Finding Text
Finding 2023-001: Annual Report Card, High School Graduation Rate (50000)
Program Identification:
Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education
Pass‐through Entity: California Department of Education Program Names: Title I, Part A Grants:
Title I, Part A, Basic Grants Local-Income and Neglected (AL No. 84.010) ESEA, School Improvement Grant Funding for LEAs (AL No. 84.010)
Criteria: ESEA sections 1111(h)(1)(C)(iii)(II) and 8101(23), (25) (20 USC 6311(h)(1)(C)(iii)(II) and 7801(23), (25))) require a local educational agency to have official written documentation that a student enrolled in another school or in a educational program that culminates in the award of a regular high school diploma in order to remove a student from the graduation cohort. A student who is retained in grade, enrolled in a GED program, or leaves school for any other reason may not be counted has having transferred out for the purpose of calculating graduation rate and must remain in the adjusted cohort.
Condition: During our testing of compliance and controls over the graduation cohort, we identified three instances in which the District was unable to provide supporting documentation to demonstrate that the students enrolled in another school or in an educational program that culminates in the award of a regular high school diploma.
Context: Exceptions were identified in three of the seven students sampled.
Questioned Costs: None.
Cause: Lack of review process to ensure that when a student is removed from the graduation cohort proper documentation is obtained and maintained to support the student’s removal from the graduation cohort.
Effect: School site’s graduation rate will be overstated on the school site’s annual report card.
Recommendation: We recommend the District train school site staff on allowable documentation to remove students from a graduation cohort as well as other cohort codes. Subsequently the District should assist school sites in developing the record retention process to ensure documentation is available upon request.
Views of Responsible Officials: The District has adopted the procedures for the school to have a check-out form completed by the student and the parent/guardian when a student leaves the District, and this form will be retained by the district for life. This would be considered as the allowable documentation to remove a student from a graduation cohort.