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Glenn County
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GLENN COUNTY
OFFICE OF EDUCATION
Review Report
AUDIT RESOLUTION PROCESS
Fiscal Year 2016-17 and Fiscal Year 2017-18
BETTY T. YEE
California State Controller
March 2021
BETTY T. YEE
California State Controller
March 2, 2021
Tracey J. Quarne, County Superintendent of Schools
Glenn County Office of Education
311 South Villa Avenue
Willows, CA 95988
Dear Mr. Quarne:
The State Controller’s Office reviewed the Glenn County Office of Education’s (COE) audit
resolution process for local education agency exceptions noted in the annual audit reports. The
review covered fiscal year (FY) 2016-17 and FY 2017-18.
Our review found that the Glenn COE followed its audit resolution process for FY 2016-17 and
FY 2017-18. As a result, the Glenn COE was in compliance with California Education Code
section 41020, except for late submission of the FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 certifications of
corrective action.
In addition, the first paragraph in the certification of corrective action form for FY 2016-17,
incorrectly referred to the certification applying to FY 2014-15.
If you have any questions, please contact Joel James, Chief, Financial Audits Bureau, by
telephone at (916) 323-1573.
Sincerely,
Original signed by
MICHAEL REEVES, CPA
Acting Chief, Division of Audits
MR/as
Tracey J. Quarne, -2- March 2, 2021
County Superintendent of Schools
cc: Randy Jones, Assistant Superintendent Business Service
Glenn County Office of Education
Dusty Thompson, Fiscal Services Coordinator
Glenn County Office of Education
Elizabeth Dearstyne, Director
School Fiscal Services Division
California Department of Education
Keith Smith, Administrator
School Fiscal Services Division
California Department of Education
Jeff Bell, Program Budget Manager
Education Systems Unit
California Department of Finance
Glenn County Office of Education Audit Resolution Process
Contents
Review Report
Summary ............................................................................................................................ 1
Background ........................................................................................................................ 1
Objective, Scope, and Methodology ................................................................................. 2
Conclusion .......................................................................................................................... 3
Views of Responsible Officials .......................................................................................... 3
Restricted Use .................................................................................................................... 4
Finding and Recommendation .............................................................................................. 5
Attachment—Glenn County Office of Education’s Response to Draft Review Report
Glenn County Office of Education Audit Resolution Process
Review Report
Summary The State Controller’s Office (SCO) reviewed the Glenn County Office of
Education’s (COE) audit resolution process for local education agency
(LEA) exceptions noted in the annual audit reports for fiscal year
(FY) 2016-17 and FY 2017-18. Our review found that the Glenn COE
followed its audit resolution process for FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18
except for late submission of the certifications of corrective action.
The Glenn COE submitted its FY 2016-17 certification of corrective
action to the Superintendent of Public Instruction (SPI) on May 22, 2018,
but did not submit to the SPI the FY 2017-18 certification of corrective
action. The Glenn COE provided us with a copy of the FY 2017-18
certification of corrective action on August 5, 2020, while we were
conducting this review.
In addition, the first paragraph of the county’s certification of corrective
action form for FY 2016-17 incorrectly stated that the certification applied
to FY 2014-15.
Background California Education Code section 41020(n) requires the State Controller
to annually select a sample of county superintendents of schools for which
the SCO will perform a follow-up review of the audit resolution process.
Results of these reviews will be reported to the SPI and the county
superintendents of the schools that were reviewed.
In addition, California Education Code section 41020(n) states that the
State Controller shall require auditors to categorize audit exceptions in the
audit report in such a manner that both the county superintendent of
schools and the SPI can discern the exceptions for which it is their
responsibility to ensure that the LEAs take action to correct.
The Glenn COE provides coordination of educational programs and
professional and financial supervision for eight LEAs under its
jurisdiction. In addition, the county superintendent of schools maintains
special schools and programs countywide, independent of the LEAs.
County superintendents of schools are required to do the following:
Review, for each of their school districts, audit exceptions relating to
attendance, inventory of equipment, internal control, and any
miscellaneous items, and determine whether the findings have been
corrected or an acceptable plan of correction has been developed
(California Education Code section 41020(i)(1));
Review audit exceptions related to the use of program funds for
instructional materials, teacher misassignments, and school
accountability report cards. The county superintendents must also
determine whether the exceptions have been corrected or an
acceptable plan of correction has been developed (California
Education Code section 41020(i)(2));
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Glenn County Office of Education Audit Resolution Process
Review audit exceptions related to attendance, inventory of
equipment, internal control, and other miscellaneous exceptions.
Attendance exceptions or issues must include those related to local
control funding formula allocations pursuant to California Education
Code section 42238.02, as implemented by section 42238.03, and
independent study (California Education Code section 41020(j)(1));
Notify the LEA, and request that the governing board of the LEA
provide to the county superintendent of schools a description of the
correction or plan of correction by March 15 of the subsequent year
(California Education Code section 41020(j)(2));
Review the description of the correction or plan of correction and
determine its adequacy and, if the LEA’s response was not adequate,
require the LEA to resubmit that portion of its response that is
inadequate (California Education Code section 41020(j)(3));
By May 15 of the subsequent year, certify to the SPI and the SCO that
the county has reviewed all applicable exceptions, and state that all
exceptions have been corrected, or that an acceptable plan for
correction has been submitted by the LEA to the county
superintendent, except as noted in the certification. In addition,
identify by LEA any attendance-related exceptions or exceptions
involving state funds, and require the LEA to submit the appropriate
reporting forms to the SPI for processing (California Education Code
section 41020(k));
Review LEAs’ unresolved prior-year audit exceptions when the
California Department of Education defers to the county (California
Education Code section 41020(l)); and
Adjust subsequent local property tax requirements to correct audit
exceptions relating to LEA tax rates and tax revenues (California
Education Code section 41020(o)).
Objective, Scope, The objective of our review was limited to determining whether the Glenn
COE followed its audit resolution process for resolving LEA audit
and Methodology
exceptions in a manner consistent with California Education Code
section 41020. Our review did not include an evaluation of the sufficiency
of the action taken by the LEA and the Glenn COE to address each
exception, nor did it assess the degree to which each exception was
addressed.
The review period was FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18.
To achieve our objective, we:
Verified that the Glenn COE addressed all attendance, inventory of
equipment, internal control, and miscellaneous exceptions. In
addition, we verified that the Glenn COE addressed any findings on
program funds for instructional materials, teacher misassignments,
and school accountability report cards. However, with respect to
exceptions based on sample items, our review did not include a
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Glenn County Office of Education Audit Resolution Process
determination of whether the exception results were properly
quantified and addressed at a districtwide or countywide level;
Verified that the Glenn COE notified LEAs that they must submit
completed corrective action forms to the Glenn COE by March 15,
2018, and March 15, 2019, for FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18,
respectively. Our review did not include an assessment of the LEAs’
progress in taking corrective action;
Verified that the Glenn COE required the LEAs to submit the
appropriate reporting forms to the SPI for any attendance-related
exceptions that affect state funding;
Reviewed the letters of certification due on May 15, 2018, and
May 15, 2019, that the Glenn COE sent to the SPI and the SCO
regarding any resolved and unresolved audit exceptions;
Verified that the Glenn COE followed up with unresolved prior-year
audit exceptions that the SPI required the Glenn COE to conduct; and
Verified that the Glenn COE adjusted subsequent local property tax
requirements to correct audit exceptions related to LEA tax rates and
tax revenues.
Our review was conducted under the authority of California Education
Code section 41020(n).
Conclusion Our review found that the Glenn COE followed its audit resolution process
for FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18. As a result, the Glenn COE was in
compliance with California Education Code section 41020 for
FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18, except for the late submission of
FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 certifications of corrective action. We made
no additional determination regarding the Glenn COE audit resolution
process beyond the scope of the review outlined above.
The Glenn COE submitted its FY 2016-17 certification of corrective
action to the SPI on May 22, 2018, but did not submit to the SPI the
FY 2017-18 certification of corrective action. The Glenn COE provided
us with a copy of the FY 2017-18 certification of corrective action on
August 5, 2020, while we were conducting this review.
In addition, the first paragraph of the certification of corrective action form
for FY 2016-17 incorrectly stated that the certification applied to
FY 2014-15.
Views of We issued a draft report on December 24, 2020. Dusty Thompson, Fiscal
Services Coordinator, responded by email dated January 28, 2021
Responsible
(Attachment), agreeing with the review results. This final review report
Officials
includes Glenn COE’s response.
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Glenn County Office of Education Audit Resolution Process
Restricted Use This review report is intended solely for the information and use of the
Glenn COE, the California Department of Education, the California
Department of Finance, and the SCO; it is not intended to be and should
not be used by anyone other than these specified parties. This restriction
is not meant to limit distribution of this review report, which is a matter of
public record and is available on the SCO website at www.sco.ca.gov.
Original signed by
MICHAEL REEVES, CPA
Acting Chief, Division of Audits
March 2, 2021
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Glenn County Office of Education Audit Resolution Process
Finding and Recommendation
FINDING— The Glenn COE’s certification of corrective action form for the
COE certifications FY 2016-17 and FY 2017-18 audit findings of its LEAs was not provided
submitted late to the SPI and SCO by May 15. The form for FY 2016-17 was received on
May 22, 2018 and the form for FY 2017-18 was provided to the SCO on
August 5, 2020, while we were conducting this review. In addition, the
first paragraph of the certification of corrective action form for
FY 2016-17 incorrectly stated that the certification applied to FY 2014-15.
The Glenn COE Fiscal Services Coordinator stated that he was aware that
the certification of corrective action forms were not provided by the
May 15, 2018 due date. He added that, in the future, he will review
certifications for consistency of dates and to ensure that the forms are
provided by the required May 15 deadline.
California Education Code section 41020 states, in part:
(k) Each county superintendent of schools shall certify to the
Superintendent and the Controller, not later than May 15, that his or her
staff has reviewed all audits of local educational agencies under his or
her jurisdiction for the prior fiscal year, that all exceptions that the county
superintendent was required to review were reviewed, and that all of
those exceptions, except as otherwise noted in the certification, have
been corrected by the local educational agency or that an acceptable plan
of correction has been submitted to the county superintendent of schools.
In addition, the county superintendent shall identify, by local educational
agency, any attendance-related audit exception or exceptions involving
state funds, and require the local educational agency to which the audit
exceptions were directed to submit appropriate reporting forms for
processing by the Superintendent. Recommendation We recommend that
the Contra Costa COE ensure compliance with California Education
Code section 41020(k) by taking steps to ensure that certification of
corrective action forms are delivered to the SCO and SPI by the May 15
due date.
Recommendation
We recommend that the Glenn COE ensure that:
Certification of corrective action forms are reviewed for accuracy;
The fiscal year referred to in the certification is correct:
The certification for FY 2017-18 is provided to the SPI: and
Certification of corrective action forms are provided to the SCO and
the SPI by the May 15 due date in compliance with California
Education Code section 41020(k).
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Glenn County Office of Education Audit Resolution Process
Attachment—
Glenn County Office of Education’s
Response to Draft Review Report
State Controller’s Office
Division of Audits
Post Office Box 942850
Sacramento, CA 94250
http://www.sco.ca.gov
S20-COE-9006