Completing the 2023-24 ESSA Compliance Report
We interrupt your back-to-school celebrations to talk about a dose of reality – compliance reporting. With a due date of September 30, 2024 coming up soon, it is time to start preparing for the annual ESSA Compliance Report. Each year, LEAs who accept Title funds under ESSA must complete a compliance report to verify that activities were implemented according to the program guidelines and the approved grant application. Are you in compliance? Keep reading to see the information CSS has put together to finish the compliance report and get back to welcoming your students!
The CSS federal team will begin working with our partner schools to help them identify data sources, pull financial reports, locate program documentation, and confirm the implementation of the ESSA program as described in the 2023-24 ESSA Consolidated Grant application.
How to locate your compliance report:
- Log into your eGrants account.
- Look for the Compliance Reports tab at the top.
- Under “Consolidated Compliance Reports”, find your 2023-24 ESSA Consolidated Compliance Report. Click to open.
- You will want to download a copy to use as a working document before you submit. See the TEA mock-up by clicking here.
- You must complete and save the first schedule, GS2100, which is contact information for the LEA, before the rest of the report will “open.”
Before you complete and submit your ESSA Compliance Report:
- Review all schedules to determine what data needs to be collected and who in your charter has the data.
- Identify all sources of documentation for required activities.
- Review final ESSA grant application, as amended, to identify charter-district reservations, strategies and activities and make sure your compliance report matches last version of the grant. Remember that expenditures reported on the compliance report are estimates through 9/30/2024.
- Respond to narrative questions using the. Program Compliance Self-Check Guide.
- Retain documentation used to complete the ESSA compliance report according to EDGAR guidelines for 7 years.
What happens if I am non-compliant?
You should answer the questions openly and honestly, but in the event you must self-report non-compliance, TEA has a process, with ESC technical support, to provide you with a year to make changes to become compliant. However, please be aware that non-compliance will trigger points on indicator 13 of the risk assessment system (this will not count more than 6% of your risk level rating for next year).
The Federal Programs Compliance Division at TEA has complete instructions, samples, and training videos available online (click here).
Remember!
- An employee with “Grantee Official” level of access in eGrants must certify and submit the report. A “Grant Manager” level can work on the grant but can’t submit it. The grantee official who submits is certifying the accuracy of the report for the charter district.
- The ESSA Compliance Report deadline is September 30, 2024!
Need our help?
- Contact Dr. Sheila K. Sherman, Federal Grants Manager – ssherman@charterschoolsuccess.com
- Visit the Charter School Community Roundtable, where you can ask questions, get answers and discuss this topic now.