State Auditor criticizes Chase County Schools for buying score boards with child nutrition money
IMPERIAL, Neb. (KSNB) - Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley is criticizing the Chase County Public School District for using child nutrition funds to buy two LED video scoreboards for a school gym.
In a press release from the auditor’s office, Foley shared a letter sent to the school district in Imperial, calling the purchase a “direct violation” of Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) guidelines on how nutrition funds should be used.
On March 25, 2024, Lambert received a quote from an Omaha scoreboard company for two 16 foot by 9 foot gymnasium video scoreboards ($53,097.50 each). The quote also included the iPad controllers ($18,500.00), basketball shot clocks and backboard lights ($12,000.00), engineering and installation costs ($15,000) and annual subscription costs ($6,000/year). All of this totals $169,695.
According to Foley, the school board voted 6-1 to approve the $124,695 expenditure, with Jeff Olsen, a certified public accountant, being the sole dissenting vote. The funds, which include federal dollars allocated for school lunch programs, covered 74% of the total $169,695 cost for the scoreboards and associated software.
The school board’s attorney defended the purchase, stating that the scoreboards display daily menu offerings as students pass through the gym on their way to lunch. However, Foley’s letter noted that students can already access the menu online via a dedicated website and make their lunch selections early in the day, long before entering the cafeteria.
Foley said the district used “sleight-of-hand tactics” to make an extravagant gym equipment purchase using federal child nutrition dollars.
When questioned by the audit team, the NDE said they would not have approved the purchase, adding that a digital menu board could have been bought for around $1,000.
When asked for comment, school superintendent Adam Lambert sent this statement, “Chase County Schools is disappointed by the public release from the Auditor of Public Accounts criticizing the school’s internal accounting of the purchase of display boards proportionally allocated out of the school nutrition fund. As noted in the school district’s response to the auditor’s inquiry, the district undertook this purchase with transparency and with documented approval from the Nebraska Department of Education as to the use of funds from the nutritional program. The school district’s position is fully detailed in its response to the auditor’s initial inquiry and was included in the auditor’s final letter found here. To date, neither the Auditor of Public Accounts nor the Nebraska Department of Education have recommended any specific action be taken to address the concerns identified by the auditor. The school district will continue to cooperate with the Nebraska Department of Education to ensure that this and all purchases are appropriately accounted for.”
The Nebraska Department of Education has not responded to our request for comment.
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