Q&A: Maintenance of Effort (MoE) & Maintenance of Equity (MoEQ)

1. How will a new position such as a Director of Special Education affect Maintenance of Effort?

A new position for a Director of Special Education could be paid using ESSER funds without affecting Maintenance of Effort (MoE). The district would need to consider a plan for sustainability when the ESSER funds are expended.

2. Where would districts find the per pupil expenditure that OCAS calculates to determine Maintenance of Effort?

The MoE statistics for previous years are on the Oklahoma

State Department of Education website:

■ Go to the Financial Accounting page

■ Select the blue box on the right, “OCAS – School District Financial Reports can be found on the SDE Transparency Website.”

■ Select the year you want to view

■ Click District Reports.

■ Select your district

■ Scroll down to see the Reports available.

3. Will these federal fund expenditures include ESSER fund expenditures?

Yes, ESSER expenditures will be included in the total amount of federal expenditures used to determine if your district will be required to have a Single Audit. Go to the District OCAS Reports as described in the question above and select the Federal Determination Letter. Page Two of the letter will tell you how much money your district spent last year in federal allocations. If that number PLUS the amount of ESSER money you spent will put your district over the $750,000 threshold, then you will likely be required to have a Single Audit. Contact your auditor for more information.

The single audit process would exceed the amount of money you have paid for an audit in the past if your district spent less than $750,000 in one fiscal year.

4. Is that just federal money spent in a year or federal money allocated or both?

The Federal Determination for a Single Audit is calculated based on the amount of federal money spent in your district.

Page Two of your district’s Federal Determination Letter lists the federal funds included in the calculation.

5. Where can I find the list of Auditors that are approved to audit Oklahoma school districts?

■ https://sde.ok.gov/ sites/default/files/ SchoolAuditor2021%20 %281%29.pdf

6. Can you give us the OCAS Codes that are being pulled for the OCAS Maintenance of Effort Check Page - ADA?

Yes, the OCAS codes used in MoE calculations for both

SPED and ESSA are located in the back of the OCAS book in the Policies and Procedures section on pages 52-53.

7. If we supplant ESSER funds by claiming expenditures in ESSER which had previously been paid in the General Fund, it is very likely we will not meet ESSA MOE. If we meet the 90% local expenditures for one year does that become our new baseline for the next year?

While we cannot say whether you would or would not meet ESSA MoE based on your district taking advantage of the ability to supplant ESSER funds, we encourage you to keep in mind as you use future ESSER funds that MoE and MoEQ should be considered. We cannot predict if there will be blanket waivers from the U.S. Department of Education.

At CCOSA we have encouraged districts to be cautious about decreasing the amount of state and local funds that you spend from year to year, particularly if your district did not experience a precipitous decline in revenue. A district who fails to meet MoE may file an appeal through the Oklahoma State Department of Education to the U.S. Department of Education. We encourage districts who do not meet MoE to file an appeal regardless of whether they are in a position to be assessed a penalty. If a district does not meet ESSA MoE in the current year AND did not meet ESSA MoE in one of the last five years, the district would then be assessed a penalty if no waivers are approved. The causes for seeking a waiver would be:

■ exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances;

■ precipitous decline in the revenue of the LEA; or

■ change to the organizational structure of the LEA.

Not meeting ESSA MoE at the 90% threshold does NOT change a district’s baseline for meeting MoE. The baseline returns to the point where it was when the 90% was not met. However, if a district does NOT meet the 90% expenditures, but DOES meet the per capita (pupil), then the base changes to the amount of expenditures in that year.

For any questions on ESSER funding, contact Kathy Dunn at federalprograms@ccosa.org.