Audit of the Followup Process for External Audits in the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education

We found that OESE did not close audits timely and did not adequately maintain documentation of audit followup activities. From October 1, 2008, through September 30, 2013, OESE closed 86 external OIG audits. Of the 86 closed audits, 59 (69 percent) were closed more than 2 years after resolution and 34 (40 percent) were closed more than 5 years after resolution. The total of the monetary recommendations associated with the 86 audits was more than $587 million. Further, we found that OESE did not always adequately maintain documentation of audit followup activities. This included not maintaining supporting documentation of corrective actions in the official audit file and not maintaining documentation that supported that auditees actually took requested corrective actions before audit closure.