Finding Text
Finding: The District did not always comply with the Federal requirements for quarterly reporting information for the ESF - HEERF Student Aid Portion. Criteria: Title 2, Section 200.303, Code of Federal Regulations, requires the District to establish and maintain effective internal controls over Federal awards that provide reasonable assurance that the District is managing Federal awards in compliance with the Federal Statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions. In addition, recipients of funding from the ESF ? HEERF Student Aid Portion are required to report no later than 10 days following the end of each calendar quarter in a format and location that is easily accessible to the public: - The total amount of Emergency Financial Aid (EFA) Grants distributed to students as of the date of the report. - The estimated total number of students at the District that are eligible to receive EFA Grants. - The total number of students who have received an EFA Grant. - The method(s) used by the District to determine which students receive the EFA Grants and how much they would receive. Condition: During the 2021-22 fiscal year, the District had ESF expenditures totaling $3.2 million, including $220,623 expended for the ESF ? HEERF Student Aid Portion. The ESF ? HEERF Student Aid Portion provided students with EFA Grants to help cover expenses related to the disruption of campus operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of part of our audit, we requested for examination District records to demonstrate whether the required quarterly reports contained the required information and were made accessible to the public. In response to our inquiry, District personnel directed us to the District Web site, which included ESF ? HEERF Student Aid Portion quarterly reports for the periods ended September 2021 and December 2021. However, the reports only included the total amounts of EFA Grants distributed to students for the periods of those reports and no information was reported for the periods ended March 2022 and June 2022. Cause: District personnel indicated that the deficient reporting occurred due to staff turnover and the lack of training and supervisory review and approval procedures. Effect: Absent all required information in quarterly reports, the District did not comply with Federal program reporting requirements and the public?s ability to analyze, monitor, and evaluate the District?s administration of the ESF ? HEERF Student Aid Portion was limited. Recommendation: The District should establish procedures to ensure that the quarterly reports for the ESF ? HEERF Student Aid Portion contain all required information and are made accessible to the public. Such procedures should include appropriate training for District personnel and supervisory review and approval to verify the timeliness and accuracy of the information reported. District Response: The District agrees with the finding. The District will ensure that staff is trained on procedures to ensure compliance in the future with Federal quarterly reporting guidelines.