Finding 1175243 (2025-001)

Material Weakness Repeat Finding
Requirement
L
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2025
Accepted
2026-02-24

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The District inaccurately reported meal counts in two out of four monthly Claims for Reimbursement, leading to misclassification and misstatement of meals.
  • Impacted Requirements: Internal controls over meal count accuracy were insufficient, violating Title 7 regulations requiring accurate reporting before claims submission.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Implement enhanced review processes to ensure that monthly Claims for Reimbursement align with supporting system reports.

Finding Text

Criteria Per Title 7, U.S. Code of Federal Regulations, Subtitle B, Chapter II, Subchapter A, Parts 210.8 and 220.11, School Food Authorities (SFA) must establish internal controls which ensure the accuracy of meal counts prior to the submission of the monthly Claim for Reimbursement. Prior to submission of a monthly Claim for Reimbursement, each school food authority shall review the breakfast and lunch count data for each school under its jurisdiction to ensure the accuracy of the monthly Claim for Reimbursement. The objective of this review is to ensure that monthly claims include only the number of free, reduced price and paid breakfasts and lunches served on any day of operation to children currently eligible for such meals. SFA staff shall maintain on file each month's Claim for Reimbursement and all data used in the claims review process, by school. Condition Significant Deficiency in Internal Control over Compliance and Instance of Noncompliance - For two of the four monthly Claims for Reimbursement reviewed, the number and type of meals served was not accurately reported. The source system reports reviewed did not agree to the meal counts reported on the Claims for Reimbursement. Discrepancies included the misclassification of 260 lunch meals claimed as breakfast meals, and the misstatement of 366 breakfast meals served. The misclassification of lunch meals resulted in understated revenue of $206. The misstatement of the number of breakfast meals served resulted in overstated revenue of $689. Cause The District’s internal controls were not sufficient to ensure meal counts were accurately reported. Effect The District’s submitted monthly Claims for Reimbursement were not accurately reported. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs associated with the identified condition. Context A nonstatistical sample of four monthly reports out of a total of 12 monthly reports was selected for testing. The District claimed a total of 101,577 lunch meals and 64,538 breakfast meals for the year ended June 30, 2025. Repeat Finding No. Recommendation The District should implement additional review processes to ensure to monthly Claims for Reimbursements are accurate and the number and type of meals reported agrees to the underlying supporting system reports.

Corrective Action Plan

This district has implemented a process where meal counts are reviewed and verified by the Business Office. Each month the business office receives a copy of the meal claim along with all backup with meal counts. The business office reviews the meal counts, verifies the totals and then verifies that the totals match the claim for reimbursement. Any discrepancies found are reported to the Cafeteria Manager for corrections to be made to the claim reimbursement.

Categories

Cash Management Significant Deficiency Internal Control / Segregation of Duties

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 1175239 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1175240 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1175241 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat
  • 1175242 2025-001
    Material Weakness Repeat

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.010 TITLE I GRANTS TO LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES $273,568
84.027 SPECIAL EDUCATION GRANTS TO STATES $163,497
10.553 SCHOOL BREAKFAST PROGRAM $148,794
84.367 SUPPORTING EFFECTIVE INSTRUCTION STATE GRANTS (FORMERLY IMPROVING TEACHER QUALITY STATE GRANTS) $33,970
84.365 ENGLISH LANGUAGE ACQUISITION STATE GRANTS $32,307
84.424 STUDENT SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC ENRICHMENT PROGRAM $16,221
84.173 SPECIAL EDUCATION PRESCHOOL GRANTS $12,923
93.575 CHILD CARE AND DEVELOPMENT BLOCK GRANT $8,368
10.555 NATIONAL SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAM $5,429
10.558 CHILD AND ADULT CARE FOOD PROGRAM $5,324
84.425 EDUCATION STABILIZATION FUND $214