The Man Who Gave LA's Students Free Dinners May Also Have Embezzled Millions

Though most of us grew up with just one trip to the cafeteria for a hot meal every day—maybe two, if you were lucky enough to get a cereal bar or decent snack—school districts are increasingly taking charge of supper, too. Los Angeles is no exception.

Some schools within the Los Angeles Unified School District have begun hosting after-school programs for students; one of those is Kingsley Elementary, which is located in one of LA's many low-income neighborhoods. For some of its students, these three school-issued hot meals are the only meals that they can get, which is why many people have commended the efforts of David Binkle, LAUSD's Director of Food Services, who fought to double these free dinners from 70,000 to 140,000. Until yesterday, Binkle was responsible for LAUSD's current $354 million food program, serving more than 130 million meals a year.

But Binkle resigned in the wake of a damning audit that alleges he also embezzled millions of public taxpayer dollars and used them for questionable expenses, such as to staying in pricey Beverly Hills hotels and illegally allocating travel expenditures that were enjoyed by his contractors. A report published by the Los Angeles Daily News yesterday revealed that Binkle had been collecting an annual salary of $152,000 while on paid leave for nearly eight months.

According to the audit, Binkle curiously agreed to pay a 23 percent markup through a middle-man food distributor for the same meals that he could have gotten directly from the retailer, Five Star Gourmet Foods.

"It is not clear why it was necessary for the district to receive the supper kits through Goldstar at [an] additional cost instead of receiving it directly from Five Star," auditors noted in the report.

Binkle agreed to pay $1.48 per meal instead of the company's advertised everyday price of $1.20. Binkley also failed to disclose his personal food consulting company to the IRS, as well as the $950,000-plus income it generated for him per year, according to the audit.

The scandal and Binkle's resignation, however, have not affected LAUSD's decision to continue with the additional free dinners available to financially insecure students.

Let's just hope that the students are happier with the free dinners than they were with the healthier options introduced into the district's food program in 2011.