U.S. probing report of lunch thefts by Philadelphia teachers
The U.S. Department of Labor has asked the Philadelphia School District for information about its recent investigation into allegations that teachers were stealing student lunches from a summer program at Germantown High School.
The U.S. Department of Labor has asked the Philadelphia School District for information about its recent investigation into allegations that teachers were stealing student lunches from a summer program at Germantown High School.
The department contacted the district last week after receiving the allegations in an e-mail from Samenia Mayer, a summer staffer at Germantown, said Lenore Uddyback-Fortson, a spokeswoman for the agency's office in Philadelphia.
Germantown principal Margaret Mullen-Bavwidinsi and the district's Office of Multiple Pathways to Graduation looked into Mayer's allegations and found they were baseless, said Fernando Gallard, a district spokesman.
The Labor Department asked the district to provide the information by Thursday, Uddyback-Fortson said.
Germantown is one of six Philadelphia high schools that received Labor Department grants of $6.4 million each over three years to expand educational and employment opportunities for students.
Mayer alleged that some Germantown teachers were taking lunches intended for students in a summer program for incoming freshmen. The program is paid for with grant money.
Gallard said district money paid for lunches and breakfasts to encourage students to attend. He said students had to sign for their meals "as part of the program's accountability process."
He said that if lunches were left over, they were offered to teachers.
The Boys and Girls Clubs of Philadelphia hired Mayer to recruit mentors and work with freshmen at Germantown in the program.
The Philadelphia Daily News reported Tuesday that Mayer said she had been fired in retaliation for blowing the whistle.
But Jeff Waldron, chief executive of the Boys and Girls Clubs, said that Mayer was a seasonal employee, and that reports she had been fired were inaccurate.
"She has an agreement of employment that runs until July 31, and the Boys and Girls Clubs is honoring that agreement. We are paying her through July 31."
Mayer could not be reached Wednesday for comment.