BOE Demands Investigation After District's New Food Services Provider Cited for Illegal Overcharges

School board members are demanding a full investigation into the board's contract with the district's new food services provider after learning the company recently reached an $1.6 million settlement with the State of New York for reportedly illegally overcharging numerous school districts there.

Whitsons Culinary Group, a Long Island-based food service provider, was hired by the East Haven Board of Education to run it's school lunch program this summer.

The company was the focus of an investigation by the Attorney General of New York's Taxpayer Protection Bureau.

Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general of New York, announced Oct. 6 that his office had reached the settlement with Whitsons, after the bureau's investigation revealed the company "received savings from food vendors it worked with, but did not pass on those savings to customer schools, resulting in more than $800,000 in illegal charges."

The agreement requires Whitsons to pay $1.6 million to the state and affected school districts, while also complying with a series of reforms to improve transparency in its contracting and service.

In an Oct. 5 article on lohud.com, the company's spokesperson, Holly Von Seggern, said the company misinterpreted a past law and thought passing rebates to districts was voluntary. Von Seggern stated that most of the incidents occurred before the law was clarified in 2007.

"It was a good faith error. It was unintentional," Seggern said. "We are in compliance and will remain in compliance with the regulation now that it's been clarified."

In light of this information, at Tuesday night's regularly scheduled meeting, school board member Laura Kluth said the district's agreement with the company needs to be immediately investigated and reviewed to ensure nothing improper is occurring in East Haven.

Other school board members agreed that an immediate review was warranted.

In addition, Kluth said she has received several concerns regarding the quality of the food Whitsons has been serving since the first day of school — as well as complaints that some cafeterias have run out some items during lunch and others now serving lesser amounts of food.

"The kids are taking a beating with the lunch and they are not being fed right," she said.

Superintendent of Schools Anthony Serio told school board members Tuesday night that he would immediately move forward with a review of the district's contract with Whitson's, as well as how the investigation and settlement could possibly impact East Haven's contract with the company.