Audit 387654

Criteria: Schools are required to ensure that all meals claimed for reimbursement are accurately classified and supported in accordance with USDA Child Nutrition Program guidelines and state reporting requirements. Claims must reflect only eligible meals and correct classifications to ensure proper reimbursement. Condition: During our testing of child nutrition program, we identified one instance in which a student was misclassified when determining eligibility for free and reduced meals. Specifically, the student was classified as free but should have been classified as paid. This resulted in an inaccurate classification of the student in the School system and possible inaccurate claim being submitted to the state agency. Cause: The deviation appears to stem from a data entry error in the system. Effect: Although the error appears isolated, the misclassification increases the risk of: Inaccurate reimbursement amounts, and noncompliance with federal and state Child Nutrition Program regulations. The sample did not identify additional deviations; however, the identified exception requires reporting as a control failure for this instance. Questioned Costs: Not Applicable Repeat Finding: This is not a repeat finding. Recommendation: We recommend that management reinforce review procedures over free and reduced classifications based on eligibility forms used and provide refresher training to staff responsible for classification and reporting. Corrective Action: The Academies will implement a monitoring system to ensure there are no clerical errors recording data in the system.