Finding Text
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Federal Program Title: Education Stabilization Fund (ESF)
FAL Number: 84.425U
Pass-Through Agency: California Department of Education
Pass-Through Number: 15559, 10155
Award Period: July 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023
Type of Finding: Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Reporting
Criteria or specific requirement: Per 2 CFR section 200.514, in assessing the internal controls over reporting, it was noted an additional review of annual performance reports prior to submission was not accurately performed.
Condition and Context: During the sample of 5 ESSER program annual performance reports that were tested, we noted that the Organization reported the full allocation of ESF funds for the year ended June 30, 2023, rather than the expenditures allocated to the program during the period. While the annual reporting was incorrect, the quarterly reporting of expenditures during the year ended June 30, 2023 were correct and expenditures for the ESF funds were recorded properly in the financial statements.
Questioned Costs: No questioned costs, as quarterly report and use of expenditure by funds were accurately reported and recorded.
Cause: Clerical error and lack of secondary review of inputs prior to annual performance report submissions.
Effect: Over-reporting of $1,383,405 in expenditures over actual expenditures for 4 of the ESSER program annual performance reports.
Repeat Finding: Not a repeat finding.
Recommendation: We recommend the Organization design an additional internal control to review the annual performance reports prior to submission.
Views of responsible officials and Corrective Action Plan (Unaudited): Controls will be implemented for future reporting and the Organization will have the opportunity to correct the reporting errors in the subsequent periods.