Navigation Through Documentation: Lessons Learned from Monitoring

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Navigation Through Documentation Lessons
Learned from Monitoring

• 2007 Spring ACET Conference
• April 12, 2007
• Heather Christie
• Division of NCLB Coordination
• Texas Education Agency

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The State of Texas

• 5 audits in 2005-2006
• 2 open audits prior to 2005-2006
• Office of Inspector General (OIG) 2006-2007 audit
  topics

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2005-2006 Audits

• Emergency Impact Aid
• Program Office
• OIG
• Title II, Part A, Highly Qualified
• Title III
• Migrant

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Office of Inspector General 2007 Work Plan

• Misuse of Funds
• Hurricane Recovery Funds
• Fiscal Controls in Accounting for Federal Funds
  at LEA Level
• Impact of NCLB Waivers
• School Improvement
• SES providers
• Corrective action and restructuring

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Recent Trends

• Renewed focus on compliance
• Letters from USDE used as guidance
• States monitoring of districts
• Compliance validation
• Review LEAs Documentation
• PBMAS
• Applications/Compliance Reports
• District and Campus Plans
• Ask for documentation to validate self-reported
  results

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Recent Trends

• School visits
• More school visits
• Urban and rural schools
• More specific in findings
• Name specific schools
• Detail specific incidents
• Unallowable expenditures (Migrant audit)
• Prescriptive corrective actions
• Both state and district level
• Payback

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What have we learned?
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Why is documentation so important?
Because there is...
No implementation without documentation
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Mythbusters

• Documentation does NOT have to be difficult or
  time consuming

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• There is no secret to maintaining documentation.

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• There are no new scientific methods of preserving
  documentation for review

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Surface level documentation, may still not show
the depth of program implementation needed to
avoid being hit.
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Surface level documentation, may still not show
the depth of program implementation needed to
avoid being hit.
But, by following guidance, we can chart our
course and navigate in the right direction. By
providing appropriate, in-depth documentation, we
can steer clear and miss the sinking caused by
a lack of sufficient documentation.
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Lessons Learned
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Fiscal Management

• Beyond MOE and supplement, not supplant
• Reasonable, necessary, and allowable
• Funds target needs
• Documentation
• Budget and expenditures
• Internal controls
• Program and fiscal personnel MUST work together

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Parent Involvement

• Monitoring visits and PER data indicate that
  parent involvement requirements
• Has the highest non-compliance rate
• Are the least documented
• USDE indicates that over three year period,
  parent involvement non-compliance has increased
• Parent Involvement is a key focus in Washington
• President Bushs recent speech
• Reauthorization focus

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Parent Involvement Written Policies

• BOTH districts and campuses must have written
  policies
• Are they
• Developed with parents?
• Agreed upon by parents?
• Distributed to parents?
• Reviewed?
• P.L. 107-110, Section 1118 (a)(2), (b)(1)
• Living breathing documents?

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To show compliance a district/campus needs more
than just the policy

• Meeting Documentation
• Invitation
• Agenda
• Sign-in sheet
• Minutes
• Evaluations, if applicable
• Distribution Documentation
• Medium of distribution
• Distribution list

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There is more to compliance than the date on the
application

• Consultation Documentation
• Phone calls
• Certified letters
• Faxes
• Emails
• Public Notice
• Newspaper
• Website
• Meetings (and appropriate documentation)

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Contact Information

• Heather Christie
• Federal Monitoring Coordinator
• Division of NCLB Program Coordination
• Texas Education Agency
• heather.christie_at_tea.state.tx.us
• 512-463-9374

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• Marsha Bellinger
• JISD Federal Programs Grants Administrator
• Title I, IIA, IIA, IID, III, IV, V, OEYP, SSI,
  TAP (CWE)
• Texas Educators Excellence Grant, CSR
• [phone]
• mbellinger_at_judsonisd.org