Where to?
DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) -It doesn't take long to see that Sharon Calloway cares about Dayton Public School District. After all, she worked at one of the High Schools as a business manager for years. But her loyalty goes deeper than that.
"Dayton is my home. I know what the district can do. I know the positivness. My kids are graduates of this school and it's just not what it used to be and it needs to come back up."
Calloway believes the district is struggling and changes need to be made, starting with how DPS spends its money.
"It could be better spent. First concern was they need more teachers to help with the class size. Maybe not teachers, but teacher aides, para-professional to help assist."
So where is Dayton School spending its money? 2 NEWS Investigates dug through thousands of district credit card expenses to find out.
One thing stood out to us and caught Calloway's attention was travel costs.
"I'd like to go to some of these places," said Calloway.
According to credit card expense data, nearly a $500,000 has been spent on hotel rooms, airfares and travel agencies over the past three years.
$1,200 was spent at Hotel Belleclaire in the upper west side of New York City. More than $1,000 was charged at the Venetian Resort Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas and
$980 was spent at the Four Seasons in Miami. It's website describes it as a glittering pillar of sophistication and world-class luxury.
Calloway said instead of spending extra money on luxury hotels, she would like to see more go to the classroom and on new programs that would help with student discipline. She also would like to see some of that training come back to the district so more employees could benefit.
"They do need to pay teachers more. Whenever they go into negotiations, they always tell them they don't have any money. That's the standard. They don't ever have any money," said Calloway.
Behind the travel
We took the list of expenses to Dayton Public Schools Public Information Officer, Jill Moberley to see who is doing the traveling and why. She said conferences are one of the biggest reasons employees travel and those trips are not limited to certain people.
"You must first justify why you want to travel, you have to tie it to one of the districts goals and you have to agree as to how you are going to share that information when you return and if you fail to do that you could be liable for up to half the cost," said Moberley.
Moberley said the district looks at conferences as an investment in professional development that will ultimately help the schools move forward. She said all travel is budgeted for and they always look for the cheapest places to stay and fly. She said even though employees are traveling to places like Orlando, Hollywood, and Nashville, they're not on vacation.
"I do believe that those sponsors to those programs want to make it attractive for people to attend. We don't have any influence over where they hold these conferences but I do know that we are in meetings usually from early morning until late into the afternoon," said Moberley.
Calloway said sometimes grants require school employees to travel, but she wants the district to think twice before allowing additional trips.
"They would not be able to do all this if this was not an allowable expense. The question becomes should they. Should they go to every conference? There's 1,001 teacher conferences that come up every year, should you go to every teacher conference that comes around?"
Moberly insists these trips are not taking away from classroom funding. In fact, she says some of the travel they're doing involves recruiting qualified teachers.
She says there have been years where nobody travels to save money but when they do, they know who ultimately is paying the bill.
"As we make that investment, we want to make sure that we are doing it in the most responsible way, that we are doing it in the most cost-effective way to serve the district and the people that support our district," said Moberley.
She said a lot of times they pick the hotels based on the conference proximity and if there is a conference room rate that makes it more affordable.
Travel Expenses Broken Down
*All graphs and information was produced using credit card expense data given to 2 NEWS Investigates by DPS.
Expenses by Month
Month
Amount
Jan
$50,928.00
Feb
$38,196.62
Mar
$53,933.59
Apr
$66,181.37
May
$34,341.94
Jun
$50,982.97
Jul
$34,595.90
Aug
$10,967.80
Sep
$31,543.15
Oct
$67,036.11
Nov
$49,163.81
Dec
$11,419.19
Grand Total
$499,290.45
Top 10 Vendors
Vendor
Amount
EXPEDIA.COM
$72,677.72
HYATT HOTELS
$59,636.88
MARRIOTT
$44,014.00
AMERICAN AIRLINES
$38,301.10
DELTA
$31,162.70
U.S. AIRWAYS
$28,766.21
UNITED AIRLINES
$22,372.65
HILTON HOTELS
$20,770.29
EXPLORICA INC
$20,000.00
HAMPTON INN HOTELS
$15,618.01
Grand Total
$353,319.56
Vendor by Amount
Vendor
Amount
EXPEDIA.COM
$72,677.72
HYATT HOTELS
$59,636.88
MARRIOTT
$44,014.00
AMERICAN AIRLINES
$38,301.10
DELTA
$31,162.70
U.S. AIRWAYS
$28,766.21
UNITED AIRLINES
$22,372.65
HILTON HOTELS
$20,770.29
EXPLORICA INC
$20,000.00
HAMPTON INN HOTELS
$15,618.01
GREAT WOLF LODGE
$14,485.68
RENAISSANCE HOTELS
$13,644.20
DOUBLETREE HOTELS
$8,466.39
WESTIN
$7,856.30
COURTYARD BY MARRIOTT
$7,022.96
AIRTRAN AIRWAYS
$6,607.90
OMNI HOTELS
$6,499.09
OSU BLACKWELL INN
$6,312.64
SHERATON
$6,023.59
TRAVELOCITY.COM
$5,891.65
EMBASSY SUITES
$4,915.03
HOLIDAY INNS
$4,769.50
TRAVELOCITY HOTEL
$3,894.57
TRAVRES EUROBOOKINGS
$3,798.36
DRURY INN
$3,772.59
ST FRANCIS HOTEL
$3,268.98
LOEWS HOTELS
$2,530.55
HILTON GARDEN INN
$2,289.43
SOUTHWEST AIRLINES
$2,113.52
GAYLORD OPRYLAND RESORT
$2,041.95
THE LOFTS HOTEL
$2,011.18
CROWNE PLAZA HOTELS
$1,894.74
FRONTIER
$1,332.70
BUENA VISTA PALACE
$1,242.03
GRAND AMERICA
$1,234.08
HOTEL BELLECLAIRE NEW
$1,202.84
THE FLAMINGO HOTELS
$1,168.16
BEST WESTERN HOTELS
$1,066.24
CAPE CODDER RESORT
$1,039.56
HOTEL ALLEGRO
$1,019.60
VENETIAN RESORT HOTEL AND CASINO
$1,004.40
FOUR SEASONS HOTELS
$989.88
BROOKSHIRE SUITES
$976.00
MANDARIN ORIENTAL HOTELS
$961.80
HYATT PLACE
$890.56
KALAHARI RESORT
$885.32
MGM GRAND HOTEL
$818.72
HOTEL INDIGO
$814.32
COSMOPOLITAN HOTEL/CAS
$777.28
RADISSON BLU HOTEL
$689.55
COMFORT INNS
$672.80
HOMEWOOD SUITES
$640.20
HOTWIRE-SALES FINAL
$632.49
TRAVEL AGENCIES AND TOUR OPERATORS
$607.83
HOTELS.COM US
$578.84
COSMOPOLITAN RSRT ADV
$490.56
HORTON GRAND HOTEL
$480.39
SOFITEL HOTELS
$478.62
THE BROWN HOTEL
$438.21
GALT HOUSE HOTEL
$435.27
OHIO UNIVERSITY INN
$316.30
PRICELINE.COM
$302.00
RED ROOF INNS
$300.57
HOTEL CAPSTONE
$296.70
CAMBRIA SUITES POLARIS
$283.78
CANDLEWOOD SUITES
$257.64
THE CROWNE PLAZA
$222.00
FOUR POINTS HOTELS
$188.00
CROWN PLAZA OF DUBLIN
$122.53
KALAHARI RESORTS OH
$109.00
CHERRY VALLEY LODGE
$94.00
TRAVEL INSURANCE
$84.19
PRICELINE.COM
$56.00
AAA TRAVEL ONLINE
$24.95
AGENT FEE
$10.00
TRAVRES HOTELSONE.COM
$0.00
(blank)
TRAVRES HOTEL ROOM
$0.00
TRAVRES 114166228512
-$375.82
Grand Total
$499,290.45
Travel Expenses
All information obtained through Dayton Public School District's Public Relations's Department after 2 NEWS Investigates specifically requested information about certain charges.
Hotel Name
Location
Traveler
Conference Name
Buena Vista Palace
Lake Buena Vista, FL
Viskup, Joanne & Pitstick, Deborah
National Career Pathways Network Conference
Cape Codder Resort
Hyannis, MA
Caruthers, Raymond
Association for Career Technical Education Conference
Explorica Inc.
New York, City
Students & Teachers, Day, Pat & Keither, Malcolm
Stem Solutions Conference - Students & Teachers Thurgood Marshall HS
Gaylord Opryland
Nashville, TN
Stagles, Linda
National Title I Conference 2013
Great Wolf Lodge - No Taxes
Mason, OH
Entire staff Fairview School
Buildinbg Staff & Teaching Capacity - All teachers at Fairview School attended
Horton Grand
San Diego, CA
Stagles, Linda
Title I Conference
Hotel Capstone
Tusaloosa, AL
Taylor, Marie & Roby, Michelle
University of Alabama's Recruitment Fair
Kahalari Resort
Sandusky, OH
Ciprian, John
Prokect Lead the Way - pltw
MGM Grand Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
Schaetzle, Cathy
National Council of Teachers of English
Venetian Resort Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, Nevada
Williams, Larra
Advanced Placement Annual Conference
MGM Grand Hotel
Las Vegas, Nevada
Kreitzer, Kenneth
National Association of Broadcasters Convention
Hotel Allegro
Chicago, IL
Roberson, Alex
12th Annual CGCS Curr. & Research Directors Meeting
Loews Hotel
Hollywood, CA
Burton, Shelia & Robertson, Alex
CGSC Curriculum & Research Directors' Meeting
Cherry Valley Lodge
Columbus, OH
Stagles, Linda
21st Century Community Learnbing Centers Program Orientation for FY15 New Grantees
Grand America
Salt Lake City, UT
Stagles, Linda
National Title I Conference
Hotel Indigo
Houston, TX
Burton, Shelia & Harris, Marietta
Visit to the Houston School District
Omni Hotels
Irving, TX
Craighead, Anita
ERS National Conference
The Brown Hotel
Louisville, KY
Lewis, Lisa
Council of Great City Schools
Mandarin Oriental Hotels
Washington, DC
Holland, LaShawn
Spring Forum 2013 - Federal Grants Management: Race to Where?
Hotel Belleclaire New
New York City, NY
O'Neal, Renaldo
Bank Street School - Observe / ask questions
Cosmopolitan Hotel & Casino
Las Vegas, NV
O'Neal, Renaldo
2013 ASCF Conference on Educational Leadership
Sofitel Hotels
Washington, DC
Lee, Ronald
Council of Great City Schools - Male Pledge Initiative
Four Seasons Hotel
Miami, FL
Lee, Ronald
Council of Urban Boards of Education
Gaylord Opryland
Nashville, TN
Berry, Devin - initial deposit
National Title I Conference
Gaylord Opryland
Nashville, TN
Perry-Gillispie, Toni
National Title I Conference
Gaylord Opryland
Nashville, TN
Berry, Devin
National Title I Conference