Reduced Lunch Fraud
Guys. Things just keep getting more and more interesting.
At Open house, I overheard BM telling her friend that she purposely claims her NET PAY as opposed to the required GROSS PAY on the reduced lunch form so that her children can receive reduced lunch for .40. When I heard this, I was appalled. I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do in tough times right? But what pissed me off even more is the fact that my DH works his A$$ off to pay her a large amount of child support each month to feed those babies. She's always been extremely frugal, but this is low. To me, it's a mockery-- it's mocking those who really need it and it's mocking those (my DH) who work hard to provide for his children honestly.
She's a School teacher, too. So her income is on our state treasurers website (and on the child support worksheet), so it's not like it's some big secret what she makes. With her income and his child support (which one is to claim on a lunch form) she misses the cut off for reduced lunch by almost 5 thousand dollars.
By "qualifying" for reduced lunches, she also gets her school fees waived.
I am just stunned.
What would you do?
There is really nothing you
There is really nothing you can do, and here is why. The school district never verifies income, nor is it allowed to question income, regardless of what is listed and signed off by the parent on the form. They get extra federal dollars for these students, so they are more than happy to put one more on the free/reduced student on the roll. If you ask me, since there are no checks and balances, anybody can claim anything; and without being questioned.
I know, I think it is ridiculous too...maybe this can be reported at the federal level, but at the school level, good luck.
I think your point is what
I think your point is what makes it even more upsetting to me. If I were to do this, I'd be the one on the news, ya know? But the schools actually have to pull random ones as part of a spot check. I did my research. It's pretty interesting. they have a whole thing they go through-- they have to check 3% of all approved forms.
You can face criminal charges
You can face criminal charges for lying on a reduced lunch form. I don't know exactly what hat the penalties are, but it's federal benefits fraud. I think the form might even require you to sign under a statement saying that the information you're providing is correct. I used to work for a large school district and several people were fired for allowing and in some cases propagating school benefit fraud. The school could also get themselves into trouble if there was evidence they knew someone was receiving benefits illegally. A lot of federal school funding is tied to the school's poverty rate, which is a measure of the percentage of kids at that school who qualify for free or reduced lunch.
That's what I thought. I've
That's what I thought. I've seen many articles where it was a huge deal. But this woman is a teacher Herself!! DH went online to pay his portion of SS's school fees and saw they were waived. Then he saw the price he was paying for lunch. He asked BM why his son was receiving reduced lunch and she said her health insurance went up and she didn't get a raise. She basically said she deserves it. This woman makes more than I do with her income and DHs child support. I'm sick.
Because I'm having a lazy day
Because I'm having a lazy day and getting bored , I went and looked at the reduced guideline incomes x family size and then the state treasurer site you mentioned. I gotta say, I was a bit surprised at some of the lower end salaries I saw for run of the mill teachers. I chose a couple common random last names to run. Lots of teachers making low 30k-40k.
So based just on being a teacher , receiving unknown CS for four kids and glancing at income eligibility for reduced lunch which was a bit over 53,000 for family of five, I'm clueless if your BM is indeed being fraudulent or just running an ignorant mouth.
Since you know the actual name to run, the CS amount and the actual total figure and you know she is getting benefits you believe she shouldn't qualify for, if I were you I'd check a few more things out before ratting her out. Example, does she receive year round paychecks even during the summer or is her district paying her salary in nine months checks?
It's year round. She's
It's year round. She's definitely being fraudulent. It's sad.
If she's a teacher, she
If she's a teacher, she should be careful. It's super easy to verify the salaries of public employees. Many public sector salaries are published by cities and towns. Someone could easily show that she had been fraudulent.
My point exactly.
My point exactly.
I get so angry when I find
I get so angry when I find out a student is receiving free or reduced lunch when I know darn well his/her parents lied on the forms.
Unfortunately, TitleI funding is tied to the number of students in a school that are eligible for free or reduced lunch. Administrators are not turning away free money.
good idea. Idk of he would do
good idea. Idk of he would do that. But he's pissed.
We did this with the BM
We did this with the BM because she had her on reduced lunch even though she wasn't paying for it :?
SO was paing for it and I noticed the monthly balance was never reduced. I asked SD if she was eating lunch and she said yes every day and breakfast too on my moms days. So SO called the school and found out BM put her on free lunch based on her lack of income (no job) she went to the school and filled out the paperwork and made sure it was done :?
We tried to remove it but couldn't without BM's permission. It ended up being a big cluster f#%* because of course BM didn't want to remove it. What a nightmare that was finally ended up getting it removed and we paid for SD's lunches after that.
BM was pissed because she considered that free lunch program her contribution to SD :jawdrop: Like getting a JOB and providing for SD was not even an option. So glad we are done with the crazy now.
Why would she brag about
Why would she brag about something like that. I mean if you're gonna doing something just a touch illegal shouldn't you keep it quiet?
Exactly. She sent some crazy
Exactly. She sent some crazy emails when DH confronted her. Pretty much digging herself a hole. Lies on lies
If she lies about income to
If she lies about income to receive reduced lunches JUST BEGIN to imagine what other forms she "accidently" (trust me they use accident is usual reason) filled out wrong for her benefit.
My experience is, a person who is that bold will not start and stop with reduced lunches.
**my opinion is all kids should have a free lunches platter at school. High school junk food not included. But a warm meal, should be free**
Who do you think should pay
Who do you think should pay for all of those "free" meals?
There are more than 1 million kids in the NYC public school system. That number does the include the kids in charters,parochial schools,yeshivias,or independent schools.
Lunch is only $1.75-$2.50. There's no reason why parents can't pay that small expense or have their kid pack a lunch each day.
In my experience, the kids listed as "poor" on paper are the main ones coming to school each day with a bag of junk from the corner bodega.
If you can spend $3 a day on soda, takis and candy, then you pay for your kid's lunch each day.
This woman is no stranger to
This woman is no stranger to pinching a penny-- which I support fully. But when you make a mockery of the money my husband sends to support his children by making it look like you qualify for reduced lunches, I CANNOT hop on board with that.
You can pinch pennies in other ways. Don't make it look like you fall below poverty line just to save some money. It's BULL.
together, he and she make a combined income of 140grand. They're not poor. The kids do NOT go without and they are not in poverty.
grrrrrr.
I am going through the exact
I am going through the exact same thing, except my husband's ex is not a teacher. I just found out this weekend from my SD. Her mom has had her boyfriend living with her for 7 yrs now and I know he makes enough that the kids should not be eligible for reduced fees and everyone in the house is included in the application, not just married spouses. She also just started working after 17 yrs, receives a lot of CS and doesn't have a house payment. It is very frustrating because my husband gives so much towards the kids and she can't even use it to pay for their lunches. I don't know if it would do any good to call the school and report it. I am wondering if she is committing welfare fraud too, because I don't know why she would stop at just free/reduced lunches.
I guees my thing is if you
I guees my thing is if you hadnt overheard her, would you even notice? Also, its not like you can go to the court and say "Hey I should pay less cuz she only spends $.40 on lunch". I say leave her be and have your DH call and ask her is times that hard for her that she has to lie. I would never mention that i overheard it. She would most likely change it herself just out of fear.
Schools don't care. When a
Schools don't care. When a child get free or reduce lunch. Because The amount of aid they get from the state and federal governments and the increasing of free food they receive from federal government. Actually they do better with free food kids then paying kids.
Free and reduced lunches have to be the type "A" lunch. What most kids don't want. Most want french frys cr*p