Audit finds $3.53 million excess in Lakewood school food account; district outlines spending plan

An independent audit for the year ended June 30, 2023 found the Lakewood Public Schools’ Food Service net cash resources exceeded a three‑month average by $3,534,839.90. At the Oct. 30 board meeting administrators presented a corrective action plan describing how the district will spend down excess cash in line with federal and state rules.

The plan, attached to the agenda, lists capital purchases and improvements to food quality and kitchen equipment districtwide. Examples cited include upgrades to the Lakewood High School serving line and teacher lunchroom, purchase of pizza ovens, and a new delivery vehicle for the food service management company (FSMC). The agenda reports $1,440,924.43 spent since the audit and anticipates approximately $1,000,000 of additional spending for the remainder of 2024–25. The plan states that supplementing student meal costs with SFA (School Food Authority) funds is not allowable and was removed from the corrective action plan following guidance from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

Sodexo is referenced as the district’s FSMC; the agenda also approved participation in the Share My Meals program at no cost to the district to recover and redistribute healthy surplus meals to local communities.

Why it matters: auditors flagged unusually high cash balances in the Food Service account; the district’s corrective action commits capital spending to bring the account into compliance with permitted uses and to improve food service operations.

Next steps: purchases will be made and funded as recorded in the agenda. The district indicated documents and budgets for 2023/24 and 2024/25 were attached to the corrective action plan.