Finding ref number: 2025-001 Finding caption: The District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with federal procurement requirements. Name, address, and telephone of District contact person: Tom Hitt, Purchasing and Compliance Manager 1215 W. Lewis Street Pasco, WA 99301 ...
Finding ref number: 2025-001 Finding caption: The District did not have adequate internal controls for ensuring compliance with federal procurement requirements. Name, address, and telephone of District contact person: Tom Hitt, Purchasing and Compliance Manager 1215 W. Lewis Street Pasco, WA 99301 Phone: (509) 543-6700 Corrective action the auditee plans to take in response to the finding: Pasco School District concurs with the audit finding. The District has evaluated the circumstances surrounding this issue and determined that the root cause was a lack of specific procedural controls and staff training related to cooperative (“piggyback”) procurement requirements, particularly regarding vendor regional assignments under Department of Enterprise Services (DES) contracts. As noted in the audit, staff were not aware that contractors were assigned to specific geographic regions, which resulted in the selection of a vendor outside the District’s designated region. The District recognizes that the selected vendor in question was local to the District, and following the DES contract requires the District to instead order from a Spokane company, which is 2-3 hours away. The District places a strong emphasis on supporting local businesses as part of its commitment to the community, and this priority was a contributing factor in procurement decisions in this instance. However, the District recognizes that all procurement activities involving federal funds must strictly adhere to applicable federal, state, and contract requirements. Upon discovery of the issue during the audit process, Nutrition Services immediately initiated corrective action. The department transitioned to the appropriately assigned vendor, and within a short timeframe completed all necessary onboarding, ordering, and delivery processes. Procurement activities are now aligned with DES contract requirements. Additionally, while the District had been utilizing a vendor outside of the assigned DES contract region for these purchases, that vendor is an approved provider under the Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction’s Department of Defense (DoD) Fresh Produce Program. The District will continue to utilize that vendor when procuring produce through DoD-funded programs, where appropriate. To prevent recurrence, the District will implement the following corrective actions: 1. Staff Training and Capacity Building Provide training on federal procurement requirements and DES contracts Reinforce that local preference cannot override compliance requirements 2. Ongoing Monitoring and Internal Controls Conduct periodic internal reviews of procurement activity Perform documentation audits and provide corrective feedback 3. Coordination with DES and OSPI Guidance Require staff to reference DES and OSPI guidance when utilizing cooperative contracts Through these actions, the District will strengthen internal controls and ensure compliance with federal procurement requirements moving forward. Anticipated date to complete the corrective action: June 30, 2026