Sandoval Community Unit School District 501

Per 7 CFR 225.15(c)(1), sponsors of Summer Food Service Programs shall maintain accurate records justifying all meals claimed. The District's meal count documentation used to claim reimbursement under the Summer Food Service Program did not allow for an accurate reporting of monthly meals served. Questioned costs = $11,585. The District filed 10 monthly claim submissions during the school year under audit. Only one submission was able to be agreed in whole to District meal count documentation. The audit determined the District erroneously claimed 1,431 breakfasts and 1,867 lunches in excess of documented breakfasts and lunches actually served. The District's meal count tracking method used during the school year under audit was not sufficient to provide clear or accurate meal counts on a daily basis. We recommend the District improve its meal count tracking method by instituting processes designed to provide a clearer and more accurate count of meals served on a daily basis. This may include the implementation of software designed to handle such processes and/or the hiring of additional employees to assist in the meal count process. Management accepts auditors recommendation and will work with staff involved to implement new policies and procedures for Summer Food Service Program meal counting.

Finding 2021-001 Personnel Responsible for Corrective Action: Matt Dannaman, Superintendent Anticipated Completion Date: Process changes will be implemented prior to September 1, 2021. Corrective Action Plan: The District did not anticipate the challenge of counting meals that were not served in the standard school setting. Current staff realize the importance of accurate meal counting and will establish procedures and implement existing software in order to provide clear and accurate meal counts prior to the beginning of the 2021-2022 school year.

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal controls over reporting. Internal controls should allow management or employees in the normal course of performing their assigned functions to prevent or detect errors in reporting. The District's Summer Food Service Program meal count submission for the month of November 2020 did not include all District schools. Questioned costs is zero. The District's meal count submission for the month of November 2020 did not include meals served to students of the Elementary or Junior High schools. The omission of the Elementary and Junior High schools from the November 2020 meal count submission resulted in an underreporting of 6,719 meals which resulted in the District not receiving $22,671 in reimbursement under the Summer Food Service Program. Claim submission procedures do not include an overall review of the submission prior to filing. It is recommended claim submission review procedures be established. These review procedures may include cursory review of each monthly meal claim compared to prior monthly claims to determine reasonableness of the number of meals claimed and/or an independent review by an employee not responsible for entering meal count data into the claim submission system. Management accepts auditors recommendation and will work with staff involved to implement new policies and procedures for Summer Food Service Program meal claim submissions.

Finding 2021-002 Personnel Responsible for Corrective Action: Matt Dannaman, Superintendent Anticipated Completion Date: Process changes will be implemented prior to September 1, 2021. Corrective Action Plan: Staff with responsibility for entering grant claims will perform a review of each claim prior to submission. The review will compare amounts to prior claims and supporting documentation to assist in determining accuracy of claim prior to submission.