Administrative Review
ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW
The MN Department of Education is the State Agency responsible for conducting administrative reviews of all school food authorities participating in the National School Lunch Program. The reviews are done by Program Specialists in the Division of Compliance and Assistance.
The review consists of evaluations of Critical Areas, General Areas, and Other Areas of operation determined important to Program performance.
If problems (violations) are found in any of these areas, corrective action must be taken by the school food authority (SFA) as soon as possible but no later than by mutually agreed upon date(s) for completion. If corrective actions are not taken, future Program payments may be withheld.
If overpayments have been received by the SFA as a result of incorrect claims for reimbursement, fiscal action will be taken. However, federal regulations permit the State Agency to disregard a total overpayment in any fiscal year for an amount not to exceed $600 per program.
CRITICAL AREAS
The critical areas consist of two performance standards which serve as measures of compliance with Program regulations.
1. Performance Standard 1 evaluates whether "all free, reduced price and paid lunches claimed for reimbursement are served only to children eligible for free, reduced price, and paid lunches, respectively", and whether these lunches are "counted, recorded, consolidated and reported through a system which consistently yields correct claims."
To evaluate for this performance standard, the consultant must review (but is not limited to) Applications for Educational Benefits, direct certification data, rosters used in issuing benefits, meal count system documentation, claims for reimbursements, and point of service systems in food service serving lines.
Violations of this performance standard occur when 10% or more (but not less than 100) free/reduced price lunches are claimed incorrectly and/or schools or SFAs have inadequate meal count systems.
2. Performance Standard 2 evaluates whether "lunches claimed for reimbursement within the school food authority contain food items/components as required by Program regulations".
To evaluate for this performance standard, the consultant must observe food service serving lines and review menus and food production records.
Violations of this performance standard occur when 10% or more of the lunches observed are missing items/components and/or lunch records reveal missing items/components.
* When violations of either or both performance standards are found in one school (or in two schools for large SFAs) or at the SFA level, the SFA would exceed the review threshold(s) and be eligible for a Follow-Up Review.
GENERAL AREAS
The general areas that are evaluated include:
1. The reporting and recordkeeping area includes evaluation of required records such as the permanent agreement, contracts and claims for reimbursement.
2. The free and reduced price process area includes evaluations of policies, overt identification, verification, and the maintenance of applications and rosters.
3. The monitoring responsibilities area includes evaluations of on-site reviews and claims editing.
4. The civil rights area includes evaluations of compliance with civil rights provisions.
5. The food service (meal patterns/food quantities) area includes evaluations of food service serving lines and food production records to see whether observed and recorded lunches provide the required quantities of food items/components. The food service area also includes evaluations of the offer versus serve provision and child nutrition (CN) labels.
OTHER AREAS
Other areas evaluated during the review may include: pricing, a la carte, food safety/certification, Minnesota State Statutes, food distribution and other Child Nutrition Programs (Federal Special Milk Program, MN Kindergarten Milk Program, After School Snack Program, and the School Breakfast Program).
SCHOOL MEALS INITIATIVE
The School Meals Initiative (SMI) requires that all school lunches and breakfasts are consistent with the recommendations of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Certain nutrients are monitored to ensure that specific minimum standards for calories and key nutrients are met. A nutrient analysis will be conducted on selected menus for a week. The State Agency will monitor menus for compliance with these nutritional standards at a minimum of once every five years. An SMI review may be conducted at the same time that an Administrative Review is scheduled or done as a separate program review.
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