Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District's Use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds
Summary
Final Flash Report ED-OIG/F24NY0180 of the U.S. Department of Education Office of Inspector General, dated September 24, 2024, addressed to Deena M. Bishop, Ed.D., Commissioner of the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development, on the Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District's use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief (ESSER) funds. It reports that all 20 expenditures reviewed, selected from ARP ESSER expenditures for July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023, were allowable and in accordance with applicable requirements, and that the district complied with key Federal procurement requirements. Because it identified no exceptions, the report makes no recommendations. It states that Alaska and Matanuska-Susitna had no comments on the draft report.
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- Issuer
- U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General
- Document type
- Report
- Date
- 2024-09-24
Cite this document
“Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District's Use of Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds.”
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General, dated 2024-09-24. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/source-documents/matanuska-susitna-school-district-esser/
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U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
Matanuska-Susitna Borough
School District’s Use of
Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief Funds
September 24, 2024
ED-OIG/FYNY0180
FLASH REPORT
NOTICE
In accordance with Freedom of Information Act (Title 5, United States Code,
Section 552), reports that the Office of Inspector General issues are available to
members of the press and general public to the extent information they contain is not
subject to exemptions in the Act.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
OFFICE OF INSPECTOR GENERAL
Audit Services
September 24, 2024
Deena M. Bishop. Ed.D.
Commissioner
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development
PO Box 110500
Juneau, Alaska 99811
Dear Commissioner Bishop:
Enclosed is our final flash report, “Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District’s Use of Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Funds” Control Number ED-OIG/F24NY0180. This report
incorporates the comments you provided in response to the draft report. The U.S. Department of
Education’s policy is to expedite audit resolution by timely acting on findings and recommendations.
Therefore, if you have any additional comments or information that you believe may have a bearing on
the resolution of this review, you should send them directly to the following Department of Education
official, who will consider them before taking final Departmental action on this review:
Adam Schott
Delegated the Authority to Perform the Functions and Duties of the Assistant Secretary Office of
Elementary and Secondary Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, D.C. 20202
We appreciate your cooperation during this review. If you have any questions, please contact me at
(214) 790-5430 or Myra.Hamilton@ed.gov.
Sincerely,
/s/
Myra Hamilton
Regional Inspector General for Audit
Enclosure
400 MARYLAND AVENUE, S.W., WASHINGTON, DC 20202-1510
Promoting the efficiency, effectiveness, and integrity of the Department’s programs and operations.
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Inspector General
Results in Brief
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District’s Use of Elementary and
Secondary School Emergency Relief Grant Funds
Why the OIG Performed What Did the OIG Find?
This Work We determined that all the ESSER expenditures we reviewed for Matanuska-Susitna were
Congress passed three coronavirus allowable and in accordance with applicable requirements. Allowable activities generally
relief acts within a 1-year period that include those authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, Individuals with
provided more than $275 billion for Disabilities Education Act, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act, Carl D. Perkins Career
an Education Stabilization Fund to and Technical Education Act of 2006, and subtitle B of title VII of the McKinney-Vento
prevent, prepare for, and respond to Homeless Assistance Act. It also includes activities listed in section A-3 of the U.S.
the coronavirus, which the President Department of Education’s Frequently Asked Questions document for the ESSER and
declared as a national emergency in Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Programs.
March 2020. This included
We also found that Matanuska-Susitna complied with key Federal procurement
$189.5 billion for Elementary and
requirements, including those covering the procurement methods to be followed and
Secondary School Emergency Relief
contract cost, price, and provisions, when procuring the goods or services associated with
(ESSER), funds intended to provide
each ESSER expenditure we reviewed.
vital support to States, local
educational agencies, and schools to What Are the Next Steps?
address the impact of the Because we identified no exceptions, our report does not include recommendations.
coronavirus. Support, in part, However, our results are limited to the ESSER expenditures we reviewed, and it is critical
includes activities designed to help that any remaining ESSER funds continue to be used appropriately.
students and educators safely return
Alaska and Matanuska-Susitna had no comments on our draft report.
to and sustain in-person instruction,
and that address the educational
inequities exacerbated by the
coronavirus pandemic and students’
social, emotional, mental health, and
academic needs.
Ensuring that ESSER funds are used
for allowable purposes is critical to
help address the needs of students
and educators. The Matanuska-
Susitna Borough School District
(Matanuska-Susitna) was allocated
approximately $55.4 million in ESSER
funds to support 49 schools serving
about 19,700 students.
We performed this review to
determine whether Matanuska-
Susitna expended ESSER grant funds
for allowable purposes in accordance
with applicable requirements.
Flash Report ED-OIG/F24NY0180
Purpose
The objective of our flash review was to determine whether the Matanuska-Susitna
Borough School District (Matanuska-Susitna) expended Elementary and Secondary
School Emergency Relief (ESSER) 1 grant funds for allowable purposes in accordance with
applicable requirements. This flash review report presents the results of our review.
Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
The Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District in Alaska is a local educational agency
(LEA) in a town setting with 49 schools serving about 19,700 students. Matanuska-
Susitna was allocated approximately $55.4 million in ESSER funds. As of March 11, 2024,
Matanuska-Susitna had spent about $44.8 million (81 percent) of its $55.4 million ESSER
allocation to address the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic. For our review period,
Matanuska-Susitna received $12.5 million in ESSER funds, $6.6 million of which were
American Rescue Plan (ARP) ESSER funds. In its approved ARP ESSER Plan, Matanuska-
Susitna noted that it planned to use its ARP ESSER funds, in part, for supporting summer
learning programs, supporting education technology, and paying for preparation time
for teachers. Additionally, its funds were to be used, in part, for providing vaccination
clinics, contact tracing efforts, mental health services (hiring counselors), and hiring staff
for the LEA’s early childhood education programs.
Results of Our Review
For the selected transactions covered by our review, Matanuska-Susitna expended
ESSER grant funds for allowable purposes and in accordance with applicable
requirements. We selected and reviewed 5 non-personnel and 15 personnel ARP ESSER 2
expenditures (less than 1 percent) from a total population of 7,667 ARP ESSER
1
ESSER is one of multiple emergency relief funds comprising the Education Stabilization Fund, which
was first authorized and funded under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act
(March 27, 2020), and for which Congress later provided additional funding under the Coronavirus
Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (December 27, 2020) and the American Rescue
Plan (March 11, 2021). Under ESSER, the U.S. Department of Education awarded grants to State
educational agencies for the purpose of providing local educational agencies with emergency relief
funds to address the impacts that the coronavirus pandemic had on elementary and secondary schools
and their students.
2
We limited the scope of our review to ARP ESSER expenditures because they represented the highest
dollar amount of ESSER expenditures when compared to other ESSER funds during our review period.
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/F24NY0180 1
expenditures for the period July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023 (review period). We
used a judgmental, risk-based process to select the 20 expenditures that represented
$424,946 (7 percent) of the $5,937,357 in total ARP ESSER expenditures for the period
July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023 (review period).
We reviewed each expenditure to determine whether it was (1) connected to the
coronavirus pandemic (intended to prevent, prepare for or respond to the coronavirus
pandemic, including its impact on the social, emotional, mental health, and academic
needs of students); (2) an authorized use of ESSER funds under applicable law and
regulations; and (3) reasonable and necessary and otherwise permissible under the
Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for
Federal Awards (Uniform Guidance, 2 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) Part 200). We
also performed additional work, as needed, to determine whether Matanuska-Susitna
complied with key Federal procurement requirements, specifically those covered under
2 C.F.R. sections 200.320 (methods of procurement to be followed), 200.324 (contract
cost and price), and 200.327 (contract provisions), when procuring the goods or services
associated with each expenditure. We interviewed Matanuska-Susitna officials to gain a
basic understanding of how they used ESSER funds, and their processes for approving
and monitoring ESSER expenditures.
An LEA can use ESSER funds for any activity deemed allowable under section 18003(d) of
the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (P.L. 116-136); section 313(d) of
the Coronavirus Response and Relief Supplemental Appropriations Act (P.L. 116-260);
and section 2001(e) of the American Rescue Plan Act (P.L. 117-2). These activities
generally include any activity authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, Adult Education and Family Literacy Act,
Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act of 2006, and subtitle B of title VII of
the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act; as well as those listed in section A-3 of
the U.S. Department of Education’s Frequently Asked Questions document for the
ESSER and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Programs (May 2021, and updated
on December 7, 2022).
We determined that all 20 (100 percent) expenditures that we reviewed for Matanuska-
Susitna were used for allowable purposes and in accordance with applicable
requirements. These expenditures were generally for heating, ventilation, and air
conditioning upgrades; indirect costs; iPads; and payroll. They were connected to the
coronavirus pandemic, authorized uses of ESSER funds under applicable law and
regulations, and reasonable and necessary and otherwise permissible under Uniform
Guidance. In addition, we found that Matanuska-Susitna complied with key Federal
procurement requirements covered under 2 C.F.R. sections 200.320 (methods of
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/F24NY0180 2
procurement to be followed), 200.324 (contract cost and price), and 200.327 (contract
provisions) when procuring the goods or services associated with each expenditure.
Because all the expenditures we reviewed were for allowable purposes and in
accordance with applicable requirements, we make no recommendations in this report.
However, our results are limited to the ESSER expenditures we reviewed, and it is critical
that any remaining ESSER funds continue to be used appropriately.
Alaska Department of Education and Early Development’s
Comments
The Alaska Department of Education and Early Development had no comments on the
draft report since no issues were identified. Matanuska-Susitna also had no comments
on this report.
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/F24NY0180 3
Appendix A. Scope and Methodology
Our review covered Matanuska-Susitna’s ARP ESSER expenditures from July 1, 2022,
through June 30, 2023 (review period). We limited the scope of our review to ARP ESSER
funds because Matanuska-Susitna’s ARP ESSER funds represented the highest dollar
amount ($6.6 million) of all ESSER funds ($12.5 million) that were allocated to and
expended by them during our review period. We also limited our internal control work
to gaining a basic understanding of the process that Matanuska-Susitna used to account
for ESSER funds, including the accounting system and accounting codes used by
Matanuska-Susitna. We conducted our review remotely from March 2024 through
June 2024. We discussed the results of our review with Matanuska-Susitna and Alaska
Department of Education and Early Development officials on June 24, 2024.
Sampling Methodology
To determine whether Matanuska-Susitna expended ARP ESSER grant funds during our
review period for allowable purposes in accordance with applicable requirements, we
selected and reviewed 20 expenditures (less than 1 percent) from a total population of
7,667 expenditures using a judgmental, risk-based, selection process. We stratified the
population between personnel and non-personnel expenditures and selected 5 non-
personnel expenditures and 15 personnel expenditures. The 5 non-personnel
expenditures (3 percent) were selected from a total of 156 non-personnel ARP ESSER
expenditures and represented $241,137 (31 percent) of the $783,910 in total non-
personnel ARP ESSER expenditures from our review period. The 15 personnel
expenditures (less than 1 percent) were selected from the total population of
7,511 personnel expenditures and represented $183,809 (4 percent) of the
$5,153,447 in total personnel ARP ESSER expenditures from our review period.
We selected the 20 expenditures using one or a combination of the following criteria:
For non-personnel expenditures, we selected the two highest dollar transactions (all
exceeding $65,000) and unique comment descriptions that were different from the
previous two high-dollar transactions selected, and for personnel expenditures, we
selected the highest dollar transaction per object description and location description.
We selected the two highest dollar non-personnel expenditures and the five highest
dollar personnel expenditures. Since the expenditures were selected using a
judgmental, risk-based selection process, the results of our testing cannot be projected
to the universe of ARP ESSER expenditures.
Use of Computer-Processed Data
We relied, in part, on computer-processed data (LEA expenditure data) from
Matanuska-Susitna’s accounting system. Matanuska-Susitna provided us with an Excel
spreadsheet report generated from its accounting system that contained its ARP ESSER
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/F24NY0180 4
expenditure data from July 1, 2022, through June 30, 2023. To assess the completeness
of the expenditure data in the spreadsheet, we compared total expenditures in the
spreadsheet to total expenditures in the four quarterly ARP ESSER expenditure reports
that Matanuska-Susitna submitted to the Alaska Department of Education and Early
Development for our review period. To assess the reliability of the expenditure data in
the spreadsheet, we reviewed supporting documentation, such as invoices and proof of
payment, for the 20 expenditures covered by our review. We did not identify any issues
and concluded that the expenditure data in the spreadsheet were reliable for their
intended use.
Compliance with Standards
We conducted our work in accordance with OIG quality control standards and the
Council of the Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency “Quality Standards for
Federal Offices of Inspector General,” which require that we conduct our work with
integrity, objectivity, and independence. We believe that the information obtained
provides a reasonable basis for our conclusions.
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/F24NY0180 5
Appendix B: Acronyms and Abbreviations
ARP American Rescue Plan
C.F.R. Code of Federal Regulations
ESSER Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief
LEA local educational agency
Matanuska-Susitna Matanuska-Susitna Borough School District
Uniform Guidance Uniform Administrative Requirements, Cost Principles, and
Audit Requirements for Federal Awards
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/F24NY0180 6
Alaska Department of Education and Early
Development’s Comments
U.S. Department of Education
Office of Inspector General
ED-OIG/F24NY0180 7
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