SF Cleared of Cheating, Kitchen Audit OK'ed

Superintendent David Goodin had good news to report at Monday night's board of education meeting, held at .

"I do want to bring to board’s attention, in July, when I first came in, state officials published a report, looking into a cheating scandal," Goodin said. "They named us for red flags. Tonight, I'm pleased to announce the Spring-Ford Area School District has been notified that the district has been cleared on all counts."

In July, Goodin and the district responded to the allegations through a . The allegations surrounded the 2009 PSSA standardized test. There were 89 schools flagged by the state, including Goodin's former district, Connellsville Area School District. He was happy to report that district was also cleared on all counts.

Goodin also reported Saturday's Dancing With The Stars competition was a "great experience and a great time." He thanked the staff, school nurse Trisha Smith, the dance teams and community for participating and helping to make the event such a success.

The board voted on a number of items at the meeting, including the approval of a $5,000 kitchen audit, which was previously discussed as a way to figure out a large "swing" in money over the years. Board member Mark Dehnert, who the audit last week, again brought up concerns about wasting money on an audit that was already done.

"I looked at the revenue over the last three years," Dehnert said. "The price increase [of $0.25 per lunch] led to a $155,000 increase in revenue. That shows a swing of actually $122,000. A quick diagnosis of the numbers shows that swing is attributed to the price increase. Food costs over that time have been relatively flat. We're going to spend $5,000 to tell us the increase led to that swing. It's not really necessary to spend that $5,000."

Board members did not have comment on Dehnert's claims and voted 7-1 to approve the audit to be done. Dehnert was the sole "nay" vote.

Business Manager Tim Anspach said looking back at the 2006-07 and 2007-08 years, with a loss of $200,000, the district should have raised lunch prices then. He also indicated the board is not going to take away benefits and salaries of full-time employees.

"Overall though, the cafeteria workers are a hard-working group and have been adapting to the changes we set for them very well," Anspach said. "We try to make each of our kitchens self-sustaining operations."

The 2010-11 school year was the first year of many to have actually made a profit.