United States v. Haynes School Dist. No. 8

102 F. Supp. 843, 1951 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3845
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Arkansas
DecidedDecember 13, 1951
DocketCiv. A. H-412
StatusPublished
Cited by16 cases

This text of 102 F. Supp. 843 (United States v. Haynes School Dist. No. 8) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Haynes School Dist. No. 8, 102 F. Supp. 843, 1951 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3845 (E.D. Ark. 1951).

Opinion

LEMLEY, District Judge.

This cause comes on for hearing upon opposing motions' for summary judgment filed by the respective parties, and also upon that portion of the defendant’s answer which alleges that the complaint fails to state a claim against the defendant upon which relief can be granted 1 , and has been submitted upon the pleadings, affidavits, exhibits, and written briefs. In our opinion the plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment should be overruled, and the defendant’s plea just referred to should be sustained, subject to leave to the plaintiff to amend its complaint as hereinafter set forth; for the reasons hereinafter stated, we do not deem it necessary to pass upon the defendant’s motion for summary judgment.

This is an action brought by the United States against Haynes School District No 8 of Lee County, Arkansas, to recover the sum of $602.71, plus interest and costs, paid to the District by the plaintiff between September 11, 1945 and April 8, 1946 in connection with the so-called “school lunch program”, authorized by the Department of Agriculture Appropriations Acts of 1945 and 1946, 58 Stats. 452-453 and 59 Stats. 157, see also 7 U.S.C.A. § 612c and in which the defendant participated during the 1944— 45 school year and during the 1945-46 school year from September 11, 1945 through March 30, 1946. Under the terms of this program the federal government reimburses participating school districts for funds expended by them in buying food to be used in serving lunches to school children, the 'extent of such reimbursement depending upon a formula devised by the Department of Agriculture and set forth in the agreements entered into between the Government and the participating districts.

The original agreement between the parties hereto was dated September 11, 1944 and expired by its own terms on June 30, 1945; on September 11, 1945, it was renewed for the 1945-46 school year and finally expired on June 30, 1946. While no copy of the agreement was attached to the complaint as an exhibit, it was referred to in said pleading, and Article VII thereof, upon which plaintiff relies, was set out in full. Copies of the entire agreement and its renewal have now been filed as exhibits in connection with the motions above referred to.

As stated, the defendant participated in the school lunch program during the 1944-45 school year and during the 1945-46 school year up to and including March 30, 1946; during the latter year seven consecutive monthly claims for reimbursement amounting to $602.71 were submitted by the defendant, and all of them were paid by the plaintiff. This suit has been 'brought to *846 recover these payments on the ground that the defendant was required to keep and preserve certain records pertaining to the operation of the program, and that when an auditor of the Department of Agriculture undertook to examine its records in November of 1946 and again in the spring of 1947, the defendant was unable to produce such records, and that, therefore, the entire sum of $602.71 was “overclaimed” and “overpaid”, arid should be refunded to the Government. 2

The contract between the parties consisted of ten numbered “Articles”, not all of which are important here. The first Article is a declaration of the purpose of the agreement, which is described as the operation of a “Community School Lunch Program”, as a part of the nation’s wartime food program, “to assist schools and child-care centers in the development and maintenance of an adequate lunch program, which will assist in meeting the nutritional requirements of the Nation’s children;, to provide for-the proper utilization of agricultural commodities purchased through price support programs; to encourage increased consumption of foods in abundance; and to aid American farmers in the long-term development of better domestic markets for agricultural commodities”.

Article III of the Agreement provides that the Government will reimburse the school district, in accordance with a specified formula and subject to certain limitations not here pertinent, “for the purchase cost of food used in accordance with this agreement in the preparation of meals served to children attending or visiting the (participating school.)”

Article IV obligated the district to purchase food for the program at prices no higher than those generally prevailing. in the area, and, as far as possible, to buy locally produced food; this Article also obligated the District to 'buy in as large quantities as were feasible foods which the War Food Administration should from time to time announce as being in abundance, to encourage, as far as possible, the maximum consumption of such foods by the children, and to accept such foods as might be donated to it by the Administration if such foods could ‘be utilized, and if transportation and handling made such acceptance possible. The District was further required to maintain adequate facilities for storing, preparing, and serving food bought under the Agreement or donated by the Administration, and to maintain “proper sanitation and health standards in conformance with all'applicable laws and regulations”.

By Article VI the District was required to offer meals to all children attending school, and was required to serve meals without cost to children who were unable to pay for them. This Article further provided that: “No distinction or segregation of any sort shall be permitted 'between paying and non-paying children;” and, that: “All funds accruing from the Operation of the program shall be used only in the maintenance of the program in reducing the price of meals to paying children, or in improving the quality of the meals.”

The most important Article in the Agreement, as far as this case is concerned, is Article VII, which deals with “Claims, Reports, and Records”. This Article provided that the District should “submit to the Administration monthly, as its claim for reimbursement and report of operations a certified statement on Form FDA-536.” It was further provided that the District should maintain or -cause to be maintained “full and complete records of all operations under this agreement, which records shall include the following: (a) the number of meals, by type, served each day; (b) the number of meals, by type, served free each day; (c) income accruing as a result of payments made by children and all other income, in money or in kind, accruing as a result of the operation of the program; (d) itemized receipts for all food purchased for the program; (e) all program expenditures for items other than food; and (f) receipt of commodities from the Administration.” It was further provided that: “The (school district) shall make available to the Administration for exam *847 ination, at any reasonable time and place, all records pertaining to the operation of the program.”

Article X provided for termination by either party at will upon the giving of ten days’ notice to the other, and further provided that the Administration “-may cancel this agreement immediately upon receipt of evidence that the terms and the conditions of this agreement are not fully complied with by the sponsoring agency.”

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Bluebook (online)
102 F. Supp. 843, 1951 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3845, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-haynes-school-dist-no-8-ared-1951.