Batavia Schools Again Poster Child for Food Spending

Batavia School District 101 is again the subject of a Daily Herald "tax watchdog" investigation, this time on the amount of employee credit-card spending for food.

A front-page Daily Herald report back in February put the spotlight on outgoing District 101 School Superintendent Jack Barshinger for picking up the $1,929.75 tab that Batavia School Board members rung up at Morton's Steakhouse.

Sixteen guests enjoyed entrees including New York strip steak and appetizers such as the $15 lobster bisque, the Daily Herald pointed out.

The meal tab came to light as part of a report on 89 school districts' spending at the November statewide school leadership conference in November. As Jake Griffin's report revealed, Batavia spent $13,366 in total on the weekend conference—more than $2,600 for food, $5,600 for hotel stays and $4,100 for the conference registration and class fees.

Now, Griffin's report—which appears again on the front page of the Daily Herald's June 19 edition—shows that School District employees are using their purchase cards, sometimes called "P Cards," to buy food at Panera, Jimmy John's, Dunkin' Donuts and other local establishments.

Lisa Hichens, who takes over as superintendent this year as Barshinger gets ready for retirement, told the DH that the spending is well monitored and not out of proportion. Overall, $1,024,485 was spent via P Cards from November 2011, through October 2012—so that $24,639 in food is a drop in the bucket compared to the total.

Hichens said receipts are required, and at least one set of eyes reviews each purchase and most of the food spending was for meetings, travel expenses and sometimes student groups.