Risk Assessment

The Texas Education Agency, 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. TEA as a pass-through entity is required under Title 2 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR), 2 CFR §200.332(c), 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 2 CFR §200.332(d)(e), which may include the sub-recipients results of previous audits, include Single-Audits in accordance with 2 CFR §200.332(c)(2), 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.

2024-2025 Risk Assessment Indicators

The following are the twenty indicators developed by the Department of Grant Compliance and Administration to establish LEA Risk Status for the 2024-2025 school year:

• I-1: Single-Audit Management Decision Letters with Sustained Findings
• I-2: IDEA-B LEA MOE Non-Compliance Final Report
• I-3: Monitored by FFM with Final Report Findings
• I-4: Monitored by SMD with Final Report Findings
• I-5: Grants Management Compliance Concerns
• I-6: Post Award Significant Issues with Program Applications
• I-7: Other TEA Division Risk Assessment Referrals
• I-8: Superintendent Turnover
• I-9: CFO/Business Manager Turnover
• I-10: LEAs Not Required to Conduct a Single-Audit in FY23 per 2 CFR §200.501
• I-11: Monitored by FFM and SMD with Final Report Disallowed Costs
• I-12: FY22 or FY23 Non-Compliance Resolution Referral (non-compliant for 2 years during Random Validation)
• I-13: FY22 or FY23 Federal Program Non-Compliance:
  • Late or no submission of ESSA Consolidated Compliance Report
  • Not in Compliance of ESSA Consolidated Report Program Compliance Self-Check Requirements
• I-14: LEAs not Fiscally Monitored by GCA (within the past 5 years)
• I-15: LEA Historical Risk Status Designation
• I-16: Appointed a Board of Managers by the Commissioner of Education under TEC§ 39A.004 and the Board of Managers still governs the district
• I-17: An LEA is currently served by a Fiscal Conservator, appointed by the Commissioner of Education under TEC§ 39A.002
• I-18: Ad Hoc Referrals to the Federal Compliance Officer
• I-19: Number of Overdue Non-Compliance or Refunds or Documents for FY23 and FY24

• I-20: TEA High-Risk Designation, 2 CFR §3474.10.

Update LEA contacts in AskTed. 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 2024-2025 school year. LEAs can access their 2024-2025 Risk Assessment Status Designation Report, by following the steps below:

1. Access the TEA Smartsheet WorkApp site.
2. Select Risk Assessment WorkApp.
3. Select LEA Name and CDN when the 2024-2025 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 2024-2025 LEA Risk Assessment Status Designation Report.
7. Each LEA report includes points assigned by indicator, total risk assessment score, and risk status designation for 2024-2025.

The FY19-FY24 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 TEA 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 2023-2024 Risk Assessment scores or status, contact Cal Lopez, the TEA 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

• 2024-2025 GCA Risk Assessment Process (PDF)
• 2023-2024 GCA Risk Assessment Process (PDF)
• 2023-2024 GCA Risk Assessment Indicators (PDF)