Ridgefield faulted in audit of school meal programs

A state audit has found the Ridgefield School District did not have adequate controls in place to ensure compliance with federal verification requirements for its free and reduced-price breakfast and lunch programs. The district says it has since taken steps to be in compliance.

The district received $67,180 for the breakfast program and $249,129 for the lunch program last year, according to the audit, which was released to the public on Thursday. Each year, districts have to select a sample of applications and verify the income reported by families is accurate. If the verification process is not properly completed, the district is at risk of serving free and reduced-price meals to ineligible families and misreporting the verification results to the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction.

Call for training, internal controls

The audit, which was for the 2014-2015 school year, noted that the district had been asked to submit three applications for verification, and for one applicant the district did not receive adequate documentation to support that student’s eligibility.

The audit said that the cause of the issue was that “district personnel were not fully aware of the verification requirements and an effective review was not in place to ensure verification steps were performed accurately.”

The auditor’s office recommended the district provide training and establish internal controls to ensure the verification process is accurately performed, and adequate income documentation is obtained.

In its response, the district said actions have been taken to correct the issue, including “additional training to staff and performing a detailed review of the current year verification process to ensure program requirements have been met.” The district’s response also said the concern has been fully addressed as of January.