Unchecked authority and a refusal to listen to veteran employees resulted in millions of dollars of waste at Memphis City Schools Central Nutrition Center, an internal audit revealed.
The district dumped about $600,000 worth of improperly stored frozen food in October and later discovered nearly $200,000 more had to be sent to the landfill. In all, more than 243 tons of food was discarded.
Investigations by local prosecutors and the state comptroller's office are under way and the district's audit revealed violations of federal guidelines at the CNC that could likely lead to other probes.
The district already reported losses of nearly $3.7 million in the preliminary audit done in October, but the final version found much more.
Auditors found they had not been told about all the food and directed another 20 landfill trips be made. Total loss: $794, 963.
Former nutrition services director James Jordan, unfettered by purchasing constraints normally put on most division directors, spent taxpayer dollars with abandon on cell phones, furniture, and marketing plans and allowed employees to do the same, auditors reported.
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Jordan also blocked efforts by auditors to understand the problem's magnitude, the audit alleges.
An eyewitness told auditors Jordan and his wife spent a weekend at the CNC shredding documents.
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Jordan could not be reached for comment. He has been unavailable since the controversy erupted. His only comments have come in the form of an EEOC complaint against his former employer, claiming discrimination because he was white.
The auditors weren't the only ones who tried to blow the whistle on Jordan's actions.
Read Full TextBlink. How is this possible? "243 tons of food was discarded" and auditors made "another 20 landfill trips". Surely, if this much food was going to the landfill, someone should have noticed that maybe, the kids were not being fed?
:nuke:
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