Information on the federal program: Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster (CNC) Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555 Federal Award Numbers and Years (Or Other Identifying Numbers): FY23-FY24, FY24-FY25 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Activities Allowed and Unallowed, Allowable Costs Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Criteria: 2 CFR 200.403 establishes principles and standards for determining costs for federal awards carried out through grants, cost reimbursement contracts, and other agreements with state and local governments. To be allowable, under federal awards, cost must meet certain criteria: a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. c) Be consistent with policies and procedures that apply uniformly to both federally-financed and other activities of the non-Federal entity. d) Be accorded consistent treatment. A cost may not be assigned to a Federal award as a direct cost if any other cost incurred for the same purpose in like circumstances has been allocated to the Federal award as an indirect cost. e) Be determined in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), except, for state and local governments and Indian tribes only, as otherwise provided for in this part. f) Not be included as a cost or used to meet cost sharing or matching requirements of any other federally financed program in either the current or a prior period. g) Be adequately documented. h) Cost must be incurred during the approved budget period. Additionally, 2 CFR 200.303 indicates that non-Federal Entities receiving Federal awards must establish and maintain effective internal control over the Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal award in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should align with the guidance in “Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government” issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the “Internal Control-Integrated Framework” issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). Condition: The School Corporation did not have adequate internal controls in place to ensure that the School Corporation complied with the allowable cost requirements. Cause: A proper system of internal control was not designed by management of the School Corporation that included a thorough review of expenditures charged to the food service program fund (Fund 0800). Effect: Without the proper implementation of an effectively designed system of internal controls, the control system could not be capable of effectively preventing, or detecting and correcting, material noncompliance. Questioned Costs: $6,388 (known questioned costs). Context: During our testing of the School Corporation’s compliance with the allowable cost requirements for the Child Nutrition Cluster (CNC), we tested 40 vendor disbursement transactions and 40 payroll disbursement transactions and identified the following exceptions: 1. For one vendor disbursement, the School Corporation incorrectly recorded the disbursement for $820 to Fund 800 (School Lunch Fund) that should have been recorded to Fund 300 (Operations Fund), resulting in an unallowable cost being charged to the food service fund. 2. For one payroll disbursement, the School Corporation mistakenly entered the number of hours worked by a cafeteria employee for one pay period due to a typo, resulting in an overpayment to the employee by $5,568. The employee notified the School Corporation of the overpayment and remitted the overpayment back to the School Corporation. These errors were attributable to deficiencies in the internal controls over the review and approval of vendor and payroll expenditures. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No. Recommendation: We recommend that management of the School Corporation review internal controls in place to ensure the review controls detect and correct errors in processing transactions including verifying the transactions are recorded to the appropriate fund and hours worked supported by timecards are accurately entered and reviewed prior to processing payments. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Information on the federal program: Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster (CNC) – Internal Controls Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Program: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555 Federal Award Numbers and Years (Or Other Identifying Numbers): FY23-FY24, FY24-FY25 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Eligibility Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Eligibility compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls to ensure compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system placed the School Corporation at risk of noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements by not having proper oversight, reviews, and approvals over the activities of the programs. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: During testing of internal controls over eligibility requirements, we noted there is no formal, documented review of the eligibility income guidelines entered into the food service software to ensure that system parameters were in agreement with USDA guidelines on an annual basis. For the 2023-2024 school year, the income eligibility guidelines were not updated timely by the School Corporation. During compliance testing of eligibility, we noted 3 instances isolated to 2023-2024, in a sample of 60 students, in which the eligibility status was incorrectly determined. In two instances, the eligibility status was changed from Reduced to Free upon updating the eligibility income guidelines. In one stance, the status changed from Pay to Reduced. The lack of internal controls over the review of the eligibility income guidelines impacted both years under audit. The noncompliance with eligibility determinations was isolated to fiscal year 2024. Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No. Recommendation: We recommend that the School Corporation implement an internal control to ensure the annual updates to the income eligibility guidelines are updated in the food service software prior to each school year. By July 1 of every year, the new income eligibility guidelines are issued by the USDA and posted on the IDOE website. The income eligibility guidelines updates made to the food service software should be reviewed by two parties to ensure any errors are caught prior to processing applications for the upcoming school year. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.
Information on the federal program: Subject: Education Stabilization Fund (ESF) Federal Agency: Department of Education Federal Program: COVID-19 – Education Stabilization Fund Assistance Listing Number: 84.425U Federal Award Numbers and Years (Or Other Identifying Numbers): S425U210013 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Special Tests and Provisions – Wage Rate Requirements Audit Findings: Material Weakness Criteria: 2 CFR section 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) Establish and maintain effective internal control over Federal award that provides reasonable assurance that the non-Federal entity is managing the Federal awards in compliance with Federal statutes, regulations, and the terms and conditions of the Federal award. These internal controls should be in compliance with guidance in 'Standards for Internal Control in the Federal Government' issued by the Comptroller General of the United States or the 'Internal Control Integrated Framework', issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO). . . ." 29 CFR 5.5 states in part: a. The Agency head shall cause or require the contracting officer to insert in full in any contract in excess of $2,000 which is entered into for the actual construction, alteration and/or repair, including painting and decorating, of a public building or public work, or building or work financed in whole or in part from Federal funds or in accordance with guarantees of a Federal agency or financed from funds obtained by pledge of any contract of a Federal agency to make a loan, grant or annual contribution (except where a different meaning is expressly indicated), and which is subject to the labor standards provisions of any of the acts listed in §5.1, the following clauses… (1) Minimum wages. (i) All laborers and mechanics employed or working upon the site of the work (or under the United States Housing Act of 1937 or under the Housing Act of 1949 in the construction or development of the project), will be paid unconditionally and not less often than once a week, and without subsequent deduction or rebate on any account (except such payroll deductions as are permitted by regulations issued by the Secretary of Labor under the Copeland Act (29 CFR part 3)), the full amount of wages and bona fide fringe benefits (or cash equivalents thereof) due at time of payment computed at rates not less than those contained in the wage determination of the Secretary of Labor which is attached hereto and made a part hereof, regardless of any contractual relationship which may be alleged to exist between the contractor and such laborers and mechanics… (3)(ii)(A) The contractor shall submit weekly for each week in which any contract work is performed a copy of all payrolls to the (write in name of appropriate federal agency) if the agency is a party to the contract, but if the agency is not such a party, the contractor will submit the payrolls to the applicant, sponsor, or owner, as the case may be, for transmission to the (write in name of agency) 2 CFR 200 Appendix II states in part: In addition to other provisions required by the Federal agency or non-Federal entity; all contracts made by the non-Federal entity under the Federal award must contain provisions covering the following, as applicable. . . . (D) Davis-Bacon Act, as amended (40 U.S.C. 3141-3148). When required by Federal program legislation, all prime construction contracts in excess of $2,000 awarded by non-Federal entities must include a provision for compliance with the Davis-Bacon Act (40 U.S.C. 3141-3144, and 3146-3148) as supplemented by Department of Labor regulations (29 CFR Part 5, “Labor Standards Provisions Applicable to Contracts Covering Federally Financed and Assisted Construction”). In accordance with the statute, contractors must be required to pay wages to laborers and mechanics at a rate not less than the prevailing wages specified in a wage determination made by the Secretary of Labor. In addition, contractors must be required to pay wages not less than once a week.. . .” Condition: An effective internal control system was not in place at the School Corporation in order to ensure compliance with requirements related to the grant agreement and the Special Tests and Provisions – Wage Rate Requirements compliance requirements. Cause: The School Corporation's management had not developed a system of internal controls to ensure compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. Effect: The failure to establish an effective internal control system placed the School Corporation at risk of noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirements. Questioned Costs: There were no questioned costs identified. Context: The School Corporation did not have an internal controls/procedure in place to ensure compliance with the Davis-Bacon requirement. For one vendor selected for testing, in a sample of two, the School Corporation did not include the wage-rate requirements in the written contract with the vendor to communicate the federal wage rate requirements. The School Corporation did subsequently obtain the weekly wage reports from the vendor. The vendor tested had total costs of $102,800, which includes material and labor, to install a portion of a new roofing to the Junior/Senior High School Building. The finding is isolated to the ESSER III grant (84.425U). Identification as a repeat finding, if applicable: No. Recommendation: We recommend the School Corporation implement an internal control to review contracts funded by federal grants and ensure the contract includes Davis-Bacon wage requirements when required. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions: Management agrees with the finding and has prepared a corrective action plan.