Condition: Claims support could only be provided by the School for two months. For one month, support was in the form of spreadsheets with tray counts in lieu of a point-of-sale system. For the other month, the tray count spreadsheets were accompanied by reports from the point-of-sale system. The point-of-sale system reports provided did not agree to the amounts claimed for reimbursement. The tray counts did not indicate whether the meal provided was paid, free or reduced. The claims for reimbursement submitted by the School used allocation percentages derived from prior year claims when estimating amounts to be claimed as paid, free and reduced. The tray count spreadsheets for the other months could not be located by the School.
Corrective Action Planned: In January 2023 DESE sent an auditor to review the Medford School Nutrition Program. Before this review, there was significantly limited oversight by the central office finance team. Almost no documents were prepared before the review as required by DESE.
As a result of this audit a 58-item, 19-page Corrective Action Plan was issued to the district. A new district leader was assigned for departmental oversight. The district then had weekly meetings with DESE to address the corrective action plan, for this was the single largest CAP DESE has issued to any district of our size. Nearly $1.3 million in reimbursements were withheld from the district from approximately November 2022 through the end of the Fiscal Year. DESE issued the reimbursements with a nominal penalty during the summer of 2023.
At the end of FY23, the district terminated the director of the program. We are now training several individuals in the MCPPO program for enhanced oversight.
DESE forced an immediate return audit for FY24. This was an exceptional action as DESE has only rarely done this. The same reviewer attended and noted significant improvements as a result of district actions undertaken.
As relates to this particular finding, the School Department has purchased and is consistently using a point of sale system for students to purchase their meals. The system is used to track all transactions.
Anticipated Completion Date: 2/17/2025
Contact: Peter Cushing, Assistant Superintendent