Warden SD updates procedures in response to audit findings

WARDEN — The Warden School District is reviewing changes to district accounting and contract procedures following the results of a state audit released in August 2021.

At a meeting of the Warden School Board on April 14, Superintendent Scott West said there were several major changes the district needed to make to how it awards contracts involving federal funds. West said the board needed to lower the limit for no-bid repair contracts to $75,000 from $100,000 for projects not using federal funds and raise the no-quote procurement limit for goods and services to $10,000 from $3,500, according to findings by the Washington State Auditor’s Office.

“We’re given a little more flexibility in that area,” West told school board members. “Those were the changes that we were able to identify.”

The proposed policy changes — which will be formally voted on at the board’s next meeting — follow a state auditor’s report issued last fall covering the 2019-2020 school year which found the Warden School District had “a material weakness” in how it administered contracts under federal school breakfast and lunch programs.

According to the audit report, WSD received about $592,000 in federal school nutrition funding — covering the federal breakfast, lunch and summer food service programs. While Warden SD “piggybacked” their procurement on another district’s food service contract, it failed to obtain a certificate from the contractor stating the company was not barred from doing business with the federal government.

In addition, the state auditor’s office found the district didn’t have proper controls in its own policy to obtain quotes to buy roughly $17,000 in produce during the 2019-20 school year.

In response to inquiries from the Columbia Basin Herald, West wrote via email that the district has adjusted its policies and procedures to ensure compliance moving forward.

“As a result of the audit and new administration, the district is in compliance with federal programs and has made the adjustments,” West wrote.

WSD Director of Finance Kassandria Rouleau told board members the district also ran its policies past staff at the Washington Association of School District Administrators in order to ensure they were in compliance with state law and regulations.

“We knew we needed to fix something,” Rouleau said.

“If their policies are up to date, then we should be up to date,” said School Board Chair Rick Martin.

The WSD Board of Directors meets every second and fourth Thursday of the month in the library at Warden High School, 101 Beck Way in Warden, or online at warden.wednet.edu/school-board. The next meeting is set for April 28.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com. Featherstone covers the cities of Warden and Moses Lake in addition to WSD and welcomes news tips related to those portions of the Columbia Basin.