Finding Text
FINDING 2024-001
Information on the federal program:
Subject: Education Stabilization Fund (ESSER) – Internal Controls
Federal Agency: Department of Education
Federal Program: COVID-19 – Education Stabilization Fund
Assistance Listing Number: 84.425U
Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425U210013
Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education
Compliance Requirement: Reporting
Audit Finding: Material Weakness
Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 states in part:
"The non-Federal entity must:
(a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ."
2 CFR 200.302(b) states in part:
"The financial management system of each non-Federal entity must provide for the following:
(2) Accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award or program in accordance with the reporting requirements set forth in §§ 200.328 Financial reporting . . . ."
34 CFR 76.722 states:
"A State may require a subgrantee to submit reports in a manner and format that assists the State in complying with the requirements under 34 CFR 76.720 and in carrying out other responsibilities under the program."
Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Reporting compliance requirements.
Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls to ensure compliance with the compliance requirements listed above.
Effect: The data reported by the School Corporation to the Indiana Department of Education contained errors when compared to underlying supporting records of grant activity for the period reported.
Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified.
Context: The School Corporation was required to submit two Annual Data Reports to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) to meet federal reporting requirements for ESSER grant awards. The Annual Data Reports were prepared by School Corporation management and reviewed by someone other than the preparer, however, the review process in place did not prevent, or detect and correct, errors. During testing of the accuracy of the annual data reports, the following errors were noted:
• The Year 2 Annual Data Report for the ESSER III (84.425U) grant award reported total disbursements of $2,219,321 for the period of July 1, 2021 through June 30, 2022 compared to underlying disbursement detail of $2,715,940.
• The Year 3 Annual Data Report for the ESSER III (84.425U) grant award reported total disbursements of $224,309 for the period of July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023 compared to underlying disbursement detail of $306,194.
Identification as a repeat finding: Yes, see Finding 2022-009 in the prior period audit report.
Recommendation: We recommend someone other than the preparer of the report perform a documented review prior to submission to validate the accuracy and completeness of the data submitted which includes a comparison to the underlying funds ledger disbursement detail for the same period.
Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.