Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s Oversight of Local Educational Agency Single Audit Resolution

We noted that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s oversight of LEA single audit resolution was not sufficient to ensure that LEAs took timely and appropriate corrective action. We found that in many cases the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education did not identify and require appropriate corrective actions for LEAs to take to adequately resolve their findings. Additionally, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education did not have a tracking process for individual LEA findings and did not follow up on the status of corrective actions for many of the repeat findings covered by our review. We also noted that the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education generally did not communicate effectively with LEA officials regarding audit resolution, and none of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s management decision letters that were reviewed met all Federal requirements for content.