Audit of Office of Justice Programs STOP School Violence Grants Awarded to the Lockport City School District, Lockport, New York

• NCJ Number: 309321
• Date Published: January 2024
• Length: 18 pages

Annotation

This report provides results of an audit of the Office of Justice Programs STOP School Violence Grants awarded to the Lockport City School District, in Lockport, New York.

Abstract

An audit of Office of Justice Programs STOP School Violence Grants Awarded to the Lockport City School District (LCSD), Lockport, New York, concluded that LCSD generally demonstrated adequate progress towards achieving the audited grants’ stated goal and objectives. The objectives of this audit were to determine whether costs claimed under two STOP School Violence Grant Program grants were allowable, supported, and in accordance with applicable laws, regulations, guidelines, and terms and conditions of the award; and to determine whether LCSD demonstrated adequate progress towards achieving program goal and objectives. The audit did not identify significant concerns regarding LCSD’s grant financial management, budget management and control, drawdowns, and federal financial reports. However, the authors found that LCSD included inconsistent or duplicate data in grant progress reports and failed to obtain or retain time and effort reports for consultant costs. LCSD demonstrated adequate progress towards achieving the goal and objectives of the grant programs by providing training to teachers on how to educate children who have had traumatic experiences. However, the study found instances related to duplication and inconsistency of data LCSD provided OJP in progress reports. The study also found that LCSD did not require or collect time and effort reports for consultants as required by grant rules. Specifically, LCSD’s written policies and procedures do not include procedures specific to consultants and did not contain the time and effort requirement. However, LCSD was able to support the consultant expenditures tested with invoices submitted by consultants. The Office of Justice Programs (OJP) awarded the Lockport City School District (LCSD) two grants totaling $1,229,925 for the STOP School Violence Grant Program. The report contains two recommendations for OJP.