A Montgomery public charter school must repay $1.9 million after an audit found that the school did not accurately track more than 600,000 meals served in 2021 and 2022.

In 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture received an anonymous complaint about LEAD Academy in Montgomery. The complaint alleged that Crave Cafeteria Solutions, the vendor supplying meals at the school, “inflated the number of children and meals served” during the 2021-22 school year, according to documents reviewed by AL.com.

Now, the school must find a way to repay the USDA its money, according to an audit conducted by the state Department of Education.

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Paul Morin, who serves on the Alabama Public Charter School Commission, which oversees LEAD and other state charter schools, called the audit and questions about the school’s leadership a “major issue” at a recent meeting. The commission denied the school’s request to expand ninth grade enrollment.

LEAD Academy Board President Charlotte Meadows, a former state legislator, said the school does not have any money connected to the meals on hand because the money was used to pay the vendor, Crave.

In statements to AL.com and in lawsuits, school and Crave Cafeteria officials each claim the other party was responsible for properly counting meals.

Meadows claimed Crave employees did not follow proper procedures or keep proper records. She also said the pandemic school year, plus shifting federal guidance, caused miscommunication.

LEAD Academy sued Crave for $2 million, the amount owed plus interest. The school claimed the company breached its contract and defrauded the school by inflating the number of school meals it could claim. In January, a judge issued a default judgment and ordered Crave to repay the money.

Meadows said LEAD Academy is pursuing “all legal means to collect the taxpayers’ money” from Crave, so it can return it to the USDA.

Brian Pleasant, Crave’s owner, refuted Meadows’ claims. He told AL.com Friday that school staff were responsible for properly “counting and claiming” the number of students and meals served.

Pleasant filed an appeal in February, saying he never received LEAD’s initial lawsuit. The case is ongoing.

Jason Swann, with the state Department of Education, said the department is working with LEAD Academy officials on next steps. The department gave the school until September 2027 to repay the full amount according to Meadows.

“Now we’re in the process of collecting that debt on behalf of the USDA,” he said. “And trying to come up with a repayment plan.”

Alabama Board of Education Vice President Wayne Reynolds, in an email to state board members Friday, directed the state department to obtain approval from the state board before moving forward with any decisions about the repayment plan.

LEAD Academy has struggled on many fronts, including fighting (and winning) a lawsuit in 2019 to keep them from opening to settling a 2019 lawsuit with the school’s first principal.

The state department of education stepped in to force Montgomery County schools to provide meal services for the school during its first year of operation, the 2019-20 school year.

The school cut ties in early 2020 with its initial charter management organization after officials with the CMO failed to provide the services they were contracted to provide.

LEAD Academy’s most recent test results landed them on the federal school improvement list in November.