FINDING 2022-003 Subject: Child Nutrition Cluster - Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Federal Agency: Department of Agriculture Federal Programs: School Breakfast Program, COVID-19 - School Breakfast Program, National School Lunch Program, COVID-19 - National School Lunch Program, Summer Food Service Program for Children, COVID-19 - 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 20/21, FY 21/22 Pass-Through Entity: Indiana Department of Education Compliance Requirements: Activities Allowed or Unallowed, Allowable Costs/Cost Principles Audit Findings: Material Weakness, Modified Opinion Repeat Finding This is a repeat finding from the immediately prior audit report. The prior audit finding number was 2020-003. Condition and Context A sample of 40 vendor disbursements from the School Lunch fund was selected for testing to verify the transactions were for allowable activities and costs. There were 3 of the 40 transactions, totaling $4,129, that were paid to vendors for which the School Corporation could not provide documentation to support the costs. As such, the 3 transactions could not be verified as an allowable activity or cost of the food service program and were considered questioned costs. Due to the number and magnitude of exceptions, per auditor judgment, we concluded it would not be appropriate to examine the remaining 29 disbursements. Additionally, the School Corporation incurred costs in the amount of $49,365 paid from the School Lunch fund for a vehicle used to distribute meals to students at the Indiana Department of Education approved meal sites during the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown. The School Corporation could not provide supporting documentation that prior written approval was received from the pass-through entity. Finally, in fiscal year 2021-2022, the School Corporation paid a portion of the Assistant Superintendent of Schools salary from the School Lunch fund without supporting documentation to support the percentage paid. The Assistant Superintendent of Schools spent time on federal program and nonfederal program activities, but did not maintain documentation of time spent on each activity. The total paid to the Assistant Superintendent of Schools from the School Lunch fund without proper documentation was $29,753. The costs that were not properly documented were considered questioned costs. The lack of internal controls, availability of supporting documentation, 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 200.333 states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 2 CFR 200.334 (Revised Uniform Guidance) states in part: "Financial records, supporting documents, statistical records, and all other non-Federal entity records pertinent to a Federal award must be retained for a period of three years from the date of submission of the final expenditure report or, for Federal awards that are renewed quarterly or annually, from the date of the submission of the quarterly or annual financial report, respectively, as reported to the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity in the case of a subrecipient. . . ." 7 CFR 220.7(e) states in part: ". . . the School Food Authority shall, with respect to participating schools under its jurisdiction: (1) (i) Maintain a nonprofit school food service; (ii) . . . use all revenues received by such food service only for the operation or improvement of that food service . . ." 7 CFR 210.14(a) states in part: ". . . Revenues received by the nonprofit school food service are to be used only for the operation or improvement of such food service, except that, such revenues shall not be used to purchase land or buildings, unless otherwise approved by FNS, or to construct buildings. . . ." 7 CFR 225.15(a)(1) states: "Sponsors shall operate the food service in accordance with: the provisions of this part; any instructions and handbooks issued by FNS under this part; and any instructions and handbooks issued by the State agency which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this part." 2 CFR 200.403 states in part: "Except where otherwise authorized by statute, costs must meet the following general criteria in order to be allowable under Federal awards: (a) Be necessary and reasonable for the performance of the Federal award and be allocable thereto under these principles. (b) Conform to any limitations or exclusions set forth in these principles or in the Federal award as to types or amount of cost items. . . . (g) Be adequately documented. . . ." 2 CFR 200.439(b) states in part: "The following rules of allowability must apply to equipment and other capital expenditures: (1) Capital expenditures for general purpose equipment, buildings, and land are unallowable as direct charges, except with the prior written approval of the Federal awarding agency or pass-through entity. . . ." 2 CFR 200.430(i) states in part: "Standards for Documentation of Personnel Expenses (1) Charges to Federal awards for salaries and wages must be based on records that accurately reflect the work performed. These records must: (i) Be supported by a system of internal control which provides reasonable assurance that the charges are accurate, allowable, and properly allocated; (ii) Be incorporated into the official records of the non-Federal entity; (iii) Reasonably reflect the total activity for which the employee is compensated by the non- Federal entity, not exceeding 100% of compensated activities (for IHE, this per the IHE's definition of IBS); . . . (vii) Support the distribution of the employee's salary or wages among specific activities or cost objectives if the employee works on more than one Federal award; a Federal award and non-Federal award; an indirect cost activity and a direct cost activity; two or more indirect activities which are allocated using different allocation bases; or an unallowable activity and a direct or indirect cost activity. . . ." Cause Management had not established an effective system of internal controls that would have ensured compliance or that supporting documentation would have been maintained and made available for audit with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Effect The failure to establish an effective system of internal controls and retain and provide supporting documentation prevented the determination of the School Corporation's compliance with the compliance requirements listed above. The failure to design and implement an effective system of internal controls enabled material noncompliance to go undetected. Noncompliance with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements could result in the loss of future federal funds to the School Corporation. Questioned Costs Known questioned costs of $83,247 were identified as detailed in the Condition and Context. Recommendation We recommended that the School Corporation's management establish a system of internal controls to ensure that documentation will be maintained and made available for audit and to comply with the grant agreement and the Activities Allowed or Unallowed and the Allowable Costs/Cost Principles compliance requirements. Views of Responsible Officials For the views of responsible officials, refer to the Corrective Action Plan that is part of this report.