The son of San Diego Unified School Board Trustee Marne Foster was on a list of students who received free meals at school, even though her income made her children ineligible, two confidential sources confirmed Thursday.
NBC 7 also confirmed that Foster’s son requested a waiver so he would not have to pay fees for certain standardized tests.
The revelation is the latest allegation to surface against Foster, who is at the center of a criminal investigation by the San Diego County District Attorney’s office. The topic of the investigation has not been revealed.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which runs the free and reduced price meal program across the country, a family of five must make under $36,933 a year to qualify for free meals and under $52,559 to get reduced price meals. Foster has four children.
Last year, her son, who attended the School of Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA), was on their list of students who could get free breakfasts and lunches.
However, in 2014, Foster earned $61,343 as an adjunct professor in the San Diego Community College District and $17,928 for her part-time work as a school board member, according to Transparent California, a website that lists the salaries of public employees.
Her income is well above the threshold to qualify for free or reduced price meals. Foster told NBC 7 she has no comment on this story at this time.
The embattled trustee, who recently served as the SDUSD board’s president, has also been accused of orchestrating a $250,000 claim against the district she represents, filed in the name of her son’s father, John Marsh.
Last year, Marsh filed the claim that alleges the negative evaluation caused his son to be rejected by multiple colleges. The claim says the family had a right to the money to recuperate costs of counseling for the student and the loss of tuition aid. The district rejected the complaint.
However, Marsh told NBC 7’s media partner the Voice of San Diego he did not write the document – Foster did. He claims Foster presented him with a blank complaint form and told him to sign it. Foster has said she had no part in the claim.
The school board member has already apologized for holding a July benefit to raise money for her sons’ tuition. In attendance were people who presented possible conflicts of interest, such as contractors who work with the district and employees who may seek favors in return. Foster pledged to return the money raised.
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Finally, SCPA head counselor Kim Abagat says Foster’s complaints about her son’s negative college evaluation led to Abagat’s nine-day suspension.
In December 2013, Foster called SDUSD Superintendent Cindy Marten, furious about the evaluation written by Abagat. Marten said she instructed Foster, who was complaining as a parent and not a trustee, to take the issue up with the district’s head of counseling or the school’s principal.
The SCPA soon contracted an independent investigator to look into Foster’s allegations against Abagat. As a result, Abagat was suspended nine days without pay, and another counselor wrote a more positive evaluation for Foster’s son, according to Abagat.
At the end of that school year, Mitzi Lizarraga, the SCPA’s principal at the time, was reassigned to a new position in the district. Lizarraga said she is “positive” that she was reassigned because of Foster.
Marten said Foster had every right to raise her concerns as a parent, and the superintendent maintains pressure from Foster had no effect on her decision to move Lizarraga.
In late September, the rest of the SDUSD board approved an independent investigation into allegations against Foster, but that civil inquiry was put on hold when the DA’s office served a search warrant to the school district, seeking information about Foster.
The day the board ordered their investigation, the trustees also issued a proclamation to honor Foster for the work they say she has done in the district.
