APNewsBreak: DC schools chief asked contractor for $100K

WASHINGTON (AP) — The chancellor of Washington's public schools asked a food-service contractor for a $100,000 contribution to a Kennedy Center gala honoring teachers, weeks after the company was accused in a whistleblower lawsuit of cheating the city out of millions of dollars, according to emails obtained by The Associated Press.

The messages, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, shed new light on dealings between school leaders and a contractor that, according to court documents, cheated the system out of $19 million and served spoiled food to city students.

After the lawsuit was filed, Chartwells and its local partner, Thompson Hospitality, gave $25,000 to support the black-tie gala, according to records from the D.C. Public Education Fund, a nonprofit that raises money for schools and organizes the $700,000 event.

The rules are meant to prevent the appearance of "pay to play" politics in which contractors get preferential treatment in exchange for gifts or campaign contributions.

In June 2015, Chartwells' parent company — Compass Group USA, based in Charlotte, North Carolina — agreed to pay $19.4 million to settle the lawsuit, which included claims that it had cheated the city through price-gouging and fraud, deliberately stockpiled food and allowed it to rot, and served spoiled food in cafeterias.

Other school system contractors that have contributed to the gala include Children's National Medical Center, FedEx, Scholastic and the Washington Post Co.

Henderson has repeatedly characterized food service as a distraction from her goals of improving academic performance, saying it's not a "core competency" of the school system.

During Mills' time as food-service director, he argued that the system could save money and serve more nutritious meals if it took food service back in-house, but Henderson resisted those suggestions.