NE auditor criticizes Chase County Public School District

LINCOLN — The Nebraska auditor has opened an investigation into a southwestern Nebraska school district that he believes improperly used nearly $125,000 in student nutrition funds to help purchase a pair of plastic bags installed in the school gymnasium. “Large Video Scoreboard”.

Nebraska Auditor Mike Foley. (Rebecca S. Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)

On Thursday, Auditor Mike Foley called the Chase County School District’s purchases “in direct violation of guidance issued to school districts by the Nebraska Department of Education on how to use surplus from nonprofit school food accounts.”

“In summary, the district acted inappropriately with this expenditure and used subterfuge with the NDE to use federal child nutrition funds to make lavish expenditures on gymnasium equipment,” Foley said in a statement. Press release related to a letter Published on Thursday to the school district.

School district disagrees

A response from the law firm representing the school district is included in Audit team’s findings. what it says is Chase County After consulting with the NDE, the company was confident it had purchased the video display panels “appropriately and transparently” and was “encouraged” by the approval from its regular annual auditors.

The law firm said that while the plates were used for sports purposes, they also displayed nutritional information. The district allegedly has a long-standing practice of students lining up on the walking path in the gymnasium, where the board delivers nutrition messages to students on their way to the cafeteria.

The law firm further countered that it was “unfortunate” that Foley’s office spent public resources on the investigation “solely to satisfy the private interests” of a “disgruntled” school board member.

“It reflects a lack of understanding of Chase County Schools’ practices and a belief that there was bad faith, which is unfounded and inappropriate,” the law firm said of the audit panel’s letter.

However, the district’s response did indicate that the district is prepared to take corrective action if directed by the Nebraska Department of Education or the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The state audit said that based on the photo, which shows a video board purchased with excess school lunch money, the auditor’s office questioned how “any good-faith argument can be made” that the purchase was a “digital menu board” or “only on For cafeteria use.” (Courtesy of the Nebraska State Auditor)

Foley said he has submitted his team’s findings to the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office and the state Department of Education for further review of possible misappropriations of public funds or violations of federal regulations.

He recommended that school districts work with state education officials to determine how much money should be returned to school nutrition accounts.

back and forth

The state audit panel’s criticism and a lengthy response from the district’s attorney were contained in a 14-page letter to Chase County School Board Chairman Karl Meeske.

The problem can be traced to a Feb. 15 letter from the state Department of Education to Chase County school officials stating that the nonprofit food services account exceeded the amount of its allowed cash resources.

Near-death experiences provide examples of how to spend excess money, including improving meal quality and introducing new or improved salad bar options. It gives deadlines for submission of plans.

District Superintendent Adam Lambert later sent a letter outlining projects the district was considering, including new lunch tables, kitchen utensils and digital menu boards.

The district’s Board of Education later voted to approve the installation of new display boards at Longhorn Gym.

The audit team said neither board meeting minutes nor agendas specified Lambert’s plan to use excess school nutrition funds for the scoreboard.

Additionally, the audit team said it sent an email to the state Department of Education specifically asking if the department would approve using excess funds to replace gym scoreboards that are not in the cafeteria with two new 16-foot-by-9-foot ones. The card is replaced.

The answer, according to the audit team, was: “Absolutely not.”

The district’s attorney said it learned from the NDE that was not the case and that purchasing the display boards “partially for the lunch program is an appropriate use of school lunch funds, so long as the district reasonably allocates them for that purpose.” School”. funds. “

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