Wahluke School District to hire fiscal assistant, change procedures after audit

MATTAWA — A lack of follow-up in the Wahluke School District food services program led to three findings of inadequate oversight in an audit conducted by the Washington Auditor’s Office.

However, the district was not required to pay back any money as a result of the findings.

The inadequacies cited occurred in the 2019-20 school year in the district’s school lunch, school breakfast and summer meal programs, according to the auditor’s report released Thursday.

Federal meal program rules require school districts to get written quotes from three or more qualified vendors for goods and services of $75,000 or less, and requires a bid process for transactions of $75,000 or more.

“The district did not obtain quotes for food products from two contractors as its policy requires,” the report said.

“The district had turnover among key staff responsible for the procurement of food products, and staff were not aware of procurement requirements when using federal funds,” it said.

District employees also neglected to verify that potential contractors were not suspended or barred from doing business with the federal government and qualified to participate in the food service program. Employees didn’t check to see whether the vendors were on the list of contractors that have been barred from participation in the school meal program.

“District staff were aware of this requirement, but did not have a process to verify suspension and disbarment status of contractors with multiple small purchases that exceed $25,000 in one year,” the report said.

In their reply, district officials said they will hire a fiscal assistant for the district’s finance department to help keep track of requirements for federal and state funding, and ensure they’re met. The district’s director of finance and operations will come up with and implement a training program in federal regulations for both existing and new food service employees. The district’s finance department will review federal purchases and procedures each month.