Tour the Rooms CISD Occupied at the Adolphus

November 19, 2008

This is a preface to Harold Gentry's article "The Price of a Room for CISD". Read it after you look at the Adolphus rooms using the links below.

Background:
Cleburne ISD just spent $6464.13 for 9 rooms at the Adolphus for 3 nights. That's for 6 school board members (Jennifer Dugger did not go), Superintendent Beard and two other administrators to attend the TASA/TASB convention. This figure does not include the registration fee.

CISD has spent about this much for lodging at each TASA/TASB convention for the past several years.

Judge for Yourself:
So that you may judge for yourself whether it is extravagant for the school board to stay in the Adolphus hotel, click on these links to see the Adolphus advertising and go on a virtual tour of the Deluxe room the CISD board members and spouses occupied.

General ad for the Adolphus
http://www.hoteladolphus.com/adolphus_home.aspx

Virtual tour of rooms. Click on the link below, wait for the images to load, then click on the Deluxe room in the second row to see where school board members and spouses stayed.
http://www.hoteladolphus.com/adolphus_virtualtours.aspx#

According to the TASB website, 8,000 people convened in Dallas from the 1200 school districts and charter schools in Texas. If each of the 1200 schools spent $6464 for lodging for three nights, that's a whopping $7,756,800.00. Yes, you read it right - nearly $8 million for a 3-day meeting.

Think what even half of $8 million could buy for the students.Could not TASB arrange for a more economical convention? Could not one school take the lead in reducing their own expenses?

The Texas legislature will again consider school funding beginning in January. Keep these expenditures in mind when contacting your legislators about school funding.

Now read Harold Gentry's article "The Price of a Room for CISD."

The Price of a Room for Cleburne ISD

November 19, 2008
by Harold Gentry

For the sake of discussion let’s say I accept the idea that all administrators and board members in the State of Texas are key officials or chief officers of a state agency and therefore entitled to $170 per night lodging. TEA’s Rita Chase’s opinion, now made available to us, says the CISD’s board can adopt any travel policy they like, either lower or higher than the state-allowed rates, but whatever policy and rate they adopt they must follow.

CISD travel expenses of $26,331.72 were disallowed by TEA auditors, noting that “In most instances, the travel related transactions selected for testing exceeded the maximum recovery amounts for travel and per diem costs as approved locally by the board and authorized in the State of Texas Appropriations Bill for the particular funding period.” Although these expenses were not board travel, the administration did not follow board-adopted policy, yet the board approved the expenses. Board member travel also went over the allowable, but was paid with local funds not subjected to TEA audit.

Here is the real crux of the argument: Where does it say that Key officials are mandated by law to spend a minimum of $170 per night for lodging? The contention really centers over a reasonable price of a room to serve a proper public purpose, not what title you ascribe to yourself. Whenever school district officials travel with their families using their own money and not the taxpayers, do they always book a room at $170 because they are key officials? When they take their spouses to school meetings, should they not have to rebate CISD half of their lodging?

The primary reason for attending meetings is to get training needed to perform their duties. They get the same training no matter how much they pay for a room. The room should be comfortable, convenient, and suitable for personal use with good value for both the district and the taxpayer. The bulk of the time is spent getting the training and not in the room. It is merely a place to sleep at night.

As long as the lodging meets these requirements and puts no attendee at risk for their safety I do not see why a $99-$120 room at a La Quinta or any other value hotel is not something the district will even consider. Does anyone feel this is wrong or in any way absolutely unreasonable to ask, especially when you’re using someone else’s money? Ever heard of a word called stewardship? No one is refusing to pay all expenses including meals, mileage, etc., so this request in no way places undue financial burden on any attendee.

There is no evidence that staying at the convention hotel saves any money. With mandatory $20 valet parking fees at the Adolphus and other convention hotels, attendees could pay for a cab to the convention location if their hotel didn’t offer a shuttle.

What if the board set their travel policy with a maximum allowable rate of $120 per night for lodging? The Adolphus hotel bill for the 2008 TASA/TASB convention was $6464.13. However if you went with this suggestion it would be about ($360 x9) $3240. You could have saved the taxpayer $3224.13 and put that into the children’s bank account.

The Adolphus Hotel was not the only housing available for this convention. In these troubling times with our world economy in a financial meltdown and people losing their jobs by the thousands, I do not see the harm in all of us tightening our belts a little.

Tour the Adolphus Rooms the Cleburne School Board Occupied

November 19, 2008

This is a preface to Harold Gentry's article "The Price of a Room for CISD". Read it after you look at the Adolphus rooms using the links below.

Background:
Cleburne ISD just spent $6464.13 for 9 rooms at the Adolphus for 3 nights. That's for 6 school board members (Jennifer Dugger did not go), Superintendent Beard and two other administrators to attend the TASA/TASB convention. This figure does not include the registration fee.
CISD has spent about this much for lodging at each TASA/TASB convention for the past several years.

Judge for Yourself:
So that you may judge for yourself whether it is extravagant for the school board to stay in the Adolphus hotel, click on these links to see the Adolphus advertising and go on a virtual tour of the Deluxe room the CISD board members and spouses occupied.

General ad for the Adolphus
http://www.hoteladolphus.com/adolphus_home.aspx

Virtual tour of rooms. Click on the link below, wait for the images to load, then click on the Deluxe room in the second row to see where school board members and spouses stayed.
http://www.hoteladolphus.com/adolphus_virtualtours.aspx#

According to the TASB website, 8,000 people convened in Dallas from the 1200 school districts and charter schools in Texas. If each of the 1200 schools spent $6464 for lodging for three nights, that's a whopping $7,756,800.00. Yes, you read it right - nearly $8 million for a 3-day meeting.

Think what even half of $8 million could buy for the students.Could not TASB arrange for a more economical convention? Could not one school take the lead in reducing their own expenses?

The Texas legislature will again consider school funding beginning in January. Keep these expenditures in mind when contacting your legislators about school funding.

Now read Harold Gentry's article "The Price of a Room for CISD."