Finding 23057 (2022-004)

Material Weakness
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-01-30

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The District failed to submit required financial reports (SF-425 and SF-429) for the Head Start program on time, indicating weak internal controls over compliance.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with federal reporting requirements is essential for receiving federal funds, and the District's delays violate these conditions.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The District should enhance its internal controls to ensure timely compliance with reporting requirements and prevent future delays.

Finding Text

Finding 2022-004 Information on Federal Program: Assistance Listing 93.600 ? Head Start Cluster United States Department of Health and Human Services Award Number: 06CH010751-03 Compliance Requirements: Reporting Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance Criteria: As a condition of receiving Federal awards, non-Federal entities agree to comply with laws, regulations and the provisions of grant agreements and contracts, and to maintain internal control to provide reasonable assurance of compliance with these requirements. The Department of Health and Human Services established ?reporting? compliance requirement applicable to the Head Start Cluster which stipulates that recipients submit financial reporting forms of program revenues and expenditures subject to the terms and conditions of the contract. Condition: During the fiscal year ended August 31, 2022, the District did not have effective internal controls over compliance with the reporting requirement described above. The District was delinquent in its submission to the granting agency of its annual financial forms SF-425 and SF-429 for Head Start. Cause: The District did not have adequately designed controls in place to ensure compliance with the reporting requirement. Effect or Potential Effect: The lack of effective controls creates an environment in which errors could go undetected. Context: The District failed to submit the annual SF-425 financial report and SF-429 real property status report for the reporting period ending November 30, 2021 in a timely manner and the report became delinquent. Upon the District?s request, the granting agency agreed to an extension of the deadline and the SF-425 financial report was submitted by the District on November 4, 2022 and the SF-429 report was submitted on November 7, 2022. Recommendation: We recommend that the District review its internal controls over compliance to ensure controls are suitably designed and are in place to prevent, or detect and correct, noncompliance with applicable compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Action Plan: See corrective action plan.

Corrective Action Plan

2022-004 Compliance Requirements: Reporting Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance Effective January 2023, business office personnel responsible for grant accounting will meet with grant managers to discuss grant activity and obtain approval for reimbursements. The assistant superintendent of business and operations, Margaret Lee, will be responsible for scheduling the monthly meetings between business office staff and grant managers. Margaret Lee will establish a master calendar of grant reporting deadlines that will be reviewed at each monthly meeting between business office staff and grant managers. As a part of the monthly balance sheet reconciliation and review, accounting staff will review grant reimbursement requests from the prior month and ensure that funds were received and recorded to the appropriate account. Evidence of communications with the granting agency will be required to document any revenues that were not received and/or recorded. If communications from the granting agency are not provided, the assistant superintendent for business and operations will be responsible for contacting the granting agency directly to follow up on the reporting requirements and reimbursement status. Estimated Completion Date: August 2023 Management Contact: Margaret Lee

Categories

Reporting Material Weakness Equipment & Real Property Management Matching / Level of Effort / Earmarking

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 23054 2022-003
    Material Weakness
  • 23055 2022-003
    Material Weakness
  • 23056 2022-003
    Material Weakness
  • 599496 2022-003
    Material Weakness
  • 599497 2022-003
    Material Weakness
  • 599498 2022-003
    Material Weakness
  • 599499 2022-004
    Material Weakness

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
32.009 Emergency Connectivity Fund Program $2.00M
84.287 Twenty-First Century Community Learning Centers $1.33M
93.600 Head Start $1.01M
84.367 Improving Teacher Quality State Grants $532,390
10.555 National School Lunch Program $351,157
84.424 Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program $243,101
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $123,562
10.553 School Breakfast Program $75,697
84.365 English Language Acquisition State Grants $68,830
84.173 Special Education_preschool Grants $56,771
84.196 Education for Homeless Children and Youth $53,460
84.010 Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies $41,263
97.036 Disaster Grants - Public Assistance (presidentially Declared Disasters) $19,065
84.027 Special Education_grants to States $11,121
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $7,159
84.369 Grants for State Assessments and Related Activities $5,898
10.649 Pandemic Ebt Administrative Costs $5,814