Report 2021-614 Recommendations

To ensure that LEAs submit required spending data so that it can effectively oversee their use of ESSER and GEER funds, Education should continue to track the number of LEAs that fail to submit their quarterly spending reports and perform targeted outreach to these LEAs.

To ensure that LEAs submit required spending data so that it can effectively oversee their use of ESSER and GEER funds, Education should seek additional resources and staffing as necessary to ensure that all LEAs submit required spending reports.

To ensure that LEAs effectively use their ESSER and GEER funds before the spending deadlines to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on students, Education should develop a robust process for tracking LEAs' spending of these funds. As part of this process, Education should regularly assess LEAs' spending data to identify those that may be in jeopardy of not spending all of their allocations before the deadlines. This assessment should include projecting LEAs' future spending based on their spending patterns.

To ensure that LEAs effectively use their ESSER and GEER funds before the spending deadlines to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on students, Education should develop a robust process for tracking LEAs' spending of these funds. As part of this process, Education should follow up with identified LEAs to determine whether they have plans for spending all of their funds before the deadlines and whether these plans are reasonable.

To ensure that LEAs effectively use their ESSER and GEER funds before the spending deadlines to mitigate the effects of the pandemic on students, Education should develop a robust process for tracking LEAs' spending of these funds. As part of this process, Education should identify the best practices that have enabled some LEAs to spend their ESSER and GEER funds quickly and effectively. It should communicate those practices to all LEAs to help them maximize their use of these funds.

To sufficiently monitor LEAs' use of ESSER and GEER funds, Education should establish a policy that specifies, at a minimum, the number of LEAs it will select for monitoring reviews to obtain adequate assurance that LEAs are spending funds in accordance with requirements. Further, Education should follow the new policy to ensure that it selects the appropriate number of LEAs to monitor.

To ensure that it monitors LEAs that may be at higher risk of misinterpreting spending requirements or misusing ESSER funds, Education should, when selecting LEAs for monitoring, use the data that LEAs submit to identify those that have reported significant amounts of spending of ESSER funds in the category of Other Activities.

To ensure that it monitors LEAs that may be at higher risk of misinterpreting spending requirements or misusing ESSER funds, Education should, as part of its monitoring, select and review transactions that LEAs have reported in the Other Activities category for the ESSER program to determine whether the LEAs have used these funds for purposes allowed under federal law.

To ensure that it monitors LEAs that may be at higher risk of misinterpreting spending requirements or misusing ESSER funds, Education should, if it finds that the LEAs it monitors have improperly categorized their spending in Other Activities, provide guidance to all LEAs to clarify the types of spending that they should include in this category.