SPECIAL REPORT: What are school districts spending your tax dollars on?

Retired teacher Randy White is passionate about education. The veteran Bristol, Virginia School Board member is also passionate about food. During an April 2009 trip to San Diego for the National School Board Association Conference, he got the best of both worlds.

White paid his own way to California, but once he was there he indulged. A review of the credit card receipts from that trip revealed he enjoyed some fine dining. The first night he ate at The Palm restaurant. A dinner for one person cost him more than $70. The next night he headed to a seafood restaurant. His bill? $113.

“I didn’t know how much it was going to be until I got through with the meal,” White said about his meal at Nobu seafood restaurant. “At the sushi bar, I didn’t eat at the table. I ate at the bar, so I said just bring me three dishes. I don’t remember what any of them were, but they were good.”

White admits the seafood dinner was a little much.

“I consider the Nobu excessive, but it was a once in a lifetime experience for me,” he said.

Still, when all was said and done, White still fell within his meal allowance for the trip. A review of credit card statements and receipts from 18 school districts in the region revealed White and his colleagues in other districts broke no school policies when they racked up pricey bills.

Although tax dollars may go toward teacher salaries, supplies, and textbooks, they also occasionally pay for elegant dinners for school board members and administrators. With just a swipe of a credit card, a handful of districts enjoyed some of the fanciest meals during training trips to Nashville, Richmond and beyond. And not a single person violated any rules by doing so.

When school board members and administrators travel for business, they all get a meal allowance or per diem. During the Virginia School Board Association Conference in Williamsburg back in 2008, despite an expensive meal, White and his colleagues fell within their trip allotment.

The party of six spent $475 on dinner at the Inn Dining Room. That meal not only came with entrees but also included desserts for every person at the table. And those diners were not shy about ordering some of the most expensive things on the menu like $42 steaks.

“(School board members) do things every day at their own expense,” Bristol, Virginia Superintendent Ina Danko said. “Once a year or once every five years, I don’t see a major problem.”

Russell County, Virginia leaders have also racked up some steep bills. One from Old Original Bookbinders in February 2009 cost $317 and included $122 worth of filet mignon.

“When you’re in Richmond, it’s hard to find a place particularly around the Marriott and those older established hotels that offer meals or in the downtown areas that offer a sit-down restaurant,” Russell County Director of Schools Dr. Lorraine Turner said. “I think that’s not excessive, every once and a while, I do not.”
Across the border in Tennessee, Unicoi County board members also spent $317, but they dined at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in November 2008. The meal averaged out to $64 a person and included crab cakes, filets, steak with stuffed lobster tail and a rib eye that alone cost $49.95.

Every year in November when the Johnson City School Board heads to Nashville for the annual Tennessee School Board Association Conference, leaders treat themselves. A 2008 meal at the Old Hickory Restaurant cost $576 and included Oysters Rockefeller, halibut, and rack of lamb. 2009’s version of that meal at Volare’s Restaurant cost taxpayers $355.

“Could it be smaller? Absolutely, “ Johnson City Directors of Schools Dr. Richard Bales said. “Could it be larger? I think it could. It’s one convention, one time a year.”

During that same weekend, Greeneville leaders also enjoyed a fancy meal at one of the same restaurants and not just the director of schools and board members, but some of their spouses too. The groups’ $850 bill for 11 is from 2008.

“I agree that it’s higher than any of us had liked,” Greeneville Director of Schools Dr. Lyle Ailshie said. “We haven’t been back. It was overpriced and the food wasn’t good.”

In 2009, that same group chose another restaurant. This time, they paid $545; a small amount in the director’s eyes considering the board donates its minimal salaries back to the school system every year.

“You have to keep everything in perspective that this is one meal that the board goes out to a year at its conference and also, we have one or more board members that often never turn (in for) being reimbursed for any expenses,” Ailshie said.

The director of schools in Rogersville, her husband and the school board chairman dined at the popular Old Hickory Restaurant during the same weekend last year. The trio racked up a $241 bill complete with all the regulars, plus three glasses of wine.

“It doesn’t matter what you eat or where you eat,” Rogersville Director of Schools Sherry Terry said. “You get a per diem rate that goes toward your food…Every restaurant in (the Gaylord Opryland Hotel) is extremely expensive. There is no mention of anything of what you may purchase in policy.”

These expensive dinners are exceptions and not the rule when it comes to the majority of districts in the region. Of all the paperwork 11 Connects’ reviewed dating back to August 2008, there were only a handful of costly bills. But again, not one of the districts actually violated any policies when ordering those meals.

That said, even though Randy White came in 20% under his meal allowance for his trip to San Diego, he said he understood he may have gone a little overboard at the seafood restaurant. When he travels to Chicago for this year’s national conference he said another $100 meal of a lifetime will not be on the menu.

“You will never, ever see that again,” White said. “I promise you.”