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FINDING 2025-005 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Reporting Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children Assistance Listings Numbers: 10.553, 10.555, 10.559 Federal Award Numbers and Years (or Other Identifying Numbers): FY 2023-2024, FY 2024-2025 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirement: Reporting Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Other Matters Condition and Context Monthly Sponsor Claims for Reimbursement (Claims) were submitted to the Indiana Department of Education based upon the number of meals served for the month. The Claims were prepared by the School Corporation's Food Service Director and a food service management company (FSMC) employee. The School Corporation maintained manual meal count records. A point-of-sale system (POS) was used to summarize the manual counts. For all four Claims tested, there were differences between the Claims submitted and the School Corporation's detail meal count reports, resulting in over and under reporting and reimbursement. The Claims tested contained the following errors: The October 2023 claim reported 27 less meals served (11 breakfast and 16 lunch) than the eligible meals per the School Corporation's detail meal count reports, which resulted in an underclaimed reimbursement totaling $100. The School Corporation also overclaimed snacks by 5, which resulted in over reimbursement of $6. The November 2023 claim reported 2 less lunch meals served than the eligible meals per the School Corporation's detail meal count reports, which resulted in an underclaimed reimbursement totaling $9. The June 2024 claim reported 666 more breakfast meals served than the eligible meals per the School Corporation's detail meal count reports, which resulted in an overclaimed reimbursement totaling $1,946. The claim also reported 527 less lunch meals served than the eligible meals per the School Corporation's detail meal count reports, which resulted in an underclaimed reimbursement totaling $2,704. The net of the errors was $758 underclaimed. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 28 SCHOOL CITY OF EAST CHICAGO SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) The May 2025 claim reported 10 less meals served (5 breakfast and 5 lunch) than the eligible meals per the School Corporation's detail meal count reports, which resulted in an underclaimed reimbursement totaling $37. The School Corporation also overclaimed snacks by 10, which resulted in over reimbursement of $12. The lack of internal controls and noncompliance were systemic issues throughout the audit period. Criteria 2 CFR 200.303 states in part: "The non-Federal entity must: (a) 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 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). . . ." 2 CFR 200.302(b) states in part: "The financial management system of each non-Federal entity must provide for the following . . . (2) Accurate, current, and complete disclosure of the financial results of each Federal award or program in accordance with the reporting requirements set forth in §§ 200.328 and 200.329. . . ." Cause The School Corporation did not have effective internal control procedures in place over the Claims submitted. The Claims contained evidence of an oversight or review process in place; however, they did not prevent, or detect and correct, errors. The Claims were prepared based upon summary sheets prepared by the FSMC employees and were not verified back to the source records. Effect The lack of effective internal controls caused a total of $894 not to be claimed for reimbursement, which projected to a loss of funding of $6,272. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the compliance requirement could result in the loss or repayment of federal funds. Questioned Costs There were no questioned costs identified. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a proper system of internal controls to ensure compliance with requirements related to reporting. INDIANA STATE BOARD OF ACCOUNTS 29 SCHOOL CITY OF EAST CHICAGO SCHEDULE OF FINDINGS AND QUESTIONED COSTS (Continued) Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.