Silver Creek School Corporation

FINDING 2025-003 Subject: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.425D, 84.425U Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425D210013, S425U200013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Finding: Material Weakness Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2023-008. Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance related to the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 19 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Reimbursement requests for the program were prepared by one employee and reviewed by another employee; however, the supporting documentation that was provided to the reviewer did not give a clear distinction as to what expenditures were included in the reimbursement. As the documentation provided was not adequate that accompanied the reimbursement request, and the reimbursement requests, as noted below, did not agree to the ledger, the reviewer could not have ensured expenses were allowed per the federal program and if the cost were in conformance with the allowable cost principles. In addition, while reviews of payroll and vendor claims took place prior to the reimbursement request being compiled, no reviewers had enough detailed information (i.e., fund being charged) or knowledge to determine if the expense was allowable from the federal award funds or was compliant with the cost principles. The lack of internal controls were systemic issues throughout the audit period for ESSER II and ESSER III. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." Cause A proper system of internal controls was not designed by management of the School Corporation. Embedded within a properly designed and implemented internal control system should be internal controls consisting of policies and procedures. Policies reflect the School Corporation's management statements of what should be done to effect internal controls, and procedures should consist of actions that would implement these policies. Reimbursement requests for the program were prepared by one employee and reviewed by another employee; however, detailed supporting documentation was not provided to the reviewer to determine if the expense was allowable from the federal award funds or was compliant with the cost principles. Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls could have enabled noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Cost/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 20 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure compliance with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Cost/Cost Principles compliance requirements and that sufficient detailed supporting documentation accompanies all reimbursement requests. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

FINDING 2025-003 Subject: COVID -19 - Education Stabilization Fund – Activities Allowed and Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Allison Vanover, Corporation Treasurer. Contact Phone Number 812-246-3375 Email Address: avanover@scsc.school Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: The Corporation will implement and consistently apply a standardized two-level review and approval process for all grant reimbursements to ensure proper accounting, documentation, and compliance. The grants administrator (or designee) will prepare and conduct the initial review of each grant reimbursement to verify that all expenses and receipts contain the correct accounting information, are properly documented, and are recorded in the appropriate accounts within the Financial Management System (FMS). The Corporation Treasurer (or designee) will perform an independent secondary review of all grant reimbursements, including a review of supporting documentation and account coding, and will provide final approval and signature as evidence of authorization. On a monthly basis, grant accounts will be reviewed by the grants administrator for accuracy and completeness, with the Corporation Treasurer (or designee) conducting a secondary monthly review to confirm accuracy and compliance. This two-level review process ensures adequate segregation of duties, strengthens internal controls, and provides documented oversight of all grant reimbursement activity. Anticipated Completion Date: The ESSER grant is finished. If we were to receive this grant in the future, Silver Creek School Corporation would apply the procedures in the corrective action plan.

2023-008

FINDING 2023-004 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grants to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 19611-158-PN01, 19619-158-PN01, 20611-158-PN01, 20619-158-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context The School Corporation was a member of the Clark County Joint Services Program (Cooperative). During fiscal year 2021-2022, the Cooperative operated the special education programs and spent the federal money on behalf of all its member school corporations. As the grant agreements were between the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) and each member school corporation, the School Corporation was responsible for ensuring and providing oversight of the Cooperative. However, there was inadequate oversight performed by the School Corporation to ensure compliance with the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. The Cooperative did not have internal controls in place over payroll transactions to ensure expenditures were allowed and in conformance with the cost principles. The Treasurer reviewed a report which showed the total amount paid from each fund and account; however, a detailed payroll report was not reviewed which would have identified the employee being paid from the grant fund. For vendor disbursements, although the Deputy Treasurer matched the invoice to the purchase order and provided it to the Corporation Treasurer for review and signature of the Accounts Payable Voucher (claim) prior to payment, the internal control was not effective and did not detect or allow correction of errors. In the initial sample of 6 vendor disbursements, one claim was unable to be provided. As the error was isolated to vendor disbursements, the sample of vendor disbursements only was increased by 31. Within the new sample of 31 vendor disbursements, an additional claim was unable to be provided. As both vendor disbursements with missing documentation were travel expense reimbursements made to the same employee, the ledger was reviewed for additional travel disbursements to that individual. None were identified; thus, no further testing was determined to be necessary. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 20 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) The lack of internal controls over payroll disbursements was isolated to 2021-2022. The ineffective internal controls and noncompliance over vendor disbursements were isolated to the two travel claims noted above. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 2 CFR 200.334 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 34 CFR 300.202(a) states: "General. Amounts provided to the LEA under Part B of the Act - (1) Must be expended in accordance with the applicable provisions of this part; (2) Must be used only to pay the excess costs of providing special education and related services to children with disabilities, consistent with paragraph (b) of this section; and (3) Must be used to supplement State, local, and other Federal funds and not to supplant those funds." 34 CFR 300.208 states: "(a) Uses. Notwithstanding §§ 300.202, 300.203(b), and 300.162(b), funds provided to an LEA under Part B of the Act may be used for the following activities: (1) Services and aids that also benefit nondisabled children. For the costs of special education and related services, and supplementary aids and services, provided in a regular class or other education-related setting to a child with a disability in accordance with the IEP of the child, even if one or more nondisabled children benefit from these services. (2) Early intervening services. To develop and implement coordinated, early intervening educational services in accordance with § 300.226. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 21 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (3) High cost special education and related services. To establish and implement cost or risk sharing funds, consortia, or cooperatives for the LEA itself, or for LEAs working in a consortium of which the LEA is a part, to pay for high cost special education and related services. (b) Administrative case management. An LEA may use funds received under Part B of the Act to purchase appropriate technology for recordkeeping, data collection, and related case management activities of teachers and related services personnel providing services described in the IEP of children with disabilities, that is needed for the implementation of those case management activities." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." Cause A proper system of internal controls was not designed by management of the School Corporation. Embedded within a properly designed and implemented internal control system should be internal controls consisting of policies and procedures. Policies reflect the School Corporation's management statements of what should be done to effect internal controls, and procedures should consist of actions that would implement these policies. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. As a result, appropriate documentation for two travel claims was not retained. Noncompliance with the provisions of federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the federal award could result in the loss of future federal funding to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the School Corporation establish a proper system of internal controls and develop policies and procedures to ensure that documentation will be maintained and made available for audit. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 22 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

FINDING 2023-004 Finding Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Summary of Findings: The School Corporation was a member of the Clark County Joint Services Program (Cooperative) during fiscal year 2021-2022. The Cooperative did not have internal controls in place over payroll transactions to ensure expenditures were allowable and in conformance with the cost principles. The Treasurer reviewed a report which showed the total amount paid from each fund and account; however, a detailed payroll report was not reviewed which would have identified the employee being paid from the grant fund. For vendor disbursements, although the Deputy Treasurer matched the invoice to the purchase order and provided it to the Corporation Treasurer for review and signature of the accounts payable voucher prior to payment, the control was not effective and did not detect or allow correction of errors. In the initial sample of 6 vendor disbursements, one claim was unable to be provided. Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Ashley Compton, Director of Special Education, Tamara Swarens, Director of Elementary Curriculum and Allison Vanover, Corporation Treasurer Contact Phone Number and Email Address: 812-246-3375 alcompton@scsc.school tswarens@scsc.school avanover@scsc.school Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: Silver Creek School Corporation does not operate under the Special Education Coop any longer. The AP Specialist makes sure that there is an appropriate claim for each payment we make, there are two signatures on each claim and the claims are approved by the Treasurer. Check processing is completed by the Deputy Treasurer as the third check. The AP Specialist now scans each invoice to the FMS accounting system to ensure that we have all back up for the claims. With the new Directors of Curriculum and Special Education, we only reimburse for positions that are charged to the federal grant that have gone through a multi-step process to ensure that they get coded to the right place. The process is also reviewed at the time a request for reimbursement is made. Anticipated Completion Date: March 2024

FINDING 2023-007 Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles, Earmarking, Period of Performance Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Programs: Special Education Grant to States, Special Education Preschool Grants Assistance Listing Numbers: 84.027, 84.173 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): 21611-168-PN01, 21619-168-PN01 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed; Allowable Costs/Cost Principles; Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking; Period of Performance Audit Finding: Material Weakness Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance with the Activities Allowed or Unallowed; the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles; the Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking; and the Period of Performance compliance requirements. Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance related to activities allowed and conformance with the cost principles. The School Corporation did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that only employees performing duties for the special education program were being paid out of the grant funds. The Corporation Treasurer was reviewing a total amount paid from each fund account; however, a detailed payroll report was not being reviewed that would have identified the employees being paid from the grant fund. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 27 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Matching, Level of Effort, Earmarking The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that proportionate share expenses were properly spent. The Special Education Director and Treasurer compiled and reviewed the proportionate share reports sent to the Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) to track nonpublic school expenses; however, that internal control was not able to be verified as the reports were not retained. Period of Performance The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls to ensure transactions made from special education funds occurred within the appropriate period of performance. Claims for the special education programs were paid without an appropriate level of review or oversight to ensure the expenditures charged to each grant were within the allowed time frame. Although the reimbursement requests submitted to the IDOE were prepared by the Treasurer and approved by the Special Education Director, the School Corporation was unable to provide tangible audit evidence of this review and approval process, which may have included a review of the costs included on each request to verify they were within the correct period of performance. The lack of internal controls was isolated to 2022-2023. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." Cause A proper system of internal controls was not implemented by management of the School Corporation, which would include segregation of key functions. Embedded within a properly designed and implemented internal control system should be internal controls consisting of policies and procedures. Policies reflect the School Corporation's management statements of what should be done to effect internal controls, and procedures should consist of actions that would implement these policies. Effect Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 28 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Recommendation We recommended that management of the School Corporation design and implement a proper system of internal controls, including policies and procedures that would provide segregation of duties to ensure appropriate reviews, approvals, and oversight are taking place and are adequately documented. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

FINDING 2023-007 Finding Subject: Special Education Cluster (IDEA) – Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles, Earmarking, Period of Performance Summary of Finding: Activities Allowed or Unallowed and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles The School Corporation did not have adequate procedures in place to ensure that only employees performing duties for the Special Education Program were being paid out of the grant funds. The Corporation Treasurer was reviewing a total amount paid from each fund account; however, a detailed payroll report was not being reviewed that would have identified the employees being paid from the grant fund. Earmarking The School Corporation did not have internal controls in place to ensure that they were in compliance with the earmarking requirements. The Special Education Director and Corporation Treasurer compiled and reviewed the proportionate share reports that get sent to Indiana Department of Education to track non-public school expenses, however, that control was not able to be verified as the reports were not retained. Period of Performance The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls to ensure transactions made from Special Education funds occurred within the appropriate period of performance. Claims for the Special Education programs were paid without an appropriate level of review or oversight to ensure the expenditures charged to each grant were within the allowed time frame. Although the reimbursement requests submitted to the Indiana Department of Education were prepared by the Corporation Treasurer and approved by the Special Education Director, the School was unable to provide tangible audit evidence of this review and approval process, which may have included a review of the costs included on each request to verify they were within the correct period of performance. Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Ashley Compton, Director of Special Education and Allison Vanover, Corporation Treasurer Contact Phone Number and Email Address: 812-246-3375 alcompton@scsc.school avanover@scsc.school Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: The Special Education Director and the Corporation Treasurer have a standing meeting once per month to review expenditures and receipts to prepare a reimbursement. At that time, the period of performance is also checked for accuracy. During this meeting they will also review payroll (salary and benefits) to identify employees who are included in the grant. All reimbursements and proportionate share documents are reviewed, signed and filed in an individual grant binder, housed in the special education office. Special education director will code initial expenditures to grant appropriation lines and submit to payroll and corporation treasurer. Payroll then confirms that the expenditure can be taken from that line in the working grant document for the corresponding grant. Oversight and review of grant allocations and approved totals with grant budgets are reviewed monthly at the time reimbursements are completed. Anticipated Completion Date: April 2024

FINDING 2023-008 Subject: COVID -19 - Education Stabilization Fund - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 - Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listings Numbers: 84.425C, 84.425D Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): S425C200018, S425D200013, S425D210013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Finding: Material Weakness Condition and Context The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal controls, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting, noncompliance related to the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Reimbursement requests for the program were prepared by one employee and reviewed by another employee; however, no supporting documentation was provided to the reviewer. As documentation did not accompany the reimbursement requests the reviewer would not have been able to determine if the expenses were allowed per the federal program and if the costs were in conformance with the allowable cost principles. In addition, while reviews of payroll and vendor claims took place prior to the reimbursement request being compiled, no reviewers had enough detailed information (i.e., fund being charged) or knowledge to determine if the expense was allowable from the federal award funds or was compliant with the cost principles. The lack of internal controls was a systemic issue throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 29 SILVER CREEK SCHOOL CORPORATION SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." Cause A proper system of internal controls was not designed by management of the School Corporation, which would include segregation of key functions. Embedded within a properly designed and implemented internal control system should be internal controls consisting of policies and procedures. Policies reflect the School Corporation's management statements of what should be done to effect internal controls, and procedures should consist of actions that would implement these policies. Effect Without the proper design or implementation of the components of a system of internal controls, including policies and procedures that provide segregation of duties and additional oversight as needed, the internal control system cannot be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that management of the School Corporation design and implement a proper system of internal controls, including policies and procedures that would provide segregation of duties to ensure appropriate reviews, approvals, and oversight are taking place. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.

FINDING 2023-008 Finding Subject: COVID -19 - Education Stabilization Fund – Activities Allowed and Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Summary of Finding: The School Corporation had not properly designed or implemented a system of internal control, which would include appropriate segregation of duties, that would likely be effective in preventing, or detecting and correcting noncompliance related to the Allowable Activities and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Reimbursement requests for the programs were prepared by an employee and reviewed by another employee to ensure all costs are correct and allowable before giving their approval. While the School Corporation did have a process in place to review and approve reimbursement requests, not all reimbursement requests were traceable to the Schools Corporation’s fund ledger and no audit evidence was provided to indicate the reviewer verified disbursements to the School Corporation records. Contact Person Responsible for Corrective Action: Allison Vanover, Corporation Treasurer Contact Phone Number and Email Address: 812-246-3375 avanover@scsc.school Views of Responsible Officials: We concur with the finding. Description of Corrective Action Plan: The same process will be in place to review and approve grant reimbursements. The Deputy Treasurer will verify with the person preparing the reimbursement that the proper accounting information is on the receipt and that it is then receipted into the correct account in the FMS System and sign off. The Corporation Treasurer will review all receipts and be the second signature. Each month the accounts will be checked for accuracy by the grants person and the Corporation Treasurer will again be the second check for accuracy. The grant person will be checking for Allowable Activities and Allowable Costs/Cost Principles and verifying that they meet compliance. During the reimbursement process the grants person will also make sure all sections of the grant have been properly expended. Anticipated Completion Date: March 2024