SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 21 (UPI) -- California officials say they will continue to withhold funding from San Francisco until the city gets administration of its school-lunch program up to par.
The city school district has been bearing the entire $1.5 million tab for its low-income lunch program because it was not correctly following the requirements for the federal National School Lunch Program, which is administered by the state.
"When we withhold funds, it's because our findings are pretty egregious," Phyllis Bramson-Paul of the California Department of Education Nutrition Services Division told the San Francisco Chronicle. "We're not taking away money; we're just not going to give it until there's integrity in their meal claims."
Bramson-Paul said funds are withheld from perhaps one district per year and the tactic is applied to only the most serious cases.
The Chronicle said the violations were found during a surprise inspection during the last school year. They included problems with the way lunches are counted as well as violations such as failure to have a court-ordered anti-discrimination poster on display in every cafeteria.
