{"database": "mytown-research", "table": "audit_findings", "rows": [[47, "wa-sao", "1021380", "2017-001", null, "WA", "Newport Consolidated Joint School District No 56-415", "School District", "1990", null, "no_match", "Washington State Auditor's Office", "Financial and Federal audit \u2014 Newport Consolidated Joint School District No 56-415", "Financial and Federal", 2017, "2016-09-01", "2017-08-31", "2018-05-21", "federal_award_compliance", "material_weakness", 0.0, "Questioned Cost Amount: $0", "The District did not have adequate internal controls to ensure it complied with verification requirements. CFDA Number and Title: 10.553 School Breakfast Program 10.555 National School Lunch Program 10.559 Summer Food Service Program Federal Grantor Name: U.S. Department of Agriculture Federal Award/Contract Number: NA Pass-through Entity Name: Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction Pass-t", "Background \nThe District participa tes in the School Breakfast, National School Lunch and \nSummer Food Service programs, and received $455,699 from them during the \n2016-17 school year. These programs provide funding for free and reduced -price \nmeals for low-income students. Families must meet income guidelines to be eligible \nfor these programs. \nEach year, districts must select a sample of program applications and verify that \nfamily income information re ported is correct. The Office of Superintendent of \nPublic Instruction (OSPI) instructs school districts on ho w to verify program \neligibility. Districts must review selected applicants\u2019 income documentation to \nconfirm students are receiving correct benefits of free or reduced-price meals. If the \nfamily\u2019s income does not meet requirements, the student is not eligible and must \npay full price for meals. OSPI instructions to districts include guidance for \ndetermining the number of applications that must be verif ied based on their \nnon-response rate from previous years\u2019 verifications. The verification process must \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nbe completed by November 15 each year. In addition, the verification summary \nreport is to be submitted to OSPI by February 1. \n The District needed to use a 3 percent focused sampling method, because the \nDistrict\u2019s nonresponse rate exceeded 20 percent during the 2015-2016 school year\u2019s \nverification process. This sampling method require d the District to select three \n\u201cerror prone\u201d applications for verification. An error-prone application is defined as \none in which the reported monthly household income falls within $100 of the upper \nincome limit for free or reduced-priced meal eligibility. \nDescription of Condition \nAlthough the District had a process in place to perform the verification process, \ninternal controls were not effective to ensure the District performed the verification \nsteps accurately and in compliance with federal requirements. \nWe consider this control deficiency to be a material weaknesses. \nThis issue was not reported as a finding in the prior audit. \nCause of Condition \nThe District had a basic understanding of the verification process but was not aware \nthat to select the correct number of applications it had to follow U.S. Depar tment \nof Agriculture (USDA) requirements to round up all fractions and decimals to the \nnearest whole number. The District did not review the applications it selected to \nensure each one met the criteria for classification as error-prone. \nEffect of Condit ion and Questioned Costs \nA lack of effective internal controls over the verification process increases the risk \nthat error -prone applications are not properly selected for verification. It also \nincreases the risk that free or reduced -price meals could be p rovided to children \nwho are not eligible to receive them. Further, the District could receive funding for \nhouseholds that do not qualify for free and reduced-price meals. \nOur audit found that the District did not select the appropriate number of \napplications to test. In addition, one of the applications the District selected for \nverification was not error-prone. As such, it should not have been selected for \nverification. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nRecommendation s \nWe recommend that the District: \n\uf0b7 Provide sufficient training to emplo yees responsible for the nutrition \nprogram to ensure compliance with the verification requirements in \naccordance with OSPI and USDA guidance \n\uf0b7 Review the verification process before the deadlines to ensure it is \nperformed in accordance with OSPI guidelines \nDistrict \u2019s Response \nThe District will provide sufficient training to employees responsible for the \nnutrition program to ensure compliance with the verification requirements in \naccordance with OSPI and USDA guidance. \nThe District will also review the verifi cation process prior to the deadlines to \nensure it is performed in accordance with OSPI guidelines. \nAuditor\u2019s Remarks \nWe thank District management and staff for their assistance during the audit. We \nwill follow up on the status of the issue during our next scheduled audit. \nApplicable Laws and Regulations \nThe American Institute of Certified Public Accountants defines sign ificant \ndeficiencies and material weaknesses in its Codification of Statements on Auditing \nStandards, section 935, paragraph 11. \nTitle 2 U.S. Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 200, Uniform Administrative \nRequirements, Cost Principles, and Audit Requirements for Federal Awards \n(Uniform Guidance), section 516 \u2013 Audit findings, establishes reporting \nrequirements for audit findings. \nTitle 2 CFR Part 200, Uniform Guidance, section 303 \u2013 Internal controls, describes \nthe requirements for auditees to maintain internal controls over federal programs \nand comply with federal program requirements. \nTitle 7 CFR Part 245, Determining Eligibility for Free and Reduced Price Meals \nand Free Milk in Scho ols, Section 6a \u2013 Verification requirements, establishes \nrequirements for verifying eligibility of children for free and reduced price meal \nbenefits. \n \n \n \nWashington State Auditor's Office\n___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________\n \n \nNewport School District #56-415 \n \n \nP.O. Box 70 Phone: (509) 447-3167 \n1380 W. 5th Street Fax: (509) 447-2553 \nNewport, WA 99156 Web: www.newport.wednet.edu", "https://portal.sao.wa.gov/ReportSearch/Home/ViewReportFile?arn=1021380&isFinding=false&sp=false", "2026-07-30 13:24:54"]], "columns": ["rowid", "source", "report_number", "finding_number", "muni_id", "state", "entity_name", "entity_type", "entity_ext_id", "place_geoid", "match_method", "auditor", "report_title", "audit_type", "fiscal_year", "period_start", "period_end", "published_date", "finding_category", "severity", "questioned_cost", "cost_basis", "finding_title", "finding_text", "report_url", "fetched_at"], "primary_keys": ["rowid"], "primary_key_values": ["47"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 4.96826900052838, "source": "MyTown", "source_url": "https://mytown.theboringparts.com", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"}