Finding 519068 (2024-001)

-
Requirement
AB
Questioned Costs
$1
Year
2024
Accepted
2025-01-13
Audit: 337566
Organization: Abc Unified School District (CA)
Auditor: Nigro & Nigro PC

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: ABC Unified School District received reimbursement for expenses already covered by other federal funds, violating Emergency Connectivity Fund rules.
  • Impacted Requirements: Duplicate support for services is not allowed, leading to questioned costs of $55,800 for unallowable expenditures.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: The District should return any funds claimed for reimbursement that were duplicative to prevent future violations.

Finding Text

Finding 2024-001 – Activities Allowed/Unallowed (50000) Assisting Listing # 32.009 – Federal Communications Commission, Emergency Connectivity Fund Program Repeat Finding? No Criteria: Emergency Connectivity Fund rules do not permit applicants to receive duplicate support for the portion of the services that have been reimbursed through other federal or state programs. Condition: ABC Unified School District was reimbursed for past expenses which were deemed to qualify for Emergency Connectivity Funds. During our testing we initially discovered that 1 of 4 expenses submitted for reimbursement expenses were originally funded by Elementary and Secondary Emergency Relief II Funds (Resource 3212). During our additional testing we discovered that all 8 additional expenses were funded from Emergency Relief II Funds. Questioned Costs: Questioned cost of $55,800. Cause: District submitted all expenses for review to the Emergency Connectivity Fund Invoice Review Team and since they did not deem the expenditures unallowable, the District proceeded with the reimbursement submission. Context: Exceptions were noted in 9 of the 12 expenditures tested. Effect: This resulted in a questioned cost of $55,800 which represents the total amount the District was reimbursed in association with the 9 unallowable expenditures. Recommendation: We recommend that in the future the District return any funding that has been claimed for reimbursement that was duplicative support. Views of Responsible Officials: The e-rate control has audited the district for ECF program compliance. Based on their audit, the district has used its ECF funds for eligible goods and services, as determined by the program administrator, USAC (Universal Service Administrative Co.) The district will continue to follow the directions provided by USAC.

Corrective Action Plan

The district has been and will continue to follow the guidelines and regulations for the grants awarded and will continue to review the documentation provided to support the claims for reimbursements for accuracy.

Categories

Questioned Costs Allowable Costs / Cost Principles Cash Management

Other Findings in this Audit

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.010 Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies $3.17M
32.009 Emergency Connectivity Fund Program $2.52M
10.553 School Breakfast Program $1.40M
10.555 National School Lunch Program $695,698
84.367 Supporting Effective Instruction State Grants (formerly Improving Teacher Quality State Grants) $509,273
84.011 Migrant Education State Grant Program $297,192
84.027 Special Education Grants to States $226,866
84.365 English Language Acquisition State Grants $184,306
84.002 Adult Education - Basic Grants to States $117,244
84.424 Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program $104,764
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $95,877
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $66,481
93.596 Child Care Mandatory and Matching Funds of the Child Care and Development Fund $61,031
93.600 Head Start $8,282
84.173 Special Education Preschool Grants $237
84.181 Special Education-Grants for Infants and Families $18