Finding 21004 (2022-001)

Significant Deficiency
Requirement
A
Questioned Costs
-
Year
2022
Accepted
2023-01-26
Audit: 21809
Organization: Octorara Area School District (PA)

AI Summary

  • Core Issue: The District inaccurately reported meal counts on a claim due to a data input error, resulting in lost federal subsidies.
  • Impacted Requirements: Compliance with 7 CFR 210, which mandates accurate submission of monthly reimbursement claims for meals served.
  • Recommended Follow-Up: Strengthen verification procedures for meal counts by comparing reports across locations and prior months, and ensure the reviewer initials the report for accountability.

Finding Text

Federal Program Child Nutrition Cluster COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program ALN 10.555; passed through the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Agriculture; Grant Period 7/1/21-6/30/22 COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program ALN 10.553; passed through the Pennsylvania Department of Education; Grant Period 7/1/21-6/30/22 Criteria Title 7 CFR 210 covers the reimbursement process under the Child Nutrition Cluster. It requires the submission of claims for reimbursement that include the number of reimbursable meals served by category and type during the period (generally a month) covered by the claim. As a subrecipient of funds passed through the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Octorara Area School District must submit monthly claim forms to PDE, which include the number of reimbursable meals served by category (free, reduced, paid) and type (breakfast, lunch). Condition/Cause The District manually inputs the amount of meals served by location into a spreadsheet in order to obtain totals to type into the monthly claim reimbursement form. A data input error, failing to include a location in the spreadsheet for certain days, led to an incorrect number of meals reported on one claim report from our sample. Controls in place over claim reporting did not detect and correct this error before submission. Effect As a result of the claim report not being filed accurately, the District lost approximately $730 of federal subsidies that would have been received if the correct meal count was used. Questioned Costs Less than $25,000 Context We examined 4 of the monthly reimbursement claim reports submitted during the year by the District and noticed the deviations noted above in one of those reports. Total subsidy revenue for the District for the year ended June 30, 2022 was $981,173. Had the District filed an accurate claim report for the month noted above, subsidy revenue would have been $981,903. The lost revenue is 0.074% of total federal subsidy revenue for the year. No statistical sampling was used in our testing. Repeat Finding No. Recommendation We recommend that the District revisit the current procedure for verifying accuracy of meal counts prior to claim submission for areas where the control could be strengthened. The review should include comparison of the report to meal count reports for all locations to verify accuracy. The review should also include a comparison to prior monthly reports for reasonableness. We recommend that the reviewer initial the report draft or otherwise maintain support of this review. Management Response See corrective action plan included in this report package.

Corrective Action Plan

U.S. Department of Agriculture: Octorara Area School District respectfully submits the following corrective action plan for the year ended June 30, 2022: Name and address of independent public accounting firm: Herbein + Company, Inc. 2763 Century Boulevard Reading, PA 19610 Audit Period: Year ended June 30, 2022 Anticipated Completion Date: December 31, 2022 Contact Person: Jeff Curtis, Business Manager Finding - Federal Award Findings and Questioned Costs 2022-001 ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES - SIGNIFICANT DEFICIENCY Federal Program Child Nutrition Cluster COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program ALN 10.555; passed through the Pennsylvania Departments of Education and Agriculture; Grant Period 7/1/21-6/30/22 COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program ALN 10.553; passed through the Pennsylvania Department of Education; Grant Period 7/1/21-6/30/22 Criteria Title 7 CFR 210 covers the reimbursement process under the Child Nutrition Cluster. It requires the submission of claims for reimbursement that include the number of reimbursable meals served by category and type during the period (generally a month) covered by the claim. As a subrecipient of funds passed through the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE), Octorara Area School District must submit monthly claim forms to PDE, which include the number of reimbursable meals served by category (free, reduced, paid) and type (breakfast, lunch). Condition/Cause The District manually inputs the amount of meals served by location into a spreadsheet in order to obtain totals to type into the monthly claim reimbursement form. A data input error, failing to include a location in the spreadsheet for certain days, led to an incorrect number of meals reported on one claim report from our sample. Controls in place over claim reporting did not detect and correct this error before submission. Effect As a result of the claim report not being filed accurately, the District lost approximately $730 of federal subsidies that would have been received if the correct meal count was used. Questioned Costs Less than $25,000 Context We examined 4 of the monthly reimbursement claim reports submitted during the year by the District and noticed the deviations noted above in one of those reports. Total subsidy revenue for the District for the year ended June 30, 2022 was $981,173. Had the District filed an accurate claim report for the month noted above, subsidy revenue would have been $981,903. The lost revenue is 0.074% of total federal subsidy revenue for the year. No statistical sampling was used in our testing. Repeat Finding No. Recommendation We recommend that the District revisit the current procedure for verifying accuracy of meal counts prior to claim submission for areas where the control could be strengthened. The review should include comparison of the report to meal count reports for all locations to verify accuracy. The review should also include a comparison to prior monthly reports for reasonableness. We recommend that the reviewer initial the report draft or otherwise maintain support of this review. Management Response The Food Service management team will enhance their current procedure to include the recommendations listed in this corrective action plan. Meal count hard copy reports by location will be submitted to the Food Service Supervisor each month to be tallied and compared to the meal count summary reports in the PrimeroEdge management system. The Supervisor will also confirm that hard copy reports are received for each group of students at each location and will initial the reports after the review. After confirmation from the Supervisor, that all locations are accounted for and the totals are correct, The Food Service Director will review the reports to ensure that the total meal counts are reasonable by comparing the reports to prior monthly reports adjusted for differences in the number of days in each month. Jeff Curtis, Business Manager

Categories

School Nutrition Programs Subrecipient Monitoring Cash Management Reporting

Other Findings in this Audit

  • 21005 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 21006 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 597446 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 597447 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency
  • 597448 2022-001
    Significant Deficiency

Programs in Audit

ALN Program Name Expenditures
84.010 Title I Grants to Local Educational Agencies $745,699
84.027 Special Education_grants to States $364,798
10.553 School Breakfast Program $257,328
84.367 Supporting Effective Instruction State Grant $117,604
10.555 National School Lunch Program $88,798
84.425 Education Stabilization Fund $50,508
84.424 Student Support and Academic Enrichment Program $45,800
84.048 Career and Technical Education -- Basic Grants to States $39,773
84.365 English Language Acquisition State Grants $15,507
10.649 Pandemic Ebt Administrative Costs $3,063
84.173 Special Education_preschool Grants $585