The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (Washington) had an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEA) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved LEA ARP ESSER plans. We found that Washington did not have an adequate review and approval process to ensure that LEA ARP ESSER plans met all applicable requirements. As a result, the public did not have sufficient insight into how the LEAs planned to spend ARP ESSER funds. Washington was required to ensure that LEAs submitted ARP ESSER plans that were complete and timely; however, we found that Washington did not ensure LEAs’ compliance with all Federal requirements and guidance for creating transparent and understandable plans. During the audit, Washington was responsive to the issues we identified and initiated corrective action to ensure that Federal requirements and guidance were met.
The objectives of the audit were to determine whether the Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction (Washington) had an adequate oversight process in place to ensure that (1) local educational agencies’ (LEA) American Rescue Plan (ARP) Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) plans met applicable requirements and (2) LEAs use ARP ESSER funds in accordance with applicable requirements and their approved LEA ARP ESSER plans.
We found that Washington did not have an adequate review and approval process to ensure that LEA ARP ESSER plans met all applicable requirements. As a result, the public did not have sufficient insight into how the LEAs planned to spend ARP ESSER funds. Washington was required to ensure that LEAs submitted ARP ESSER plans that were complete and timely; however, we found that Washington did not ensure LEAs’ compliance with all Federal requirements and guidance for creating transparent and understandable plans. During the audit, Washington was responsive to the issues we identified and initiated corrective action to ensure that Federal requirements and guidance were met.
We made 3 recommendations: (1) that Washington takes appropriate corrective actions for LEAs with approved ARP ESSER plans so that these plans meet all applicable requirements; (2) that Washington be required to fully document its review and approval of ARP ESSER plans for LEAs that have not yet submitted their plans, once they have been submitted, to ensure that they comply with all program requirements; and (3) that Washington to develop and implement, for both the reimbursement and monitoring processes, protocols to sample LEA expenditures charged to ARP ESSER, and to review supporting documentation, including procurement process documentation, to ensure that applicable Federal, State, and local requirements are met.
Implementing Pandemic Relief Aid Laws
See our work involving pandemic relief aid.