audit_findings: 26

This data as json

rowid	source	report_number	finding_number	muni_id	state	entity_name	entity_type	entity_ext_id	place_geoid	match_method	auditor	report_title	audit_type	fiscal_year	period_start	period_end	published_date	finding_category	severity	questioned_cost	cost_basis	finding_title	finding_text	report_url	fetched_at
26	wa-sao	1021258	2017-001		WA	Evergreen School District No 114	School District	1841		no_match	Washington State Auditor's Office	Financial and Federal audit — Evergreen School District No 114	Financial and Federal	2017	2016-09-01	2017-08-31	2018-05-14	federal_award_compliance	material_weakness	0.0	Questioned Cost Amount: $0	The District did not have adequate internal controls to ensure compliance with suspension and debarment requirements for purchases of goods and materials. CFDA Number and Title: 84.010 – Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies Federal Grantor Name: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award/Contract Number: NA Pass-through Entity Name: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Pass-throu	Description of Condition During fiscal year 2017, the District spent $5,401,583 in Title I grant funds. This program’s objective is to improve the teaching and learning of children who are at risk of not meeting challenging academic standards and who reside in areas with high concentrations of children from low-income families. The District used these funds to improve teaching and learning at 14 elementary schools. Federal requirements prohibit grant recipients from contracti ng with or making subawards to parties who have been suspended or debarred from doing business with the federal government. The District must verify that all vendors receiving $25,000 or more in federal awards have not been suspended or debarred. To do this, the District could obtain a written certification from the vendor or insert a clause into the contract where the vendor states it is not suspended or debarred. Alternatively, the District may review the federal Excluded Parties List (EPLS) issued by the U.S. General Services Administration. The District must meet one of these requirements before entering into a contract with the vendor. The District did not have procedures in place when it purchased from three vendors more than $25,000 each for educati onal materials. The District did not obtain a Washington State Auditor's Office ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ written certification or review EPLS to verify the vendors were not suspended or debarred before awarding the contracts. We consider this internal control deficiency to be a material weakness. This issue was not reported as a finding in the prior audit. Cause of Condition The District was aware of suspension and debarment requirements but was not aware they applied to the purchase of goods and materials. Effect of Condition and Questioned Costs The District paid three vendors a total of $439,499 in fiscal year 2017 and did not verify that the vendors were not suspended or debarred. Payments on contracts to suspended or debarred vendors would be unallowable and subject to recovery by the grantor. We were able to verify the vendors had not been suspended or debarred; therefore, we are not questioning costs for these payments. Recommendation We recommend the District follow established internal controls to ensure vendors are not suspended or debarred from participating in federal programs before making any payments. District ’s Response The District agrees with the State Auditor’s audit finding, as explained in the report sections on Description and Cause of Condition, and Effect of Conditions and Questioned Costs. The District verified the three vendors that the District purchased educational materials were not Suspended or Debarred, after the State Auditors notified the District that education materials are within the Suspended and Debarment federal regulations. The District agrees with the State Auditor’s recommendations, and will make the necessary changes to strengthen controls, so that audit conditions of this nature will not happen again. We thank the State Auditors for making it clear that the District was aware of Suspension and Debarment federal regulations, except for the purchase of goods and materials. The District has very effective procedures for compliance with Suspension and Debarment federal regulations for processing contracts for professional s ervices and public works projects. The District has made initial changes to its procedures for purchasing goods and materials using federal funds. The District will complete Washington State Auditor's Office ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ its procedures after confirmation of the regulations is received from the State Auditor’s office. Auditor’s Remarks We appreciate the District’s commitment to resolve this finding and thank the District for its cooperation and assistance during the audit. Appli cable Laws and Regulat ions Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations – Grants and Agreements, Section § 200.303 Internal controls 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 Integra ted Framework’’, issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). (b) Comply with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal awards. Title 2, Code of Federal Regulations – Grants and Agreements, Section § 200.516 Audit findings, states in part: (a) Audit findings reported . The auditor must report the following as audit findings in a	https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1021258&isFinding=false&sp=false	2026-07-30 13:24:54