Finding 1223219 (2024-009)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
AB
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2026-07-08

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: Williston Basin Public School District No. 7 failed to provide adequate supporting documentation for 54 out of 60 sampled Title I expenditures, resulting in questioned costs of $136,372.
  • Impacted Requirements: The district did not comply with Uniform Guidance regulations requiring effective internal controls and proper documentation for federal awards.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The district should implement robust internal controls and policies to ensure all federal grant expenditures are properly documented and approved.

Finding Text

2024-009 – TITLE I –INADEQUATE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION – ALN 84.010 - MATERIAL WEAKNESS & MATERIAL NONCOMPLIANCE FINDING TYPE: MATERIAL WEAKNESS & MATERIAL NONCOMPLIANCE Finding 2024-009 Federal Program: Title I – Grants to LEA’s ALN: 84.010 Federal Award Number(s) and Year(s): S010A240034, 2024 Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education Pass Through Agency: North Dakota Department of Public Instruction Questioned Cost: $136,372 Condition Williston Basin Public School District No. 7 was unable to provide supporting documentation for expenses charged to the Title I program. 54 of the 60 expenditures we sampled did not have any support, leaving them with known questioned costs of $136,372. Effect Williston Basin Public School District No. 7 may have charged unallowable expenditures to the grant program. Cause Williston Basin Public School District No. 7 did not maintain support documentation for all expenditures charged to the Title I grant. In addition, there was no evidence of approval for these transactions. Criteria Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.303(a) states “The non-Federal entity must establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award 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).” Uniform Guidance 2 CFR 200.403(g) requires costs to be adequately documented. "Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government" (Green Book) requires management to design, implement, and operate internal controls to achieve its objectives related to operations, reporting, and compliance. Management is to design appropriate types of control activities for the entity's internal control system. Control activities help management fulfill responsibilities and address identified risk responses in the internal control system. Context Williston Basin Public School District No. 7 had total Title I expenditures of $1,527,887 in fiscal year 2024. Projected questioned costs identified during testing totaled $1,463,906. Repeat Finding Yes. See finding 2023-014. Finding 2022-007 was reported in previous years. Recommendation We recommend that Williston Basin Public School District No. 7 establishes proper internal controls and policies to ensure they are maintaining proper support documentation for all federal grants. Williston Basin Public School District No. 7’s Response

Corrective Action Plan

2024-009 – TITLE I –INADEQUATE SUPPORTING DOCUMENTATION – ALN 84.010 - MATERIAL WEAKNESS & MATERIAL NONCOMPLIANCE Condition: Williston Basin Public School District No. 7 was unable to provide supporting documentation for expenses charged to the Title I program. 54 of the 60 expenditures we sampled did not have any support, leaving them with known questioned costs of $136,372. Management’s Response: We agree. WBSD#7 created a new Grants Coordinator position in July 2023 with one of the specific responsibilities for that position being oversight of all Federal programs. This oversight responsibility includes monitoring expenditures to ensure all expenditures are allowable within the parameters of each program and also that proper documentation for those expenditures has been maintained. It has taken the district some time to get this area cleaned up. Anticipated Completion Date: FY 2025

Categories

Allowable Costs / Cost Principles

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1223218 2024-008
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1223220 2024-010
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1223221 2024-011
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
21.029 CORONAVIRUS CAPITAL PROJECTS FUND $13.56M
84.010 TITLE I GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES $1.49M
84.371 COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY DEVELOPMENT $384,339
84.424 STUDENT SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PROGRAM $383,485
10.553 SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM $226,707
10.582 FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM $211,507
10.555 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM $166,748
16.071 SCHOOL VIOLENCE PREVENTION PROGRAM $164,979
84.365 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STATE GRANTS $35,043
84.425 EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND $27,803
84.027 SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES $10,668
10.560 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES FOR CHILD NUTRITION $4,936
10.559 SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN $407