Finding 519385 (2024-002)

2024-002 U.S. Department of Education, For the period July 1, 2023, through June 30, 2024, Assistance Listing #84.027 and #84.173 Local Entitlement and Preschool Handicapped Criteria: Non-federal entities are prohibited from contracting with or making subawards under covered transactions to parties that are suspended, debarred, or otherwise excluded from participating in the transaction. In addition, under the requirements of fiscal management, grant recipients are required to design and implement internal controls to ensure compliance with grant requirements and their own policies and procedures. Statement of Condition: The School Unit contracted with several companies to do work under a grant-funded project and did not document that the contractor was not suspended or debarred. Cause: Although the vendors used by the School Unit are not currently suspended or debarred, no formal documentation was maintained confirming the companies in question were not suspended or debarred. Effect: The School Unit runs the risk of performing projects with parties who have been suspended or debarred, which could result in the loss of federal funding. Recommendations: We recommend that the School Unit implement procedures to annually check active vendors and contractors and document that they are not suspended, debarred, or in some way prohibited from working on School Unit projects, especially those working on federally funded projects.