ALBANY, GA -
The state and the U.S. Department of Agriculture will conduct a review of the Dougherty County School System's free and reduced-price lunch program.
Investigators will be here next month to review records. The school system asked for the investigation after Morningside Principal Gloria Baker and School Board member Velvet Riggins were arrested. Both are accused of falsifying incomes on their children's forms.
The school systems records were reviewed by the state just last year, but they've asked them to come back and audit the system again to make sure there are no glaring errors.
A legal consultant hired to see what that school system could review when it comes to the free lunch program told board members they can only randomly audit three percent of forms. Today the board revealed they've asked the state and USDA to come in and conduct one of those audits.
"There are only certain things we can do and even with the attorney coming in he was very, very , clear, it's the law by the federal government," said Dr. Joshua Murfree, DCSS Superintendent.
State auditors and representative from the UDSA will be in Albany next month to look over three percent of free lunch applications. The system can review their own employee's forms, and questions continue to be raised by board members about whether more than one person should sign off on the forms.
"Yes we can look at processes and we'll do that and make sure that those processes are being followed and they are," said Bush.
But they're also setting up a way for whistle blowers to report abuses.
"Dr. Murfree is going to put a committee in place so that a quote unquote whistle blower will know where to go," said Rev. James Bush, DCSS Board Chairman.
"The key point is to have a committee, an External committee an Ad Hoc committee," said Murfree.
School officials say it will be a diverse group of mid level school employees tasked with examining forms that are called into question. "We don't have anything at all to hide and again I want the stake holders in the community to know we want them to be on our side with this.
Reporting anyone who may be trying to take advantage of the program meant to help families in need.
The special prosecutor appointed to handle Baker and Riggins cases still has some investigating to do and witnesses to question before he'll bring their cases to a Dougherty grand jury.
This school year, there were 10, 855 free or reduced lunch applications submitted in Dougherty County. Recently, a state mandated audit randomly surveyed 80 Dougherty County families in the lunch program. 21 receiving a free lunch were bumped up to reduced price lunch, 7 from free to paid, and 7 from reduced to paid.
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