Finding 1169863 (2024-014)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2024
Accepted
2026-01-21
Audit: 383008
Organization: Saint Paul Public Schools (MN)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The District's reporting for the Child Nutrition program lacks proper review controls, leading to discrepancies between reported and actual food service records.
  • Impacted Requirements: Reports must be reviewed by someone other than the preparer to ensure accuracy and compliance with USDA guidelines.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Establish a process for timely communication of changes to the accountant and ensure adjustments are made before the CLiCS cutoff date to maintain accurate reporting.

Finding Text

CHILD NUTRITION CLUSTER – REPORTING U.S. Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.556, 10.559, 10.582 Passed Through Minnesota Department of Education Pass Through Number: 10.CNC Award Period: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 Type of Finding: Material Weakness in Internal Control Over Compliance, Other Matters Criteria or specific requirement: The School should ensure it has proper controls in place to ensure all required reports for the program have documentation of someone other than the preparer reviewing the reports. Condition: During our testing of the District’s reporting process within the Child Nutrition program, it was noted the reports did not agree to the food service records. Context: 3 out of 3 selections were noted as having differences between amounts reported to State and District’s records. The total difference resulted in an under-reporting of claims valued at $73. Questioned costs: None Cause: Procedures for changes and adjustments made by Nutrition Services that impact MDE Claims Summary Reports are not formally communicated to the Accountant after claims submissions are made on a monthly basis. Changes in PrimeroEdge have no District cutoff date, whereas CLiCS claims only have 60 days for submission. Effect: Lack of reporting accuracy could lead to MDE incorrectly calculating the monthly reimbursement funds to the District, resulting in an under reporting or over reporting of claims throughout the school year and delays in receiving the correct funding. Repeat finding: No Recommendation: We recommend that the District ensures all changes and adjustments are communicated to the accountant who performs claim submissions. When the Nutrition Service Assistant Director’s review results in additional adjustments within PrimeroEdge, the District should only make those changes before the CLiCs cutoff date to prevent differences between client records in PrimeroEdge and CLICS reporting. View of Responsible Officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.

Corrective Action Plan

CHILD NUTRITION CLUSTER – REPORTING U.S. Department of Agriculture Child Nutrition Cluster Assistance Listing Number: 10.553, 10.555, 10.556, 10.559, 10.582 Passed Through Minnesota Department of Education Pass Through Number: 10.CNC Award Period: July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2024 Recommendation: We recommend that the district ensures all changes and adjustments are communicated to the accountant who performs claim submissions. When the Nutrition Service Assistant Director’s review results in additional adjustments within PrimeroEdge, the District should only make those changes before the CLiCs cutoff date to prevent differences between client records in PrimeroEdge and CLICS reporting. Explanation of disagreement with audit finding: There is no disagreement with the audit finding. Action planned in response to finding: The District will work on educating all of the personnel involved in the reporting processes to ensure the compliance requirements are fully understood and a proper review of all reporting methods will be performed. This will be implemented by December 31, 2025, and the School Board will be responsible for monitoring the status. Name of the contact person responsible for corrective action: Tom Sager, Executive Chief of Financial Services Planned completion date for corrective action plan: December 31, 2025

Categories

Cash Management Material Weakness Reporting School Nutrition Programs Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1169840 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169841 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169842 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169843 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169844 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169845 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169846 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169847 2024-012
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169848 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169849 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169850 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169851 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169852 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169853 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169854 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169855 2024-013
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169856 2024-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169857 2024-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169858 2024-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169859 2024-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169860 2024-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169861 2024-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169862 2024-014
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169864 2024-009
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169865 2024-009
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169866 2024-010
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169867 2024-010
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169868 2024-011
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169869 2024-011
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1169870 2024-011
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
10.553 SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM $6.66M
84.027 SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES $4.91M
84.367 SUPPORTING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION STATE GRANTS (FORMERLY IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS) $3.81M
84.424 STUDENT SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PROGRAM $2.03M
84.002 ADULT EDUCATION - BASIC GRANTS TO STATES $1.58M
84.411 EDUCATION INNOVATION AND RESEARCH (FORMERLY INVESTING IN INNOVATION (I3) FUND) $1.46M
84.365 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STATE GRANTS $1.36M
84.371 COMPREHENSIVE LITERACY DEVELOPMENT $1.19M
32.009 EMERGENCY CONNECTIVITY FUND PROGRAM $1.04M
10.559 SUMMER FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN $903,232
84.048 CAREER AND TECHNICAL EDUCATION -- BASIC GRANTS TO STATES $733,288
10.582 FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM $701,716
84.425 EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND $609,251
16.839 STOP SCHOOL VIOLENCE $475,529
12.U01 ROTC $399,523
84.173 SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESCHOOL GRANTS $290,291
84.060 INDIAN EDUCATION GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES $192,493
10.555 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM $191,968
20.205 HIGHWAY PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION $177,403
93.959 BLOCK GRANTS FOR PREVENTION AND TREATMENT OF SUBSTANCE ABUSE $148,500
84.181 SPECIAL EDUCATION-GRANTS FOR INFANTS AND FAMILIES $135,000
84.305 EDUCATION RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND DISSEMINATION $130,896
84.010 TITLE I GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES $122,593
93.566 REFUGEE AND ENTRANT ASSISTANCE STATE/REPLACEMENT DESIGNEE ADMINISTERED PROGRAMS $104,926
84.334 GAINING EARLY AWARENESS AND READINESS FOR UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS $103,591
84.336 TEACHER QUALITY PARTNERSHIP GRANTS $96,510
84.196 EDUCATION FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN AND YOUTH $86,808
10.185 LOCAL FOOD FOR SCHOOLS COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT PROGRAM $78,432
10.558 CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM $64,992
10.226 SECONDARY EDUCATION, TWO-YEAR POSTSECONDARY EDUCATION, AND AGRICULTURE IN THE K-12 CLASSROOM $9,660
10.556 SPECIAL MILK PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN $1,802