Finding 1173824 (2025-002)

SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCY IN INTERNAL CONTROL OVER COMPLIANCE – U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, PASSED THROUGH MINNESOTA DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION – CHILD NUTRITION CLUSTER – FEDERAL ALN 10.553, 10.555, AND 10.559 2025-002 Internal Control Over Compliance With Allowable Activities Requirements Criteria – 7 CFR § 210.8 requires the District to establish and maintain effective internal control over compliance with requirements applicable to federal program allowable activities, including meal count requirements applicable to child nutrition cluster federal programs. Condition – During our audit, we noted the District did not have sufficient controls over meals counts submitted for afterschool snack reimbursement claims. For two months tested, the District’s internal tracking records for afterschool snacks served did not agree to the meal counts submitted to the Minnesota Department of Education (MDE) for reimbursement. In both cases, the internal records had been altered after the meal counts submissions to the MDE had been completed to add eligible afterschool snacks that had been missed. This resulted in underclaimed meals for eligible snacks served. Questioned Costs – None. Context – Eligible afterschool snack meal counts submitted to the MDE for the two months noted resulted in the District claiming 232 less eligible meals for reimbursement than documented in its internal meal count records. This was not a statistically valid sample. Repeat Finding – This is a current year finding. Cause – This was an oversight by district personnel. Effect – Inaccurate meal count submission requirements resulted in the District not receiving reimbursement for all eligible afterschool snack meals served. Recommendation – We recommend that the District review its internal control procedures relating to meal count tracking for afterschool snack meals served in its child nutrition cluster federal programs. Internal controls over compliance for this area should include verification that final eligible meals counts are accurate for all school sites prior to the District submitting monthly reimbursement claims to the MDE. View of Responsible Official and Planned Corrective Actions – The District agrees with the finding. The District will review and update its policies and procedures relating to eligible afterschool snack meal tacking and reimbursement submission for its child nutrition cluster federal program to ensure compliance with the Uniform Guidance in the future. The District has separately issued a Corrective Action Plan related to this finding.