Final Special Letter Report the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s Compliance With Section 23-702 of the New York City Administrative Code Regarding School Food Service Establishment Inspection Results (Manhattan)

Executive Summary

This Final Special Letter Report conveys the findings of our review of the New York City (City) Department of Health and Mental Hygiene’s (DOHMH’s) compliance with Section 23‑702 of the New York City Administrative Code, which requires DOHMH to post on its website no fewer than three years of school cafeteria inspection results (beginning with any inspection after September 1, 2017) that must show the degree of compliance with the provisions of the City Health Code, the State Sanitary Code, and other applicable laws.[1] The objective of this review was to determine whether DOHMH complied with those requirements and focused on DOHMH’s posting of school cafeteria inspection results on its website for 461 schools located in Manhattan for School Years 2018-2019 and 2021-2022.

Audit Finding and Conclusion

The auditors found that although DOHMH made genuine efforts to  comply  with the requirements of Section 23-702 of the City Administrative Code – by automating the process for  posting all inspection results for all public schools as inspections are completed – the auditors were unable to locate such postings for many Manhattan schools for School Years 2018-2019 and 2021-2022.[2]  DOHMH asserts that this was due to naming conventions, the fact that more than one school used certain cafeterias, and other technical issues that impacted the usability of the website.  However, this does not explain the results of audit testing.

The auditors used the same searching conventions when conducting tests in June  2019 and in February 2022, but inspection reports that could not be found in June  2019 were readily found for the later period, for the very same schools.  This suggests that the reason inspection results could not be found in June 2019 was not due to searching methodology or the usability of the site, but the absence of posted inspection reports.  Had they been posted, the searches that enabled the auditors to locate inspection reports in February 2022 should have enabled the auditors to locate inspection reports for the same schools in the earlier period.  Moreover, it is difficult to accept that naming conventions and poor usability are sufficient to explain the very high rates of inspection reports that could not be found during the review.

 Audit Recommendations

The auditors recommend that DOHMH ensure that all public school cafeteria inspection results are readily available on its website for the required number of years so that parents and guardians may be informed of the conditions found in the kitchens and cafeterias of the schools that their children attend.

Agency Response

In its response, DOHMH disagreed with the review’s findings but agreed with the review’s recommendation, stating, “The Department agrees with this recommendation, already posts these inspection results, and will work to make the Website more user-friendly.”

[1] There are two sections of the City Administrative Code designated as § 23-702: (1) § 23-702 School food service establishment inspection results; and (2) § 23-702 School cafeteria and kitchen inspection data. The term “school food service establishment” means a cafeteria or kitchen in a school that is subject to the provisions of Article 81 of Title 24 of the New York City Health Code.

[2] As of February 28, 2022.