Finding 1170823 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-01-28

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The Charter Holder inaccurately reported meal counts for reimbursement, under-reporting by 2,374 meals from September 2024 to August 2025.
  • Impacted Requirements: Accurate record-keeping of meals served is essential for compliance with USDA reimbursement claims.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Review and improve internal controls over meal count reporting to ensure accuracy in future submissions.

Finding Text

Finding 2025-001 Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance - Reporting AL# 10.553 & 10.555 – Child Nutrition Cluster U.S. Department of Agriculture Passed Through Texas Education Agency Criteria or Specific Requirement The Charter Holder is responsible for maintaining an accurate record of meals served to students in order to ensure compliance with claims submitted for reimbursement. Condition The Charter Holder submitted inaccurate meal counts for reimbursement between the months of September 2024 and August 2025, resulting in an aggregate of 2,374 meals under-reported. Cause The Charter Holder implemented a new software program, effective September 1, 2024, to track meal counts. Difficulty in understanding how to access and pull reports, combined with lack of review of the monthly claim reports prior to submission, led to inaccuracy of the meal counts. Effect or Potential Effect Under-reporting the number of meals served led to the Charter Holder losing available benefits, as the period for filing corrected claims had lapsed. Questioned Costs No questioned costs were identified. Context or Perspective Information None. Recommendation The Charter Holder should review its internal controls over compliance for meal counts to determine if any improvements can be implemented to ensure accurate and complete data to support monthly claim submissions. Views of Responsible Officials and Planned Corrective Actions See corrective action plan

Corrective Action Plan

Finding 2025-001 Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance - Reporting AL# 10.553 & 10.555 – Child Nutrition Cluster Corrective Action Plan Employee re-alignment and training was initiated beginning in August 2025, as well as revision to the review process for meal counts to include a second review prior to submission. In addition, the new system was evaluated for proper configuration to mitigate further issues. Person(s) Responsible M. Thorne, Operations Coordinator Anticipated Completion Date Corrective actions were substantially completed by October 2025.

Categories

Internal Control / Segregation of Duties Cash Management Reporting School Nutrition Programs Significant Deficiency

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1170819 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1170820 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1170821 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1170822 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.010 TITLE I GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES $895,831
84.027 SPECIAL EDUCATION_GRANTS TO STATES $286,307
10.553 SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM $247,062
84.425 EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND $173,409
84.424 STUDENT SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PROGRAM $127,869
84.365 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STATE GRANTS $115,347
84.367 IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS $95,035
10.555 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM $63,459
84.173 SPECIAL EDUCATION_PRESCHOOL GRANTS $13,054
10.560 STATE ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES FOR CHILD NUTRITION $11,303
10.579 CHILD NUTRITION DISCRETIONARY GRANTS LIMITED AVAILABILITY $7,725
84.369 GRANTS FOR STATE ASSESSMENTS AND RELATED ACTIVITIES $2,727