Finding 1200771 (2025-002)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
B
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-03-30

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Missing claims auditor approval for one out of four expenditures indicates a significant deficiency in compliance with New York State requirements.
  • Impacted Requirements: All cash disbursements must receive claims auditor approval before payment to ensure proper fund management.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Ensure checks are not signed without claims auditor approval; management plans to implement this by March 31, 2026, with completion by June 30, 2026.

Finding Text

Part III - FEDERAL AWARD FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS SECTION Federal Agency - United States Department of Education Federal Program - Special Education Cluster - (84.027/84.173) Federal Award Year - 2025 State Agency - New York State Department of Education (2025-002) Missing Claims Auditor Approval - Significant Deficiency Criteria - New York State requires claims auditor approval prior to payment of expenditures. Condition - During our audit of the Special Education Cluster, the claims auditor approval was missing from 1 of 4 selections. Cause - The required cash disbursement procedures were not followed. Effect of Condition - Improper funds were disbursed by the District that did not follow New York State requirements. Recommendation - We recommend that checks do not get signed without evidence that the claims auditor approved the expenditure. Questioned Costs - None. Perspective - It is likely that this issue is pervasive to other cash disbursements that were not selected for testing during the audit for the year ended June 30, 2025. View of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions - (a) Implementation plan of actions: Management will ensure that all call disbursements have been reviewed by the claims auditor prior to releasing checks. (b) Implementation date: This will be implemented on March 31, 2026. (c) Person responsible for implementation: Jamal Scott, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations. (d) Completion date: This will be completed on or prior to June 30, 2026.

Corrective Action Plan

Current Finding (2025-002) Missing Claims Auditor Approval As a part of the Special Education Cluster, the claims auditor approval was missing from 1 of 4 selections. Improper funds were distributed by the District that did not follow New York State requirements. Corrective Action Plan (a) Implementation plan of actions: Management will ensure that all call disbursements have been reviewed by the claims auditor prior to releasing checks. (b) Implementation date: This will be implemented on March 31, 2026. (c) Person responsible for implementation: Jamal Scott, Assistant Superintendent for Business and Operations. (d) Completion date: This will be completed on or prior to June 30, 2026.

Categories

No categories assigned yet.

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1200768 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1200769 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1200770 2025-002
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.027 SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES $2.20M
10.553 SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM $1.27M
84.287 TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY COMMUNITY LEARNING CENTERS $982,631
84.425 EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND $641,922
84.367 SUPPORTING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION STATE GRANTS (FORMERLY IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS) $375,208
84.365 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STATE GRANTS $282,157
10.555 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM $150,506
84.173 SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESCHOOL GRANTS $35,149
84.424 STUDENT SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PROGRAM $4,216
84.010 TITLE I GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES $-18