{"database": "mytown-research", "table": "audit_findings", "rows": [[41, "wa-sao", "1021339", "2017-001", null, "WA", "Deer Park School District No 414", "School District", "2052", null, "no_match", "Washington State Auditor's Office", "Financial and Federal audit \u2014 Deer Park School District No 414", "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 federal time -and-effort and procurement requirements. 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 (OSPI) Pass-through Award/Contrac", "Background \nThe District participates in the Title I program, which provides financial assistance \nto schools to improve the teaching and learning of children who are at risk of not \nmeeting challenging academic standards and who reside in areas with high \nconcentrations of children from low -income families. During school year \n2016-2017, the District spent $701,988 in Title I funds for this program. \nFederal regulations require federal money recipients to establish and follow internal \ncontrols to ensure compliance with program requirements. These controls include \nknowledge of grant requirements and monitoring of program controls. \nTime and effort \nWe audited the District\u2019s internal controls over payroll to determine whether \nsalaries and benefits charged to the grant were a dequately supported by \ntime-and-effort documentation as required by federal regulations. Depending on \nthe number and types of activities program employees worked, time -and-effort \ndocumentation can be a semi -annual certification or monthly personal activity \nreports, such as a timesheet. \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nProcurement \nGrantees must use a competitive process to procure goods and services to ensure \nthey received the best price from the lowest responsible bidder. Grantees must \napply the more restrictive of federal requirements or State law by obtaining quotes \nor following a competitive bidding process, depending on the purchase amount. \n\uf0b7 State law is more restrictive than the federal requirements for purchases \nexceeding $75,000, requiring the District to obtain formal bids. \n\uf0b7 Federal requirements are more restrictive than state law for purchases less \nthan $75,000. The District must obtain at least three quote s for purchases \ngreater than $3,500 but less than $75,000, but need not apply a competitive \nprocess for \u201cmicro\u201d purchases of $3,500 or less. \nDescription of Condition \nTime and effort \nOur audit found the District did not obtain a semi -annual certification f or one \nemployee who worked half-time in the program for a significant portion of the year. \nThe District\u2019s controls for verifying time-and-effort documentation did not include \na process to check for employees charged to the program who started after the \nbeginning of the year. \nWe consider this internal control deficiency to be a significant deficiency. \nThis issue was not reported as a finding in the prior audit. \nProcurement \nThe District purchased curriculum and services totaling $47,487 from five vendors. \nWe found that the District did not retain sufficient documentation to demonstrate it \napplied the required competitive method to award each vendor the contract for these \npurchases. \nWe consider this internal control deficiency to be a material weakness. \nThis issue was not reported as a finding in the prior audit. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nCause of Condition \nTime and effort \nThe District had a process in place to obtain the required time -and-effort \ndocumentation for each employee it would charge to program at the start of each \nschool year. The District did not have a control to verify employees who started in \nthe program after the beginning of the year had appropriate time -and-effort \ndocumentation. Because of the timing of its process, the District did not identify an \nemployee who was hired after the start of the school year for inclusion on the semi-\nannual certifications list. \nProcurement \nThe District staff member responsible for procurement procedures was not aware \nthat the federal requirements were more restrictive than State law for purchases of \nsupplies and materials less than $75,000. \nEffect of Condition and Questioned Costs \nTime and effort \nWithout proper time -and-effort records, the District did not comply with the \nrequirement and federal grantors cannot be assured the $11,379 of payroll costs \ncharged to the program for one employee was accurate or valid. However, the \nDistrict was able to provide alternative documentation that adequately showed the \ncosts it charged the program were allowable. As a result, we are not questioning \nthese costs. \nProcurement \nThe District purchased $47,487 from five vendors without obtaining price \nquotations ranging in purchase amounts from $6,292 to $14,594. Without adequate \ndocumentation of the process it used to select the five vendors it charged to the \nprogram, the District cannot show it followed a competitive process in compliance \nwith federal regulations. Further, the District cannot ensure it received the best \npossible price for equipment, supplies and services purchased under the program. \nBecause the products and services purchased are allowable under the federal \nprogram, we are not questioning costs. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nRecommendation s \nTime and effort \nWe recommend the District follow its own established internal control procedures \nto ensure it meets federal requirements for time -and-effort documentation of all \nemployee payroll costs charged to grants. \nProcurement \nWe recommend that the District establish adequate internal controls to ensure i t \nretains sufficient documentation to demonstrate it met federal procurement \nrequirements for purchases of equipment, supplies and services. \nDistrict \u2019s Response \nThe district hired a partial FTE teacher mid -year to work second semester in the \nTitle I program. The hiring was properly documented, but the employee name was \ninadvertently left off the semi-annual certification for second semester. The district \nhas instituted a process to check against HR recor ds prior to completing the \nsemi-annual certification. \nThe Title I director has been made aware of federal micro -purchase requirements \nand has been provided a full schedule of purchasing thresholds and the associated \nrequirements. \nAuditor\u2019s Remarks \nWe appreciate the District\u2019s commitment to resolving the issues noted and will \nfollow up during the next audit. \nApplicable Laws and Regulations \nThe American Institute of Certified Public Accountants defines significant \ndeficiencies and material weaknesses in its Codification of Statements on Auditing \nStandards, section 935, paragraph 11. \nTitle 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative \nRequirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements f or Federal Awards \n(Uniform Guidance), Section 516, Audit findings, establishes reporting \nrequirements for audit findings. \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200, Section 303 \u2013 Internal controls, describes the requirements \nfor auditees to maintain internal controls over fede ral programs and comply with \nfederal program requirements. \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200, Section 318 - General procurement standards, describes the \nrequirements for auditees to use its own procurement procedures, which reflect \napplicable Federal State, and local laws and maintain records sufficient to detail the \nhistory of procurement.. \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200 , Section 319 \u2013 Competition, establishes all procurement \ntransactions are to be conducted in a manner providing full and open competition, \nand requires non-federal entities to have written procedures for procurement \ntransactions. \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200 , Section 320 - Methods of procurement to be followed , \ndescribes each allowable procurement method. \nOffice of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) Bulletin 051-11 Attachment \nA \u2013 Standards for Charging Employee Compensation to Federal Grants establishes \nrequirements for documenting time and effort. \n \n \n \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________", "https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1021339&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": ["41"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 0.6930860108695924, "source": "MyTown", "source_url": "https://mytown.theboringparts.com", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}