and facilities, must expend at least an amount that is the same proportion of the public agency total subgrant under 20 U.S.C. 1411(f) as the number of nonpublic school students with disabilities, who are enrolled by their parents in nonpublic schools or facilities within its boundaries, is to the total number of students with disabilities of the same age range." Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the earmarking portion of the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Cause: The School Corporation participates in a Special Education Cooperative that manages and operates the special education program and oversees the majority of the federal compliance requirements. The School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system placed the School Corporation in noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking compliance requirement. Noncompliance with the grant agreement or the compliance requirement could have resulted in the loss of federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs: $34,365 Context: The School Corporation did not meet the earmarking requirements for the grants, which concluded during the audit period. Both the Special Education Grants to States and Special Education Preschool Grants required a proportionate share of their funding to be spent on non-public school students with disabilities. The 22611-047-PN01, 22611-047-ARP, 23611-047-PN01, 22619-047-PN01, 22619-047- ARP, and 23619-047-PN01 grant awards were fully expended during the audit period with minimum Non- Public Proportionate Share earmarking requirements of $27,189, $5,074, $26,124, $1,171, $453, and $1,929, respectively. There were not sufficient non-public school expenditures incurred to meet the non-public proportionate share requirement for any of the six grants. The non-public school expenditures fell short of the minimum requirement by $11,679, $3,176, $16,405, $1,171, $4, and $1,929, respectively. Identification as a repeat finding: Yes – see Finding 2023-002. Recommendation: We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish internal controls to monitor earmarking requirements periodically to ensure compliance with the earmarking compliance requirements by the end of the grant period. This includes meeting with the Cooperative periodically to monitor and track progress towards meeting the earmarking requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.