After weeks of complaints from parents, leaders of the Salt Lake City School District board\u00a0are launching an independent audit into why dozens of students had their cafeteria lunches\u00a0thrown away last month.<\/p>\n

The board\u2019s president, Kristi Swett, sent an email to other board members Sunday about the matter. The board likely will discuss the reasons for and the scope of the audit at its study\u00a0session Tuesday night, said Heather Bennett, board vice president.<\/p>\n

\u201cI strongly believe that the public requires further reassurance that the district has acted\u00a0appropriately in investigating this matter,\u201d Swett wrote in the letter. \u201cQuestions still remain\u00a0regarding who or what was responsible for the situation and what actions should be taken as\u00a0a result of that determination.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have complete faith that district leaders have been forthcoming and honest in their\u00a0response to and investigation of this matter,\u201d she also wrote. \u201cNonetheless, having that belief\u00a0tested by an independent entity will serve to repair the public\u2019s trust in the district\u2019s integrity\u00a0and commitment to its students.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision follows outrage from parents over the initial incident and the district\u2019s\u00a0subsequent investigation. Parents have complained that the district\u2019s internal investigation\u00a0targeted the wrong people and is taking an unnecessarily long time.<\/p>\n

The district has not yet finished its investigation.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are individuals in the community that have raised questions about the process of investigating. \u2026 \u201d Bennett said Monday.\u201cThey seem to not trust the process of investigating. That\u2019s the reason why we\u2019re asking for an external auditor.\u201d<\/p>\n

The district has been criticized locally and nationally since as many as 40 Uintah Elementary students had their lunches taken and
\nthrown away last month because their parents were behind on payments. The kids were given fruit and milk instead.<\/p>\n

The district apologized and changed its procedures, pledging to serve only full meals from now on, regardless of parents\u2019 debt. The\u00a0district also enhanced its electronic payment-notification system after many parents said they didn\u2019t know they were behind. District\u00a0leaders also told lunch workers to no longer discuss payments with kids, but only with parents.<\/p>\n

Two employees \u2014 Uintah\u2019s cafeteria manager and her district-level supervisor \u2014 were put on paid leave, but have since returned to\u00a0work. Many parents believed the school\u2019s beloved cafeteria manager was scapegoated for a practice that has happened elsewhere in\u00a0the district.<\/p>\n

Parents have been frustrated by the district\u2019s lack of comment on who made the decision to yank kids\u2019 lunches. District spokesman\u00a0Jason Olsen has said that\u2019s under investigation.<\/p>\n

Uintah parent Erica Lukes, whose daughter had her lunch taken, said she\u2019s happy to hear of the external audit. She and other\u00a0parents question the role of the district\u2019s child-nutrition department head in the incident.<\/p>\n

She also wants to know what Superintendent McKell Withers has been doing about the situation and whether the district could have\u00a0done more to deflect attention from the school when it started receiving threats.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything was handled so poorly, and it\u2019s very apparent this started from the top down,\u201d Lukes said. \u201cThere was just a lack of\u00a0responsibility all the way around.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uintah parent Kevin Conway, whose daughter also had her lunch taken, applauded the notion of an independent audit.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t have your own people investigating themselves or their boss, and that\u2019s basically what they\u2019ve been doing,” Conway said.\u201cA very critical eye needs to be looking at how the Salt Lake City district runs itself and spends tax dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett said Monday the child-nutrition department has never been in charge of the investigation. She said human resources has
\nbeen leading it.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a claim, however, some find hard to believe, including fellow board member Michael Clara. He notes that an initial Feb. 4 report\u00a0to the board came from Kelly Orton, director of the district\u2019s Department of Child Nutrition, not human resources.<\/p>\n

Still, Clara is gratified to see the board hiring an independent auditor. Clara wrote a letter to Swett on Friday calling for an\u00a0independent investigation. Bennett said Monday she and Swett had wanted an independent audit done before Clara sent his letter.<\/p>\n

In his letter, Clara asks what responsibility the superintendent, Uintah principal and other administrators bear for the lunch\u00a0incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am sure you are aware that the community at large has lost confidence in the leadership of the district,\u201d Clara wrote, \u201cas it appears
\nthat the bureaucracy is just protecting itself and has no interest in reaching the truth in this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bennett said she doesn\u2019t know how much an audit will cost or whether the internal investigation will continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere isn\u2019t a single person in the district administration who doesn\u2019t feel terrible about the way events unfolded at Uintah on that\u00a0day,\u201d Bennett said. \u201cWe acted very quickly to write clear procedures that would prevent that from happening again and that\u2019s what\u00a0we can do at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

lschencker@sltrib.com
\nTwitter: @lschencker<\/p>\n