Van Dyke Public SchoolsLocal Government

ESSER III - Grant Coding ALN 84.425U - EFS Section 1 - Elementary and Secondary Education - Grant # 213713 2122 - Grant Ending September 30, 2024 Condition and Criteria: 2 CFR 200.327 of the Uniform Guidance as well as the Michigan Department of Education (MDE) Audit Manual requires proper financial reporting, which would include the Final Expenditure Report (FER) to be an accurate and true representations of the expenditures for each project. During the current year testing, while total expenditures by funding source code matched the Final Expenditure Report (FER), we found multiple areas where function and/or object codes in the trial balance did not match up with those reported in the FER. Effect: The financial information reported in the FER was not an accurate reflection of how the District utilized the grant dollars. Cause: The FER was prepared prior to properly journalizing the approved activity into the grant. Context: Due to staffing changes during the year, Management did not realize that the activity had not been properly journalized into the correct grant accounts, but believed that all expenditures were approved and therefore submitted the FER based on the data available at the time. Questioned Costs: $0 Auditors' Recommendation: We recommend that management verify the accuracy of the coding of each transaction, documenting such coding on each invoice, and that management then compare the trial balance to the individual grant draws, each time a draw is made, prior to completing the trial balance for the audit, and prior to completing the annual FER. In addition, we recommend that when coding the transactions, management compare each transaction to the applicable grant application. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: The District understands the issue and has contracted with a third party to help ensure that all activity is properly classified prior to draws being made and prior to the FER being submitted. Please see the attached Corrective Action Plan prepared by the District.

Assistance Listing Number, Federal Agency, and Program Name 84.425D, U.S. Department of Education, Education Stabilization Fund COVID 19 ESSER II Formula Fund II and 98c Learning Loss, and 84.425U, COVID 19 ESSER Education Equity Fund III Federal Award Identification Number and Year 213712, 213782, 213713, 2023 Pass through Entity Michigan Department of Education Finding Type Material weakness Criteria Per 2 CFR 200.510(b) and Section 500.508(b) of Title 2, Subtitle A, Chapter II, Part 200, Subpart F, auditees must prepare a schedule of expenditures of federal awards for the period covered by the auditee's financial statements, which must include the total federal awards expended as determined in accordance with Section 200.502. While not required, the auditee may choose to provide information requested by federal awarding agencies and pass through entities to make the schedule easier to use. Condition The schedule of expenditures of federal awards (SEFA) contained inaccuracies and incomplete information that was identified during the audit. Questioned Costs None Identification of How Questioned Costs Were Computed N/A Context Multiple grants were presented inaccurately from the SEFA prepared by management in federal payments received and expenditures reported, which was identified by the auditor during the annual audit and subsequently corrected on the SEFA. The inaccuracies was a combination of amounts recorded in the School District's ledger that were incorrectly reflected on the SEFA, and amounts that required adjustment in the School District's ledger and also on the SEFA that was identified in the course of the audit. Cause and Effect The School District did not have sufficient controls in place to properly reconcile federal revenue to the federal expenditures reflected on the SEFA to validate that all federal grants awarded and expended were included in the SEFA and presented accurately. Recommendation The School District should implement a process to ensure that the SEFA is prepared timely and that all grant expenditures are included accurately. Views of Responsible Officials and Corrective Action Plan The School District will develop a SEFA checklist to help ensure all federal expenditures are properly reported. Additional processes will be put in place by management to review the SEFA in advance of the annual audit to effectively meet audit report timelines and help ensure completeness, validity, and accuracy of the final SEFA reporting.