Standard School District

FA-2021-001 Governor?s Emergency Education Relief Fund/Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund Federal Assistance listing #84.425C/84.425D Criteria: Consistent with 2 CFR section 200.311 (real property), section 200.313 (equipment), and section 200.439 (equipment and other capital expenditures) Education Stabilization Funds (ESF) may be used to purchase equipment. Capital expenditures for general and special purpose equipment purchases are subject to prior approval by Education Department (ED) or the pass-through entity. In addition, with prior approval by the ED or the pass-through entity, recipients and subrecipients may use ESF funds to purchase real property and perform construction for improvements to land, buildings, or equipment that meet the overall purpose of the ESF program, which is ?to prevent, prepare for, and respond to? the COVID-19 pandemic. Condition: The District used funding from the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) program for capital expenditures. The funding terms and conditions require the District to obtain approval from the funding agency prior to incurring the expenditure. The District was unable to provide documentation that the required approval was obtained. The error is considered a systemic error as there were a total of 18 capital expenditures, as evidenced by invoices, whereby the District did not obtain the proper approval prior to incurring the expenditure. Effect: The effect of not obtaining the required approval resulted in the District reclassifying $649,777 of expenditures from ESF funds to general funds. Additionally, this error could result in potential loss of funding under this grant. Cause: The error is a result of the District not understanding the terms and conditions of the requirements of the grant agreement. Recommendation: We recommend the District develop and implement policies and procedures whereby staff obtain an understanding of the funding terms and conditions of all grants in order to prevent future violations of compliance requirements. Management should obtain proper training through the appropriate regulatory and granting agencies. Management?s Response: The business department attends monthly meetings with KCSOS. They also participated in virtual training regarding COVID-19 funding. The District contracted with Schools Facility Consultants for all capital expenditure pre-approvals. All corrections were made before the end of year closing. The business department will continue to seek training regarding requirements of granting agencies. Stacy Robertson, Chief Business Officer is responsible for the corrective action plan, which was completed by September 15, 2021.

Corrective Action Plan: The business department attends monthly meetings with KCSOS. They also participated in virtual training regarding COVID-19 funding. The District contracted with Schools Facility Consultants for all capital expenditure pre-approvals. All corrections were made before the end of year closing. The business department will continue to seek training regarding requirements of granting agencies. Stacy Robertson, Chief Business Officer is responsible for the corrective action plan, which was completed by September 15, 2021.