WEST CARROLL PARISH SCHOOL BOARD

CONDITION: Supporting documentation for one (1) out of fifteen (15) transactions sampled did not include documentation of a supervisor?s approval prior to paying the bill and charging it to the Federal Program. CRITERIA: Internal controls over expense approvals should be in place to ensure that all expenses charged to a program are supported with appropriate documentation and approved by a member of management to ensure that the expenditure is for services provided during the fiscal year and permitted by the program. CAUSE: Informal procedures and inconsistent application of the procedures resulted in the control deficiency. EFFECT: A lack of proper approval processes related to expenses of a federal program could result in material noncompliance with federal cost principles. CONTEXT: One (1) of fifteen (15) transactions sampled resulted in a control deficiency. Further examination of additional transactions occurring within the same period did not result in any additional instances of control deficiencies. RECOMMENDATION: The School Board should implement formal and consistent processes of expense approvals. Additionally, the School Board should consider providing training to personnel of functions related to Title I reimbursements and remind them of the importance of following established procedures to ensure proper internal controls and to avoid noncompliance. MANAGEMENT?S CORRECTIVE ACTION PLAN: Once policies and procedures for individual procedures for the mentioned operations in 2022-01 above are implemented, the procedures for approval of payment should flow with more accuracy. These procedures will help to ensure proper internal controls over expense approval and help to avoid noncompliance. Detailed policies for expense approval relating to federal programs will be updated. Policies for the mentioned procedures should be completed during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023.

Reference # and title: 2020-004 Internal Controls Over Allowable Costs and Cost Principles CFDA#, Federal Award Title, Federal Agency, Federal Award # and Year, and the Name of the Pass-Through Entity: This finding relates to the Child Nutrition Cluster, CFDA# 10.555 National School Lunch Program and CFDA# 10.553 School Breakfast Program, for the Federal Award Year 2020, received from Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Agriculture, passed through Louisiana Department of Education. Criteria or specific requirement: Proper internal controls over payroll disbursements required the employee and supervisor to approve the timesheets of the employee as well as certify the time worked is being properly allocated based on the documentation. Condition found: When testing a sample of eight employees, it was noted that five of the employees? timesheets were not approved by a supervisor and one of the employees? timesheets were not approved by the employee. Context: This appears to be a systemic problem. Possible asserted effect (cause and effect): Cause: The auditor was unable to determine the cause. Effect: Controls over compliance requirements related to allowable costs and costs principles were weakened. Recommendation to prevent future occurrences: The School Board should establish quality control procedures to ensure timesheets are properly reviewed and approved by both the employee and supervisor. Origination date and prior year reference (if applicable): This finding originated fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. View of Responsible Official: All employees are required to sign in and sign out during their time at work for each work day. Each employee should sign daily to approve the time in which they logged for the day. These time logs are kept for record of attendance but have not been signed for approval by a supervisor in the past.

Reference # and title: 2020-005 Internal Controls Over Reporting and Cash Management CFDA#, Federal Award Title, Federal Agency, Federal Award # and Year, and the Name of the Pass-Through Entity: This finding relates to the Teacher and School Leadership Incentive Grants, CFDA# 84.374A, for the Federal Award Years 2018, 2019 and 2020, received from Federal Agency: U.S. Department of Education, passed through Louisiana Department of Education. Criteria or specific requirement: Proper internal controls required proper checks and balances to be designed and implemented over compliance requirements for federal programs. Condition found: It was noted during the testing of claims for reimbursements and period expense reports, that although the information was reported correctly to the state, the same person that created the reports and submitted the reports was also the same person that approved the reports. No procedures were performed over these reports by a second individual. Context: This appears to be a systemic problem. Possible asserted effect (cause and effect): Cause: The auditor was unable to determine the cause. Effect: Controls over compliance requirements related to cash management and reporting were weakened. Recommendation to prevent future occurrences: The School Board should establish procedures to ensure proper checks and balances are designed and implemented over compliance requirements related to federal programs. Origination date and prior year reference (if applicable): This finding originated fiscal year ended June 30, 2020. View of Responsible Official: This weakness was an oversight on behalf of the district because the spending plan of the grant was pre-determined by the Louisiana Department of Education and the reimbursement claims and periodic expense reports were approved by the Louisiana Department of Education officials upon submission.

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