When District 218 board members planned a meeting to revolve around dinner at an Oak Lawn steakhouse last month, president Marco Corsi said he was looking to “reward” officials — who had worked some nights and weekends — for a job well done on their search for a new superintendent.
But records obtained by the Tribune show the district has regularly catered its board meetings during the past five years with meals from an assortment of south suburban eateries. The district has spent more than $10,000 since July 2010 on food for school board members and administrators, most of it during board meetings, records show.
Rather than being an occasional treat after completing a particularly challenging or important task, records show district officials regularly enjoy outside food, sometimes twice in a single week.
Corsi said dinner on the taxpayers’ dime for district officials is warranted because board members are traveling from their day jobs and administrators work long hours. The expenses, Corsi said, aren’t a “big deal.”
“Is a sandwich too much to ask? I would say no,” Corsi said.
Not everyone agrees with Corsi. David Giuliani, government reform analyst at the Illinois Policy Institute, panned the board’s practice.
“It’s wasteful, and we should not be paying for any food besides water or coffee,” Giuliani said. “Pack a sandwich.”
Whether a school district caters its board meetings varies around the south suburbs.
Orland School District 135 board president Joe La Margo said the board will buy pizza on rare occasions when officials know they’re in for a lengthy discussion, such as a strategic planning workshop.
“I can count on one hand the number of times we’ve done it,” La Margo said.
John Lavelle, Homer Community Consolidated School District 33C’s assistant superintendent for business, said his district has a similar approach.
“I think when we did strategic planning they catered lunch because we were bringing in a consultant and didn’t want people leaving for lunch,” Lavelle said, adding meals may also have been provided during particularly lengthy union negotiations.
Susan Fennell, the superintendent’s assistant at Lincoln-Way High School District 210, said the district does not provide meals for the board or administrators during evening meetings. Usually, they lay out a small tray of cookies, water and coffee that’s available to everyone in the meeting room.
District 230 spokeswoman Carla Erdey said the district springs for a basic meal – typically a sandwich, chips, brownie, water or pop – for board members and administrators who attend the meeting through executive session. That’s sometimes prepared by the Culinary Arts Catering Class at the school, and costs roughly $90 per meeting, she said.
District 218 Superintendent John Byrne said the board has catered its board meetings for as long as he can recall, going back more than two decades to when he first started with the district, which oversees Eisenhower, Richards and Shepard high schools.
“My only reasoning, excuse, rationale, is it’s historical,” Byrne said. “It’s been that way all the time I’ve been here. And again as far as the administrators, if I ask people to stay until 10 … at some point there I’m thinking they should have a hot dog.”
Sometimes, they have more than a hot dog.
Sometimes it’s steak fajitas from a Mexican restaurant. Or it’s barbecue ribs. District officials have ordered pulled pork and roast Italian sausage. One day, they ordered a pickle bucket.
On a couple occasions, they’ve catered their meeting with fare from Bartolini’s, a Midlothian restaurant once featured on the Food Network show “Outrageous Food.”
They also frequently purchase what one district receipt calls “dessert cookies” for the meetings. They’ve spent about $350 on cookies and brownies from Jewel, records show.
Records show they’ve also enjoyed brownies, pumpkin cake and tiramisu.
Many of the dinners have cost taxpayers more than $150, and some have amounted to more than $200.
Last August, the school board held two meetings in a three day period: one on Aug. 16 and another on Aug. 18. The district spent $280 and $167, respectively, for food at those meetings.
Byrne said he originally thought the district had spent about $7,500 on food, but said he was a little “surprised” by the $10,000 total after the district reviewed its receipts.
School board member Don Pratl said the sum is a tiny slice of the overall budget, but said he understood why it raised eyebrows.
“I do agree with the idea that the concept is indefensible. I didn’t get on the school board so that folks would buy me sandwiches and pizza. It’s an unpaid job,” Pratl said. “I rush to meetings right out of the train, so while I never asked them to feed me, if a meeting stretched on for 3.5 hours, cold pizza or a sandwich starts to look appetizing.”
“I always felt a little guilty, but it’s just what was done. I think folks came to expect it,” said Pratl.
The district came under scrutiny after a board meeting was scheduled at Louie’s Chophouse this March.
After a column in the Daily Southtown, the board eventually decided not to host a meeting at the steakhouse on the taxpayer’s dime.
Nevertheless, Corsi defended the district’s practice of purchasing food for its top officials during meetings.
“I just don’t think it’s out of order to have something to eat when we’re there,” he said. “That’s just my perspective.”
He said the board will hear “the public” if they want them to stop buying meals, and if there’s enough hubbub , “we’re going to stop buying $5 worth of sandwiches for the board.”
But, he added, “I don’t think that’s going to happen.”
Twitter: @royalpratt, @laurenzumbach
