Reporting to the MinistryOverview
The ministry conducts compliance audits in key areas in which school boards receive funding under the Grants for Student Needs funding model.
Compliance Area |
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| Enrolment (Day School) |
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| English as a Second Language (ESL) Programme d'appui aux nouveaux arrivants (PANA) |
Scope and Approach
The Financial Analysis and Accountability branch is responsible for planning, conducting and reporting on the compliance audits. The branch develops audit standards, tests and procedures with the assistance of school board staff and is also responsible for identifying and selecting school boards for compliance audits.
School boards are notified at least one month before the start of the audit field work and are asked to identify a person who will be the primary school board contact. School boards are advised of the audit period (school board fiscal year) and of the schools that have been selected for audit. The school board contact is encouraged to accompany ministry staff during the visits. Additional schools may be visited depending on audit findings.
An audit interview is scheduled with school board staff before and after the audit fieldwork. All findings are discussed with school board staff and a report is issued for each school audited. Audit findings are shared with school board staff for comments before the audit report is issued to the Director of Education of the school board. The report outlines the testing that has been conducted, the findings and any adjustments.
Audit adjustments often result in grant recoveries from school boards or may involve additional grant payments to school boards. Audit adjustments are based on audit test findings conducted in the audit period; however depending on the nature of the findings, other techniques such as expanding testing to prior years or prorating errors may be necessary.
Because future compliance is a key objective of the ministry audit process, the audit report provides a series of recommendations, if required, to address any area of non-compliance or possible improvements to board internal controls. Follow-up audits may be necessary to ensure that school boards have made the necessary changes or improvements.
School boards are required to record enrolment and maintain enrolment records according to the format prescribed by the ministry and according to the enrolment register instructions provided by the ministry. In addition, the legislated grants regulation stipulates how boards calculate average daily enrolment.
For more information:
- Enrolment Registers and Instructions
- Ontario Regulation 374/10, Supervised Alternative Learning and other excusals from attendance at school
- Education Funding 2022-23
The objectives of the enrolment audits and the compliance reviews is to ensure that school boards:
- accurately record enrolment according to the ministry enrolment register instructions and the guidelines for elementary and secondary schools
- accurately report enrolment values to the ministry through OnSIS.
- make the necessary changes in their enrolment recording and reporting based on findings and recommendations from the prior year's ministry audit.
Common Findings and Observations
- Confirmed school level enrolment values, as reported to the ministry through OnSIS, do not equal values reported in the enrolment registers.
- Pupils without valid medical reasons or attendance counsellor intervention are not removed from the register after 15 school days of consecutive absence.
- Schools fail to take pupils off the register on correct the date for pupil retirements and transfers.
- Pupils that transferred or retired at the end of a semester are not removed from ministry registers due to a placeholder code that was improperly recorded on pupil timetables.
- Period lengths in the school enrolment Student Information Systems do not correspond to the actual period lengths.
- Common course codes are not included in the calculation of pupil full-time equivalency and as a result full-time pupils are incorrectly reported as part-time pupils.
- Some schools are unable to produce enrolment registers and records to substantiate enrolment values reported to the ministry.
- Schools fail to take SAL pupils off the register when they are no longer of compulsory school age.
- In some cases pupils are identified as SAL and maintained on the register prior to approval of the SAL committee.
- Schools fail to properly complete the biographical section of the Ontario Student Record (OSR) folder.
- Pupils for whom boards may charge tuition fees are sometimes incorrectly reported as pupils of the board.
- Pupils enrolled in Care and Treatment programs are not admitted and/or demitted from enrolment registers in accordance with ministry requirements.
- School principals fail to demonstrate (by certifying) that they have reviewed for accuracy the enrolment values/data in enrolment registers at the end of the school year.
- Pupils recorded in the enrolment registers as participating in a reciprocal educational exchange program do not satisfy ministry policy for a valid pupil exchange program.
- Schools fail to retain, for audit purposes, the following for the current and the previous school year: 1) year-end full-time and part-time enrolment registers, 2) secondary pupil course timetables in effect on the count dates, 3) secondary pupil course change forms, 4) dated and stamped OSR request letters, 5) daily attendance reports, and 6) pupil registration/withdrawal forms.
- Appropriate attendance procedures and accurate Daily Attendance Records are not established for pupils enrolled in secondary school alternative programs.
- Appropriate admission procedures are not established to determine whether pupils should pay tuition fees.
English as a Second Language (ESL)/Programme d'appui aux nouveaux arrivants (PANA)
English as a Second Language (ESL)
For funding purposes boards may claim the number of immigrant pupils, enrolled in their schools on October 31, who entered Canada for the first time during the last four years and were born in a country other than Great Britain, Ireland, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Programme d'appui aux nouveaux arrivants (PANA)
For funding purposes school boards may claim the number of immigrant pupils enrolled in their schools on October 31, who were born in countries and territories other than France, Guadeloupe, Martinique, French Guiana, Réunion Island, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, French Southern and Antarctic Lands, Saint Barthélemy, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, United States, Australia and New Zealand.
For more information:
The objectives of the ESL/PANA compliance audits are to ensure that the school boards:
- accurately report the number of immigrant pupils who entered Canada within the last four years from a qualifying country
- attest to viewing appropriate immigration documentation and document accurately on the pupil’s registration/attestation form
Common Findings and Observations
- Details of immigration documentation viewed to support ESL/PANA funding are not reported on the pupils registration/attestation form.
- Schools incorrectly claim pupils not enrolled on October 31 of the current school year.
- Schools report pupils who first entered Canada outside the 4-year qualifying period.
- Schools fail to claim foreign exchange pupils, in a valid Education Exchange Program, for ESL/PANA funding.
- Fee-paying pupils and pupils who should be fee-paying are incorrectly claimed.
- Qualifying pupils are reported in the incorrect year.
- Pupils from non-qualifying countries are incorrectly claimed.
- School Internal records do not reconcile to the number of pupils claimed.
