A pricey trip to Las Vegas for a group of 68 Waco Independent School District teachers and administrators is being paid for by you. It is part of a three-day professional development seminar at Caesar's Palace, costing taxpayers $84,000.
The Waco ISD has had a tight grip on its budget this year to keep from going deeper into the red. That is why news of this trip has some parents and school board members asking tough questions.
"I think there is an understandable concern about going to Nevada," says Waco attorney and school board member David Schleicher, "and is that really the best use of the money."
Schleicher is not the only one questioning if this money could have been spent more wisely. School board member Pat Atkins has questions of his own.
"Is there an opportunity where those dollars could be spent differently," says Atkins, "so they could go further?"
For the Waco ISD to balance its budget this year, tough cuts had to be made from Pre-K programs to pay raises. But Atkins says this $84,000 trip is completely separate from the district's operating budget. "These are not dollars that would help us make up a budget shortfall with respects to salaries or health insurance or any of the other things we're looking at next year," says Atkins.
That is because there are three main pools of money for a school board: local taxes, state monies and federal funding. "This particular money came from the federal government," explains Atkins, "it's in that third pool and it has strings attached, earmarked specifically for professional development."
Even though the money is being used properly, these board members understand reaction from parents like Ashley Stewart. "I really don't feel like its worth spending the $84,000," she says, "I mean if the teachers can go to a seminar that's closer and less expensive, I feel like they should do that."
That question is one that these board members plan to answer. "People are entitled to know how their tax dollars are being spent," says Schleicher, "and to find out one way or another whether this was the best use."
The Waco ISD was given this federal money for professional development after it failed to meet accountability standards. How it was being spent was uncovered by an online government watchdog group, Texas Budget Source, through open records requests.
If the federal money is not used by the district, it rolls back to the government.
*Texas Budget Source, a statewide non-profit agency with a focus on transparency in spending, filed an open records request to access this financial information.
Reported by: Britney Glaser/Photographer: Erin Coker
