Finding 945749 (2023-002)

Reference # and title: 2023-002 Internal Controls Over Reporting AL#, Federal Award Title, Federal Agency, Federal Award # and Year, and the Name of the Pass-Through Entity: : AL#84.425D: COVID-19 Education Stabilization Fund, 2021: U. S. Department of Education: Passed through the Louisiana Department of Education Criteria or specific requirement: In accordance with the ESSER guidelines, the School Board is required to submit an annual performance report with data on expenditures, planned expenditures, subrecipients, and uses of funds, including for mandatory reservations. The key line items include the School Board’s expenditures by ESSER subgrant, which comes from the periodic expense reports, the number of specific positions supported with ESSER funds, allocation of ESSER funds to schools and criterial used to allocate the funds to the schools and the full-time equivalent positions paid with ESSER funding. Condition found: In testing the information submitted through the Louisiana Department of Education’s portal for the other key line items, it was noted that the support provided by the School Board was not complete or did not agree with submitted information. Context: This finding appears to be systemic. Possible asserted effect (cause effect): Cause: The School Board did not maintain all records in a secure location used to complete the report and did not reconcile the information submitted to the general ledger. Effect: The School Board did not meet all federal compliance requirements regarding special reporting. Recommendations to prevent future occurrences: The School Board should establish procedures to ensure all information used in completing reports to LDOE is not only maintained but also reconciled to their accounting records. Origination date and prior year reference (if applicable): This finding originated fiscal year ended June 30, 2023. View of Responsible Official: See Corrective Action Plan on pages 108-111.