Othello SD asked to change bookkeeping procedures

OTHELLO — The Othello School District will change procedures for bidding school meal program supplies and tracking students who transfer from Othello High School following the results of the district’s 2015-16 school year audit.

The audits review whether or not districts have documentation for expenses for state and federal programs. The audits didn’t question any expenses, and the district is not required to pay back any money.

The Washington Auditor’s Office recommended the district make changes in a report issued May 25. In the opinion of the auditors the district didn’t keep adequate track of students who transferred to another school or who withdrew from OHS. Keeping records of, and reporting on, high school graduation rates is a state and federal requirement. It’s part of the documentation required for the federal Title I program.

The report said auditors determined that district staff “did not adequately design or follow controls to ensure compliance with Title I graduation reporting requirements, Specifically, the district did not have official written documentation to support all reports of students transferred out of the district,” the audit team wrote. “District staff was not aware of the requirement to obtain and retain documentation for students transferring to another district or how the documentation had to be retained, and district officials also didn’t review the reports adequately before submitting them to state authorities.”

The report also stated, “Although there are no questioned costs, the district is at risk of misrepresenting graduation rates.” In their response, district officials said the OHS counseling staff changed procedures to include the proper documentation. The new procedures were instituted in April. School district employees also misunderstood some of the federal rules for awarding food service contracts, the report said. Both federal and state law require a bid process for purchases more than $75,000. Federal law requires districts to solicit bids for purchases that add up to $75,000.

“District employees did not obtain formal bids for one vendor that was paid $134,427, In addition, the district did not obtain quotes for items totaling $32,853 from two vendors.” Auditors had identified the practices as needing revision in a previous audit, the report said. It recommended additional training for food service personnel. In the reply, district officials said they would provide more training in food service bid requirements.