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Buffalo Schools
to Improve Systems for Lunch Program Eligibility and Data Reporting,
Following State Audit
Auditors Find District is Owed Nearly $3 million in State Education
Aid
The Buffalo City School District will improve its systems for certifying
student eligibility for free and reduced-price lunches and for reporting
school lunch program data to the State, Comptroller Alan Hevesi and
Superintendent Dr. James A. Williams announced today.
The improvements include use of a new student information system to
capture and report free and reduced-price lunch data, new procedures
to track transfer students, added training for food service staff,
enhanced communication between school building administrators and food
service staff and new controls to ensure that all data submitted to
the State Education Department (SED) and all data entered by SED in
the State aid database is correct and that changes to this data are
fully documented. The improvements are based on recommendations from
a recently-released State
audit analyzing data collection and reporting
for the Federally-funded lunch program, which provides a free or reduced-price
meal to eight out of every ten students in the District.
Hevesi’s auditors found that, as a result of internal control
and monitoring weaknesses, the District received $780,000 less in State-funded
Extraordinary Needs Aid (ENA) than it should have in 2003-04 and 2004-05.
Auditors also determined that without corrective action, the District
could lose out on $2.2 million in 2005-06. ENA is based in part on
participation levels in the free and reduced-price lunch program. These
amounts are based on data that was submitted to the SED in October
2001, 2002 and 2003.
“All schools should make it as easy as possible for families
to participate in the Federally-funded school lunch program, because
well-nourished children do better in school and in life,” Hevesi
said. “Because New York State provides additional school aid
based on the number of students participating in the lunch program,
I am pleased that the Buffalo City School District will take action
to improve the accuracy of program records and to make sure that data
is properly recorded by the State Education Department.”
“We are pleased that the result of this audit is additional
revenue for our District,” Dr. Williams said.
“We are committed to looking at every process and procedure that
we have in place, so we are thankful for the excellent work by Mr.
Hevesi and the Comptroller’s office. Our goal is to continuously
improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our programs and procedures.
This audit is a perfect example of how we can partner with the State
and other agencies to improve the Buffalo public schools.”
School districts across New York State report to SED annually on participation
in the lunch program. SED later sends a report back to the districts
that includes the lunch program data, and requests that the districts
verify the information. Auditors determined that Buffalo City School
District staff did not adequately review the SED report for accuracy.
In fact, auditors found that SED’s data understated lunch program
participation for three consecutive years, and that the lower numbers
were not detected by District staff. As a result, the District is due
additional ENA:
- $209,039 for fiscal year 2003-04
- $571,429 for fiscal year 2004-05
- $2,220,675 for the current fiscal year
There are several different processes through which student eligibility
for the lunch program is determined. Families may complete an application,
which is processed by the cafeteria manager at the student’s
school. Another method is direct certification, which in Buffalo requires
a parent or guardian to submit to the school a letter received from
the New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA)
indicating eligibility for the lunch program.
Auditors noted that direct certification is more efficient for the
District, but it also necessitates procedures to ensure that a copy
of the eligibility letter is on file at the school of each student
in the family, as stipulated by OTDA. Auditors found that the District
has no formal system in place to forward the letter to multiple schools,
especially if a parent or guardian does not list the other schools
attended by other children.
Overall, 17 percent (2,433 out of 14,502) of the students eligible
for direct certification for the lunch program were approved through
this method. If stronger systems were in place in the District, cafeteria
managers could have avoided processing the remaining 12,069 applications
for the program and instead qualified those students for the lunch
program through direct certification.
The District notes that it was unable to take greater advantage of
direct certification because OTDA denied its requests for listings
of eligible families and in 2004, the direct certification letters
to families were sent out late by OTDA because of computer programming
problems.
A range of internal control weaknesses and inconsistencies were found
in the District’s handling of lunch program certifications and
data. For example, the procedure to track school transfers by students
in the lunch program was handled in different ways at different schools.
As a result of inconsistent record keeping, auditors were unable to
determine the accuracy of school-reported participation in the program.
Auditors concluded that communication between the District departments
involved in the lunch program was inadequate, and recommended that
school officials:
- Verify lunch program data from SED, and recover any ENA due to the
District.
- Establish adequate policies and procedures for certification and
data collection and to monitor compliance.
- Ensure that all school principals understand the importance and budgetary
implications of accurate data collection regarding the lunch program.
- Consider implementation of a District-wide database for eligibility
and data reporting relating to the lunch program.
The audit covered the period from July 1, 2003 through December 20,
2004. The District’s written response is included in the audit.
The Buffalo City School District currently includes approximately
37,000 students in 65 school buildings. The District’s annual
budget for the 2005-06 fiscal year is $691 million.
The National School Lunch Program was established in 1946 to provide
free or reduced-cost lunches and ensure that all students receive a
nutritious lunch every day. Research has shown that proper nutrition
improves a child’s school performance, behavior and overall development.
Click here for a copy of the audit.
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Albany Phone: (518) 474-4015 Fax:(518)
473-8940
NYC Phone: (212) 681-4825 Fax:(212) 681-4468
Internet: http://www.osc.state.ny.us
E-Mail:press@osc.state.ny.us |
