3/25/09 (Rochester, N.Y.) – As the Rochester City School District was building a $61 million deficit, district officials were dining out and getting meals catered.
Data obtained by 13WHAM News through the Freedom of Information Law shows the district spent nearly $240,000 on restaurants and caterers since the beginning of the 2007-08 school year.
The catering expenses included more than $18,000 at Mr. Dominick’s Italian restaurant, more than $60,000 at Wegmans, more than $1,800 at Salvatore’s pizza and sub shop, $1,700 at Dinosaur Barbeque, $500 at E.J. Del Monte, and $270 at the Penfield Country Club.
The catering information did not include the specific events or participants.
“In today's economic times, taxpayers shouldn't be buying food for people,” said Mayor Robert Duffy.
The information also included dozens of restaurant purchases made on district credit cards that added up to thousands of dollars. The district did not name the restaurants, the people who ate, or the city in which they dined. A spokesman said the district would have had to create a new document to name the restaurants, something not required under the law. 13WHAM News requested the credit card statements, but did not get a response. 13WHAM News has since filed a new request for all credit card statements.
Bob Freeman, executive director of the New York State Committee on Open Government, said the district did not have to create a new document to reveal the restaurant information.
“It’s impossible to say, ‘Sorry, we can give you the credit card statements,’” Freeman said, adding 13WHAM News should not have had to file a new request.
“Wow those are big bills,” said Rochester Teachers Association President Adam Urbanski, who said the district didn’t spend that money in schools.
“When it comes to school functions they won't even provide a cup of coffee,” Urbanksi said. “Apparently that rule doesn't apply to Central Office bureaucrats.”
Mayor Duffy said the city has cut back on catering. He said he rarely bills the city for meals.
“I have a city credit card and the only time I use it is trips to Albany. Usually when I go out to lunch I pay my own way,” he said.
Diane Clume, a parent of three students, has tried to get the district to prepare healthier, more appealing lunches.
“I'm told there's no money in the district to do certain things and then you see something like this and you really wonder,” she said. “It’s really frustrating.”
District spokesman Tom Petronio said the district has frozen restaurant and catering expenses.
“Meal expense lines have been frozen as we work on reducing our deficit and building a responsible 2009-10 budget. This is a priority for the Superintendent,” Petronio said.
The district did not provide data on any purchases that took place after November 25, 2008, a short time after our request was filed. “The report was created in November, following your initial request, hence no purchases listed for after November,” Petronio said in an email. However, 13WHAM News did not get the catering and restaurant data until early March.
The school board did not have to approve the purchases, as each individual item was less than $25,000. The school board’s policy for such purchases is that they be a “prudent and economical use of public monies, in the best interests of the taxpayers…at the lowest possible cost under the circumstances.”
