Objective

To determine whether the costs reported by Cantalician Center for Learning (Cantalician) on its Consolidated Fiscal Reports (CFRs) were properly calculated, adequately documented, and allowable under the State Education Department’s (SED) guidelines, including the Reimbursable Cost Manual (RCM) and the Consolidated Fiscal Reporting and Claiming Manual (CFR Manual). The audit covered the costs submitted by Cantalician to SED on its 2016 and 2017 CFRs for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017.

About the Program

Cantalician is an SED-approved, not-for-profit special education provider located in Depew, serving students from Erie, Genesee, and Niagara counties. Cantalician provides special education services to children with disabilities who are between the ages of 3 and 5 years. Cantalician is reimbursed for these services through rates set by SED. The reimbursement rates are based on financial information, including costs, that Cantalician reports to SED on its annual CFR. To be eligible for reimbursement, reported costs must comply with RCM requirements. For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, Cantalician reported approximately $2.23 million in reimbursable costs on its CFRs for two rate-based special education programs that it operated: Preschool Special Class – over 2.5 hours per day and Preschool Integrated Special Class – over 2.5 hours per day (collectively referred to as the Programs).

Key Findings

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2017, we identified $358,254 in ineligible costs reported by Cantalician on its CFRs for the Programs. The ineligible costs included:

• $347,406 in personal service costs, consisting of unsupported salaries and associated fringe benefits.
• $10,848 in other than personal service costs, consisting of $9,673 in unsupported costs and $1,175 in ineligible costs.

Key Recommendations

To SED:

• Review the disallowances identified by our audit and make the necessary adjustments to the costs reported on Cantalician’s CFR and to Cantalician’s tuition reimbursement rates, as warranted.
• Remind Cantalician officials of the pertinent SED requirements that relate to the deficiencies we identified.

To Cantalician:

• Ensure that costs reported on annual CFRs fully comply with SED’s requirements and communicate with SED to obtain clarification as needed.