{"database": "mytown-research", "table": "audit_findings", "rows": [[37, "wa-sao", "1021321", "2017-001", null, "WA", "Aberdeen School District No 5", "School District", "1882", null, "no_match", "Washington State Auditor's Office", "Financial and Federal audit \u2014 Aberdeen School District No 5", "Financial and Federal", 2017, "2016-09-01", "2017-08-31", "2018-05-17", "federal_award_compliance", "material_weakness", 0.0, "Questioned Cost Amount: $0", "The District did not have adequate internal controls to ensure compliance with the federal Special Education Cluster grant requirements for procurement. CFDA Number and Title: 84.027 \u2013 Special Education\u2013Grants to States (IDEA, Part B) 84.173 \u2013 Special Education\u2013 Preschool Grants (IDEA Preschool) Federal Grantor Name: U.S. Department of Education Federal Award/Contract Number: NA Pass-through Entit", "Background \nThe District participates in the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act\u2019s \nSpecial Education program. The District received $826,202 from the program \nduring fiscal year 2017. \nFederal regulations require recipients of federal money to establish and follow \ninternal controls to ensure compliance with program requirements. These controls \ninclude knowledge of grant requirements and monitoring of program controls. \nThe District must ensure it follows the most restrictive procurement requirements \nwhen procuring goods and s ervices. The District procured professional special \neducation services from two contractors at costs of $276,264 and $216,458, \nrespectively. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nDescription of Condition \nThe District did not maintain support to show it followed the most restrictive \nprocurement requirements in awarding either of the two contracts for professional \nspecial education services. \nWe consider this deficiency in internal controls to be a material weakness. \nThis issue was not reported as a finding in the prior audit. \nCause of Conditio n \nThe District experienced employee turnover at the procurement position and was \nunable to find the documentation to show it followed the appropriate procurement \nmethod. \nEffect of Condition and Questioned Costs \nThe District was unable to show it complied w ith federal procurement \nrequirements. The District cannot demonstrate it received the best price for the \ngoods it purchased if supporting documentation is not maintained. \nWe did not question costs because the funds were used for an allowable purpose. \nReco mmendation s \nWe recommend the District ensures it follows its policies in applying the most \nrestrictive procurement method when procuring goods and services with federal \ngrant funds. We further recommend it improve internal controls to ensure it \nmaintains documentation supporting its compliance. \nDistrict\u2019s Response \nThe Aberdeen School District is re-evaluating the process used for purchasing. We \nare hiring one person specifically to procure bids, services and supplies. One of \ntheir primary responsibilities will be to post, track and respond to RFP/RFQ\u2019s. For \nthe 2018-19 school year, an RFP for services used to support Special Education \nwas posted and advertised. The bid sheet will be consulted for hiring additional \nproviders, as needed. The district has also been able to hire several people, as \nemployees of the district, to provide these services starting in the 2018 -19 school \nyear. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nAuditor\u2019s Remarks \nWe thank the District for its c ooperation throughout the audit and the steps it is \ntaking to address these concerns. We will review the status of the District\u2019s \ncorrective action during our next audit \nApplicable Laws and Regulations \nThe American Institute of Certified Public A ccountants defines significant \ndeficiencies and material weaknesses in its Codification of Statements on Auditing \nStandards, section 935, Compliance Audits, paragraph 11. \nTitle 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative \nRequirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards \n(Uniform Guida nce), section 516 Audit findings, establishes r eporting \nrequirements for audit findings. \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Guidance, section 303 Internal controls, establishes \ninternal control requirements for management of Federal awards to non -Federal \nentities. \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Guidance, section 318 General procurement \nstandards, establishes procurement requirements. \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Guidance, section 320 Methods of procurement to \nbe followed, describes the procurement methods to be followed. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________", "https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1021321&isFinding=false&sp=false", "2026-07-30 13:24:54"]], "columns": ["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"], "primary_keys": ["rowid"], "primary_key_values": ["37"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 6.293594982707873, "source": "MyTown", "source_url": "https://mytown.theboringparts.com", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}