ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ

The ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ, as a pass-through entity, awards federal grant funds to eligible sub-recipients, including local educational agencies (LEAs), which include both school districts and open-enrollment charter schools, education service centers (ESCs), and non-profits. ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ as a pass-through entity is required under Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), , to evaluate each sub-recipient risk of non-compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the sub-award for purposes of determining the appropriate sub-recipient monitoring as described in , which may include the sub-recipients results of previous audits, include Single-Audits in accordance with , changes to key personnel, and other factors that may reflect any patterns of non-compliance. 

The Federal Compliance Officer in the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration (GCA) manages all GCA Risk Assessment activities, data, technical assistance, and training. 

To comply with this requirement, the Federal Compliance Officer conducts an annual risk assessment of all sub-recipients to determine and mitigate any potential risk of non-compliance. Based on the outcome of the annual risk assessment, sub-recipients are assigned a risk status of low, medium, or high, which is evaluated annually.

2025-2026 Risk Assessment Indicators

The following are the twenty-five indicators developed by the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration to establish LEA Risk Status for the 2025-2026 school year:

• I-1: An LEA has received a single-audit management decision letter with sustained findings for FY21-FY25.
• I-2: An LEA was non-compliant for IDEA-B LEA MOE for FY22-FY25.
• I-3: An LEA was monitored by FFM or SMD with final report findings for FY20-FY24.
• I-4: An LEA was placed on a formal programmatic Corrective Action for Non-Compliance for the Nita M. Lowey 21st Century Community Learning Centers (CCLC) grant for FY24.
• I-5: An LEA had grant management compliance concerns for FY21-FY25.
• I-6: An LEA had post-award significant issues with their program applications for FY23-FY25.
• I-7: An LEA was referred for Risk Assessment by other ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ divisions for FY25.
• I-8: An LEA experienced Superintendent turnover for FY23-FY25.
• I-9: An LEA has experienced CFO/Business Manager turnover for FY23-FY25.
• I-10: An LEA was not required to conduct a single-audit for FY24 as required, per .
• I-11: An LEA was monitored by FFM and SMD and had disallowed costs in the final report for FY20-FY24.
• I-12: An LEA was referred during FY22-FY25 for Non-Compliance Resolution for 2-years Non-Compliant for Random Validation and/or an LEA was referred during FY25 for Non-Compliance Resolution for 2-years Non-Compliant for Program Monitoring Validation.
• I-13: An LEA had Federal Program Non-Compliance issues due to Late or No submission of their ESSA Consolidated Compliance Report for FY22-FY24.
• I-14: An LEA had Federal Program Non-Compliance issues due to Not in Compliance on their ESSA Consolidated Compliance Report Program Compliance Self-Check Requirements for FY22-FY24.
• I-15: An LEA has not been fiscally monitored by the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration within the past six years.
• I-16: An LEA's historical Risk Status Designation for FY21-FY25.
• I-17: An LEA has been appointed a Board of Managers by the Commissioner of Education under , and the Board of Managers still governs the district.
• I-18: An LEA is currently being served by the Fiscal Conservator, appointed by the Commissioner of Education under .
• I-19: Ad Hoc Referrals to the Federal Compliance Officer for the following projects: 
  • Year Five USDE ESSER Delinquent Reporting
  • Programmatic Non-Compliance
  • Open Investigations for misuse of federal funds 
  • Other referrals
• I-20: Number of overdue refunds or non-compliance documents from required non-compliance resolution actions past the requested deadline for FY23-FY25.
• I-21: An LEA had a large percentage of federal expenditures compared to their total operating costs for FY24.
• I-22: An LEA has not drawn down federal grant funds by January 31, 2025, for the following grants:
  • IDEA-B Formula
  • Perkins V
  • Title I, Part A
• I-23: An LEA TECHY sub-grantee has an OSP McKinney-Vento Results Driven Accountability (RDA) Designation Level of 3 or 4 for FY24.
• I-24: An LEA TECHY sub-grantee has identified zero homeless students for FY24 (Identification must occur between July 1, 2023, and June 30, 2024).
• I-25: Per , ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ is authorized to designate a federal grant subrecipient as a high-risk grantee.

Update LEA contacts in . For charter school updates, please contact CharterAskTED@tea.texas.gov.

Access Your Risk Assessment Status Designation Report

The Department of Grant Compliance and Administration has completed its LEA Risk Assessment status determination for the 2025-2026 school year. LEAs can access their 2025-2026 Risk Assessment Status Designation Report by following the steps below:

1. Access the ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ  site.
2. Select Risk Assessment WorkApp.
3. Select LEA Name and CDN when the 2025-2026 GCA Risk Assessment page displays.
4. Click on the Attachments link and click on the LEA RA Report.pdf title.
5. The report will download to your computer's download folder.
6. Click on the downloaded report to view your 2025-2026 LEA Risk Assessment Status Designation Report.
7. Each LEA report includes points assigned by indicator, total risk assessment score, and risk status designation for 2025-2026.

The FY19-FY25 Risk Status Designation Report is also accessible by following the steps above. As new reports are published, they will also be added to the navigation pane for easy access and review, ensuring that all relevant information is readily available for LEAs.

LEA administrators with current, active Smartsheet access to other ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ WorkApps (EDGAR Connect, FPC Random Validation, ESSER Reporting, etc.) will be able to view the Risk Assessment WorkApp, and new users will need to be added through the EDGAR Connect WorkApp. With the assistance of the EDGAR Connect WorkApp, please request for users to be added or removed, or send an email request to Frank Baca (Frank.Baca@tea.texas.gov), the Department's System Automation Team Lead. 

For questions regarding 2025-2026 Risk Assessment scores or status, contact Cal Lopez, the ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ Federal Compliance Officer, at noncompresolution@tea.texas.gov or 512-463-9017.

*Please note, Risk Assessment Reports are not confidential and are subject to public information requests (PIRs).

Risk Assessment Resources

• 2025-2026 ÁñÁ«ÊÓÆÁ GCA Risk Assessment Process (PDF)
• 2024-2025 GCA Risk Assessment Process (PDF)
• 2024-2025 GCA Risk Assessment Indicators (PDF)
• 2023-2024 GCA Risk Assessment Process (PDF)
• 2023-2024 GCA Risk Assessment Indicators (PDF)