UPPER MARLBORO, Md. – A Prince George’s County school board member is under investigation after she allegedly lied about her income to secure free school lunch for her child.
Lyn Mundey resigned from the board June 1, and her resignation takes effect August 24, but ABC 7 News reports several of her constituents want her gone immediately.
“To take advantage of the system when there are people out here that really need it is ridiculous, it’s sad,” resident Brenda Payne said.
The news site obtained an email from a federal investigator to the suburban Washington, D.C. school district authored in April identifying Mundey as one of multiple Government Accountability Office employees who are allegedly scamming the federal government’s free and reduced price lunch program.
The email states that Mundey, who works as a GAO management analyst, was among several of the agency’s employees “receiving free lunch despite earning salaries much greater than the 133 percent of the poverty rate” required to qualify for the special lunch program.
The email alleges Mundey reported “no income at all in 2011 and 2012,” which infuriated local resident Lee Krulisch.
“I mean that’s a criminal act to me to falsify information,” he said.
Ernest Tuck, another Upper Marlboro resident, seemed to agree.
“There are so many people in the country that need it and so I think it’s terrible,” he said.
ABC 7 News reports that Mundey called into the newsroom about an hour before the story posted around 7:30 p.m. Monday to defend herself.
“She denies any ethical violations, claims she put money in her daughter’s lunch account and said she is unaware of an investigation,” the news site reports.
ABC 7 News confirmed Mundey is the subject of a criminal investigation by the Prince George’s County state’s attorney over the alleged lunch program scam.
The Washington Post reports Mundey was appointed to the school board by the county’s executive, Rushern L. Baker III in August 2013 to fill a seat vacated by Carletta Fellows, who resigned the month prior after only six months on the board.
At the time, Baker said Mundey, a single mother of a high schooler, “will bring a new level of energy and commitment, plus an inspiring story of focus and determination that I am confident will resonate with our students, parents, faculty and staff.”
“Ms. Mundey is invested in our schools as a parent, alumni and true advocate for public education,” Baker said in a 2013 statement.
Mundey graduated from the district’s Bowie High School before gaining a degree from the University of Maryland.
“I am a single parent and I know a lot of families in my district that look like mine,” Mundey said when she was appointed, according to the Post. “I want to assist those parents in any way that I can as they try to get what we all want a quality education for our children.”
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