Report 2016-139 Recommendation 7 Responses

Report 2016-139: California Department of Education: It Has Not Ensured That School Food Authorities Comply With the Federal Buy American Requirement (Release Date: July 2017)

Recommendation #7 To: Fresno Unified School District

To help ensure that they consistently comply with the Buy American requirement, Fresno should establish written policies and procedures related to the Buy American requirement by October 1, 2017. At a minimum, those policies and procedures should include the following:
- An explanation of how it will ensure that it consistently includes language related to the Buy American requirement in its bid solicitation documents and contracts.
- A minimum expectation for how regularly it will verify that food items its vendors provide are domestic commodities or products.
- A requirement that its staff identify the need to purchase foreign-sourced items as early as possible in the food purchasing process and that they begin documenting the justification for such exceptions to the Buy American requirement at that time.
- Guidance for how it will maintain documentation showing that its purchases of foreign-sourced food items meet one of the two allowable exceptions.

60-Day Agency Response

Fresno Unified School District has fully implemented the Buy American Provision procedures to fully address the State Auditor's recommendation as of September 21, 2017. Fresno Unified School District's Buy American Provision written procedure to address Buy American Provision background, food contracts and bid solicitation, monitoring and inspection, menu planning, non-domestic foods purchased allowable exception documentation, and Buy American Provision forms.

Fresno Unified School District is committed to complying with the Buy American Provision of the federal William F. Goodling Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act of 1998.

A copy of Fresno Unified School District's written Buy American Provision procedures has been submitted to Katrina Solorio via email to katrinas@auditor.ca.gov .

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Fully Implemented

All Recommendations in 2016-139

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.