Finding 3671 (2023-001)

Reporting – Inaccurate Meal Counts Finding Type: Significant deficiency in internal control over compliance with noncompliance with laws and regulations. Program Impacted: Child Nutrition Cluster (10.553/10.555) Criteria: 7 CFR 210.8(a) requires that school food authorities establish internal controls which ensure the accuracy of lunch counts prior to the submission of the monthly Claim for Reimbursement. At a minimum, these internal controls shall include on-site reviews of the meal counting and claiming system employed by each school in the District, comparisons of daily meal counts against data which will assist in the identification of meal counts in excess of the number of meals served each day to children eligible for such meals; and a system for following up on those meal counts which suggest the likelihood of meal counting problems. Conditions: The District did not maintain effective internal controls over the Nutrition program to ensure the accuracy of meals served, as reported on monthly Claims for Reimbursement. Cause: The District’s oversight of monthly Claims for Reimbursement was not effective in ensuring that meals reported as served were accurate. Effect: Monthly Claims for Reimbursement were in some cases inaccurate, and full meal reimbursements to the extent allowed under the program were not received by the District. Context: We evaluated meals served per the monthly Claims for Reimbursement report for three months during the audit period, for all schools in the District, and noted the following: • For 3 of 3 months reviewed, meals served per the Claim for Reimbursement report did not agree with meals served per supporting records. • Total meals recorded on physical meal count checklists did not consistently agree to the summary spreadsheet used for entry in the Claim for Reimbursement report. • For the three months reviewed, net meals over-requested amounted to 83. Questioned Costs: $363 known and likely Recommendation: The District should establish and maintain effective procedures and internal controls that would identify and correct errors prior to requests for reimbursement and ensure accuracy of meals reported on monthly Claims for Reimbursement. View of Responsible Officials: The District agrees with the finding and will establish effective controls to ensure the accuracy of meal count records.