Fiscal Concerns Federal Grants

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Fiscal Concerns - Federal Grants

• Presented by Office of Compliance Investigation
• NJ Department of Education

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PURPOSE

• NCLB
• Title I
• Part A Improving Basic Programs operated by
  LEAs
• Provide Programs and resources for disadvantaged
  students. Requires LEAs to close the achievement
  (testing) gap by various means, including
  improving qualifications of teachers and
  paraprofessionals (Basic Skills).

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PURPOSE

• Title II
• Part A Teacher and Principal Training and
  Recruiting Fund
• Provides the resources for improving teacher and
  principal quality and increases the number of
  qualified teachers to decrease class size.
• Part D Enhancing Education through Technology
• Improves academic achievement through use of
  technology.

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PURPOSE
Title III Part A Grants and Subgrants for
English Language Acquisition and
Language Enhancement Teaches English to LEP and
immigrant children to improve learning. Title
IV Part A Safe and Drug-Free Schools and
Communities Act. Provides resources for a
safe and drug-free learning environment.
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PURPOSE

• Title V
• Part A Innovative Programs
• Helps LEAs in development and implementation of
  innovative reform initiatives.
• Title VI
• Part B Rural and Low-Income Program
• Addresses the needs of rural school districts.
  Increase student achievement and decrease dropout
  rates in rural areas.

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PURPOSE

• IDEA
• To supplement the education of students with
  disabilities through the Basic (ages 3-21) and
  Preschool (ages 3,4 and 5).

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Develop grant application with personnel who
  administer grant and program
• Allocation amount is the grant revenue. Must
  receive at least 10,000 for Title III in order
  to accept funds. May be part of a consortium to
  accept funds.
• Allocation formulas either census based or ASSA
  based for NCLB. IDEA allocation is based on
  Special Education Annual Data Report.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Board approvals required
• Prior to submitting an application.
• After NJDOE approves an application and sends the
  LEA a notification of grant award.
• Staff funded by grant must be approved with the
  amount, applicable percentage and the name of the
  grant.
• Prior to submitting any amendment applications.
• If transfers are made within line items (subject
  to the 10 or 50,000 rule).
• Prior to submitting a carryover application.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Function and object codes
• Function and object codes are listed on the grant
  application form. The codes used should be
  appropriate to the activity. See Quick
  Reference of Commonly Requested Costs for
  classification of commonly requested costs.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Items to include while budgeting
• Salaries of staff working in programs covered by
  the grant. Staff should have only the percentage
  that they work in the program included in the
  grant.
• 15 of contracted salaries of TPAF members must
  be budgeted to reimburse the state for pension
  and FICA.
• Non TPAF wages should be budgeted at least 7.65
  to cover FICA/medicare reimbursement to the
  board.
• Equipment that is budgeted should only be used
  for the grant program. The cost for each piece
  of equipment must be at least 2,000.
• Other supplies and costs directly associated with
  the program should be budgeted.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Non-Public Issues
• Titles II D, III, IV, V and IDEA have allocations
  for private schools.
• Title I does not have a direct allocation for
  private schools, but the LEA is responsible for
  applicable services for at-risk students
  identified in the private schools.
• Title II A requires a hold-harmless for
  professional development for the private schools,
  but does not have a separate allocation, only a
  to be given to the private schools.
• Title VI does not have a private school
  allocation.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Maintenance of Effort
• NCLB The LEA must expend at least 90 of state
  and local funds for free public education as it
  expended in the previous year, or receive less
  NCLB funding.
• IDEA There is an excess cost requirement. The
  Lea must spend at least the same amount of funds
  for students with disabilities as it does for
  students without disabilities before IDEA funds
  can be spent on students with disabilities. The
  calculation is shown on items 9c and 9d on the
  combined application. Instructions for the
  calculation are included in the instructions.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Percentage allowed for administrative costs
• Maximum of 5 for Titles I, II-D and V-A.
• Maximum of 2 for Titles III-A and IV-A.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Professional Development
• Title II-A - Hold harmless amount. The LEA must
  budget at least the amount budgeted for FY 2002
  for professional development. Private School
  share is based on this amount using the listed
  on the allocation notice.
• Funds may be used to pay for substitute teachers
  for classroom teachers attending professional
  development (public schools only) for Title II-A
  and Title II-D.
• LEAs and private schools must use 25 of Title
  II-D for professional development. May request a
  waiver.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Other budgeting issues
• Title I For allocation over 500,000, 1 must
  be budgeted for parental involvement.
  Instructional paraprofessionals must beet new
  standards of education.
• Title III Title III teachers must speak both
  English and the language they are teaching.
  Paraprofessionals must be specifically trained to
  work with LEP students.
• Title IV Security related activities are capped
  at 20. The cap is doubled to 40 for funds used
  to hire and train school security personnel.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Other budgeting issues (continued)
• Title V 27 activities are allowable for this
  grant. They are listed in the NCLB reference
  manual (on DOE website).
• IDEA Equipment purchased for IDEA preschool
  must be developmentally appropriate for 3,4 and 5
  year old students with disabilities. There are
  non-allowable costs which are listed in the
  instructions.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Indirect costs
• Are costs incurred as a result of grant
  activities and provide a benefit to the grant
  project, but cannot be allocated directly to a
  grant. Examples are costs related to facilities,
  utilities, accounting, legal fees and
  administrative costs.
• Must be approved in advance before any indirect
  costs can be budgeted for a federal grant.
• The Business administrator must sign all budget
  pages, signifying agreement with the budget.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Set up the grant on the computer system
• Fund, function, object, program and revenue codes
• The fund for federal grants is 20. Function and
  object codes should be the same as on the grant
  application. The amount should be the same as on
  the grant application.
• .

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Fund, function, object, program and revenue codes
  (continued)
• Program codes are
• Title I 231-239. Different parts of Title I
  should have a different
  program code to distinguish for
  reporting purposes.
• Title II 270-279 Title II A and Title II D
  should have different program
  codes.
• Title III 241-245
• Title IV 280-289
• Title V 260-264
• Title VI 265-269
• IDEA - 250-259 Basic and Preschool should use
  different program codes.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Carryovers
• A different program code should be used for the
  carryover portion of each grant. The code should
  be within the numbers given for the grant.
• Expenditures for July and August, after the end
  of the LEA fiscal year end of June 30
• A separate program code should be used for the
  period that is still covered by the grant (year
  end August 31), but after the fiscal year end of
  the LEA (year end June 30).

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Revenue
• The revenue budget equals the amount of the
  allocation. The fund and program codes are the
  same as for the expenditure budgets. The Revenue
  source codes are
• Title I 4411-4416
• Title II 4451-4455
• Title III 4491-4494
• Title IV 44714474
• Title V 4495-4499
• Title VI 4417-4418
• IDEA 4421-4429

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• TPAF Reimbursement Report
• The TPAF reimbursement report reimburses the
  state for FICA/Medicare and pension costs paid by
  the state for TPAF members whose salaries were
  paid by a federal grant.
• The FICA/Medicare rate, as well as the FICA
  maximum amount and the pension rate is sent to
  the school district in order to compute the TPAF
  reimbursement.
• The TPAF reimbursement should be included in the
  yearly expenditures (as an accounts payable) and
  covers expenditures only through June 30.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Monitor balances throughout the year
• Grants in excess of 50,000 report
• The Cash Management for Grants report must be
  completed to receive the balance of the funding.
  This report reflects cash received and cash
  expended to arrive at a cash balance.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• An amendment application must be filed by June 30
  for
• Funds moved into a new budget category
• Funding changes between existing categories if
  more than 10 of the total award by Title or
  50,000, whichever is less
• Change in scope of activities

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Purchase orders If split funded, items, not
  total dollar amount must be traceable to the
  grant
• Equipment purchased for grant programs must be
  included on an equipment inventory and be clearly
  labeled as being part of the grant program.
• Invoice payments invoice must be expended based
  on what actual items are being used in the grant
  program.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Time activity reports and certifications for
  staff working on grant programs.
• If a staff member is split funded, a time
  activity report indicating time allocated to each
  activity must be completed on a daily basis, and
  signed by the program supervisor. A
  certification must be completed monthly for staff
  members paid 100 with grant funds.
• Monitor that grant funds are being used. Some
  grants have a cap on carryover that is allowed.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• If there is a balance in the benefits account
  (200-200) after the TPAF reimbursement report has
  been completed, FICA/medicare for non-TPAF
  earnings and health benefits can charged to the
  grant and reimbursed to the Board, subject to
  funding percentages.
• Revenue amounts must equal expenditure at year
  end. Difference will be either deferred revenue
  or accounts receivable.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Prepare final and carryover reports.
• There must be written approval from NJDOE for a
  proposed carryover budget in the form of a
  carryover application for unspent funds. Funds
  can be carried over for 1 year.
• The Final Report should equal the districts
  financial records. There should be coordination
  between the business official and the grant
  supervisor before final reports are completed.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Restrictions on carryover amounts.
• Title I No more than 15, in excess of
  50,000 may be carried over unless a
  waiver is approved by NJDOE. One
  waiver is allowed every 3 years.
• Title IV No more than 25 may be carried over
  without NJDOE approval.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Unused non-public funds must be carried over to
  non-public.
• If TPAF salaries are charged to carryover, 15
  must be budgeted for benefits.

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GRANT APPLICATIONS AND REPORTING

• Set up carryover budgets on the computer system
  for the subsequent years budget.
• Use a separate program code than the regular
  program code for the individual grant. The
  program codes are in the series indicated above.
• The revenue amount will be in the deferred
  revenue account from the previous years audit.
• Unspent carryover not used with the fiscal year
  must be returned.

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AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Grant awards not approved by board.
• December 1 student counts were not available to
  verify IDEA counts.
• Grant budget did not agree to grant application.
• Transfers under 10 between grant line items were
  not approved by the board.
• Fixed asset listing and reconciliation not
  performed.

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AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Equipment purchased was not used for grant
  program.
• Secretary Reports do not equal Treasury Reports.
• Bank Accounts are not reconciled.
• Bidding violations .
• Cash receipts not posted to the proper fund.

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AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Disallowed costs.
• Unbudgeted expenditures in grants.
• Expenditures charged to object codes that were
  not part of grant application.
• Misclassification of expenditures.
• Grant expenditures did not have proper backup.

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AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Line items over expended in grants, and no budget
  amendment requests were prepared.
• No detail for accounts payable balance in fund
  20.
• Split funded invoices were not recorded properly.
• TPAF reimbursement report not completed.

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AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Employees who were charged to grants were not
  approved by the board.
• District did not have records of time and effort
  of employees charged to federal grants.
• Salary expense misclassified to grants.
• Did not isolate carryover budget from current
  year grant.

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AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Purchase orders not reviewed to determine end of
  year encumbrances and accounts payables.
• A/R for grants not received within 1 year
• Federal grant reports do not agree with the
  districts financial records

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AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS

• Unexpended carryover funds were not returned to
  DOE.
• Grant balances returned did not equal prior year
  audit.
• Return of excessive amounts of unused balances.
  In some cases, full balances of smaller grants
  were returned.

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Fiscal Concerns - Federal Grants
Thanks for Coming
The End