audit_findings: 45
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| 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 |
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| 45 | wa-sao | 1021378 | 2017-002 | WA | Nine Mile Falls School District No 325/179 | School District | 2043 | no_match | Washington State Auditor's Office | Financial and Federal audit — Nine Mile Falls School District No 325/179 | Financial and Federal | 2017 | 2016-09-01 | 2017-08-31 | 2018-05-21 | federal_award_compliance | material_weakness | 0.0 | Questioned Cost Amount: $0 | The District’s internal controls were not adequate to ensure compliance with Title I grant requirements for graduation rate reporting. 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 the Superintendent of Public Instruction Pass-through Award/Contrac | Background During fiscal year 2017, the District spent $308,385 in Title I grant funds. The Title I 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. Federal regulations require federal-money recipients to establish and follow internal controls to comply with program requirements. These controls include knowledge of grant requirements and monitoring of program controls. Districts must report graduation rate data for all public high schools to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI) annually. This is done by submitting a Graduation Rate Report that indicates the student’s enrollment status: graduated, transferred out, dropped out, migrated to another country or deceased. The District must retain adequate support for changes to a student’s status. To confirm a student has transferred out, the District must have official written docum entation that the student enrolled in another school or in an educational program that culminates in the award of a regular high school diploma. Washington State Auditor's Office ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Description of Condition Our audit examined the District’s documentation for students it classified as “transferred out.” The District’s controls were not adequate to ensure it gathered the required documents to support its classification of a student who left the District to be homeschooled and several foreign exchange students who left the District to return to their home country. Specifically, the District did not obtain annual I ntent to Provide Home-Based Education forms (homeschool forms) for the homeschooled student, and did not retain the exchange -student applications for its exchange students. Without these forms, the District cannot report the students as confirmed transfers. We consider this control deficiency to be a material weakness. This issue was not reported as a finding in the prior audit. Cause of Condition District staff were not aware of the requirement to obtain and retain documentation to evidence transfers of foreign exchange students and students transferring to home-schooled programs. The District thought it could discard the support for these students once they had left the District. Effect of Condition and Questioned Costs The District did not obtain official written documentation to support the transfer status for seven of the 15 students tested. It i ncorrectly reported these students as transferred out when it reported graduation rate data to OSPI. Although there are no questioned costs, the District is at risk of misrepresenting the graduation rates. Recommendation s We recommend the District: Train and guide staff to ensure appropriate personnel understand the grant requirements and the Secretary of State’s records retention policy requirements Establish controls to obtain and keep current homeschool forms and foreign exchange applications for all students reported as transferred out Washington State Auditor's Office ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ District ’s Response To ensure that this weakness ceases, the Director of Business will ensure the following: That training is offered to appropriate personnel to ensure that they understand the grant requirements and th e Secretary of State’s records retention requirements. That controls are established that results with the District keeping current homeschool forms and foreign exchange applications for all students reported as transferred out. Auditor’s Remarks We thank District management and staff for their assistance during the audit. We will follow up on the status of the issue during our next scheduled audit. Applicable Laws and Regulations The American Institute of Certified Public A ccountants defines significant deficiencies and material weaknesses in its Codification of Statements on Auditing Standards, section 935, paragraph 11. Title 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative Requirements, Costs Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance), Section 303 – Internal controls, describes the requirements for auditees to maintain internal controls over federal programs and comply with federal program requirements. Title 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Guidance, Section 516 – Audit findings, establishes reporting requirements for audit findings. Title 34 CFR Part 200, Subpart A – Improving Basic Programs Operated by Local Educational Agencies, Section 200.19 – Other academic indicators, establishes the requirement for Districts to have official written documentation to confirm a student transferred out. Washington State Auditor's Office ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ | https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1021378&isFinding=false&sp=false | 2026-07-30 13:24:54 |