District 300 rebuts fraud allegations

Officials in Community Unit District 300 this week tried to set the record straight on allegations of mismanagement and financial irregularities in the district's food-service program.

In a March 2008 report, Service Employees International Union suggested fraud and financial mismanagement were to blame for deficits in District 300's food-service account in eight of the past 10 years.

The deficits ranged from just less than $25,000 three years ago to more than $500,000 last year.

On Monday, District 300 Chief Financial Officer Cheryl Crates said the account ran in the red because the cost of paid lunch -- $2 currently -- is not enough to cover the cost of lunchroom monitors.

In its report, the union placed the blame for the deficits on Aramark, the district's food-service contractor and the focus of the union's efforts to unionize 2,000 suburban service workers.

But Crates said the deficits in the district's food-service account are District 300's fault -- not Aramark's.

"That's a district decision to try and offset the entire cost of supervision," she said.

Crates also addressed state audits of the district's food-service program that revealed some schools were not collecting and certifying the required paperwork for free and reduced lunches.

The 2003 audits were cited as further evidence of Aramark's mismanagement in the union's March report.

Crates said the issues arose because district administrators -- not Aramark employees -- were not properly verifying paperwork and that the problem has since been fixed.

The union's March report also claimed some district schools don't provide enough meals for lunch and breakfast.

Crates said each school is allowed to prepare up to 10 percent more food than it used the previous day and that if there are shortages, the lunchroom supervisors are underestimating how many meals they need.

District officials met with union representatives last week and presented their response to the allegations.

Union officials have said if District 300's explanations are valid, the district should have informed the public before the union issued its report.

"We're raising questions that the public should have easy access to," union spokeswoman Erica Hade said last month.

Union representatives did not return calls seeking comment Tuesday.