Finding Text
Per 7 CFR Part 245.6a, Local Educational Agencies (LEA), such as the District, must verify the current free and reduced eligibility status of sampled students. Once this verification is complete, for those students with whose eligibility changed as a result of the verification, the LEA is required to change the eligibility status for those students so that the accurate amount of federal reimbursement is determined by the District. Condition: The District recalculated the income incorrectly for one student, based on the documentation returned by the student during the verification process. The incorrect recalculation led the District to conclude that the eligibility status of the student did not need to change, when the status should have been changed to a “paid” status.Questioned costs: $ 221 (known) Context: The district had 74 error prone applications. Of that 74, 32 applications (which covered 52 student accounts) were randomly selected for verification through the standard Federal process. 8 of the 32 applications selected for verification were tested in the single audit. One of the eight students sampled contained an incorrect recalculation of wages, which is an error rate of 12.5%. Cause: Inexperienced personnel and an oversight in the review process led to the District not catching the miscalculation. Effect: Compliance with the verification requirements for this program is not being met. Repeat Finding: No. Recommendation: We recommend the District continue to train the personnel involved with this program so that they can identify when a recalculation of income is incorrect. Views of responsible officials: There is no disagreement with the audit finding.