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As the public school system copes with job losses and cutbacks in classrooms, a small group of parents have criticized the deputy superintendent's office for using taxpayer dollars to buy more than $1,000 in meals for guests.

The parents questioned the spending because it came at a time of unprecedented cutbacks to the school system's operating budget.

Deputy Superintendent Frieda K. Lacey has charged $1,113.27 in meals this year to her system-issued American Express card, including $503.11 for lunch and dinner meetings at Il Pizzico between January and March, according to school system documents provided to The Gazette.

Paula Bienenfeld, parent of a junior at Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, does not mind administrators going out to the occasional business lunch.

"In a private business, something like that might happen once or twice a year," she said. "But to eat like that on a regular basis is what raised the red flag to me. I'm eating at McDonald's so someone at Carver can eat at Addie's."

However, Robert L. Monsheimer, education chairman for the Montgomery County Taxpayers League, said some of the expenses were a little too much money, but saw nothing controversial with the spending.

Each meal was business-related, and the deputy superintendent's office has not used the card for personal expenses, schools spokesman Steve Simon said.

Some of the purchases occurred during a freeze on spending, which saved the system more than $10 million. The system sought a $2.11 billion spending plan for fiscal 2009, which began July 1. The County Council, citing tough economic times, approved a $2.07 billion operating budget — roughly $41 million short of the system's request.

On Jan. 16, Lacey charged $466.58 for a dinner meeting with 11 people at Il Pizzico, in Rockville. At the meeting, Simon said, school administrators met with consultant Glenn E. Singleton on ways to close the achievement gap between some minorities and their white and Asian American peers.

"With these things, someone is going to pick up the tab, and it happened to be the deputy superintendent's card," Simon said.

Less than two weeks later, Lacey charged $121.25 for a business lunch with people at the Gelico Café & Pizzeria in Rockville. The food, according to documents, was for a meeting with the Winston Churchill High School Cultural and Equity committee. In February, she charged $137.50 for a meal at a Corner Bakery in Bethesda. In July 2007, Lacey charged $127 to the card during a meeting with a Montgomery College trustee and a colleague at Addie's Restaurant, documents show.

In April 2007, executive director Donna S. Hollingshead charged $102.71 for food from Cameron's Seafood for a staff meeting. Last summer, office manager Vickie L. Stuart charged $247.22 to her card from food from Honey Baked Ham.

"This is the number two person in a very large system who has a tremendous responsibility," Simon said. "These [expenses] aren't happening every day. These aren't happening very often."

Other expenses were not as pricey. On Jan. 18, for instance, Lacey spent $75.08 on a business dinner at the Amici Miei Restaurant for minority student leaders. On Jan. 23, she went back to the Gelico restaurant and charged $81.56 for a meal with the school system's executive staff.

"How is that going to improve student achievement?" asked parent Lyda Astrove, an outspoken critic of the school system. "Teachers in a classroom are being told to cut back and are buying things with their own money, and central office is buying dinners at Il Pizzico. I think $80 and $100 charged to the taxpayers is a waste of taxpayers' money."

The spending may have been a little too lavish given the current economy, but Lacey paying for business and dinner meetings is not a big deal, said Monsheimer of the taxpayers league.

"It's not criminal. It's kind of [a] waste, but it's not criminal. It's not worth making a big stink about," he said. "Am I thrilled that they are spending that much on lunch? No. It's an ongoing scenario that they're not thinking cost-consciously."

Astrove sent a copy of the credit card purchases to the state's Office of Legislative Audits. Bruce A. Myers, the state's legislative auditor, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday.

The school system's guide to using the charge card prohibits its use for travel and entertainment expenses, including restaurants and accommodations, unless otherwise noted.

Lacey, the school system's deputy superintendent since 2004, declined comment for this report. Simon said the expenses are "a very modest amount when you look at it in the broad context … I think it's a very reasonable set of expenses."