As Terry pointed out yesterday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has now officially threatened to cut off Charlotte-Mecklenburg?s $34 million free and reduced-lunch subsidy if it conducts a thorough audit of the program.
On Tuesday, an attorney with the USDA?s Food and Nutrition Division sent a letter to Char-Meck specifying that any audit beyond the 3 percent targeted sample required by federal law would be illegal. It says in part:
A general ?good cause? determination with respect to a group or category of applications would constitute an impermissible extension of the sample size limitation established by the statute.
Support among school board members for a comprehensive audit appears to be waning. Only two board members voted in favor of such a proposal at the board?s Sept. 9 meeting. Another motion authorizing an audit is scheduled for a vote at the board?s next meeting Oct. 14.
