Finding Text
CONDITION: During my review of the District’s compliance with the laws and regulations related to filing its federal grant program Final Expenditure Reports (FER), I noted that the School District did not file the Final Expenditure Report for the ARP ESSER, ARP ESSER Learning Loss, ARP ESSER Summer Enrichment, and ARP ESSER Afterschool grant programs until November of 2024. The report was required to be filed with the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE) no later than 90 days after the end date of the grant period, or within 30 days of expending all grant funding. This is a repeat Finding (2023-001) from the prior fiscal year.
CRITERIA: The Department of Education requires the completion and submission of a ‘Final Expenditure Report’ (FER) within 30 days of expending all grant funding. In addition, Section 2 CFR 200.344 of the Uniform Guidance requires the submission of financial reports no later than 90 calendar days after the end date of the grant period for performance.
EFFECT: The District is not in compliance with the financial reporting requirements for timely submission of a ‘final expenditure report’ (FER) for its ARP ESSER, ARP ESSER Learning Loss, ARP ESSER Summer Enrichment, and ARP ESSER Afterschool grant programs in accordance with PDE policy and Section 2 CFR 200.344 of the Uniform Guidance.
QUESTIONED COST: None
CAUSE: As a result of staff turnover, the School District inadvertently did not complete and file the Final Expenditure Reports with PDE in a timely manner.
RECOMMENDATION: I recommend that the District develop fiscal procedures to ensure that ‘Final Expenditure Reports’ for future fiscal years are completed and filed in a timely manner based on supporting financial information obtained from the District’s business office, in order to 1) comply with PDE reporting requirements for the District’s applicable federal programs, and 2) to avoid any future sanctions or withholding of grant monies from PDE as a result of not filing these reports in a timely manner.
VIEWS OF RESPONSIBLE OFFICIALS: The School District concurs with the above noted finding and addresses this issue in the ‘Corrective Action Plan’ included within this report.