Jose de Wit
SUN Staff Writer
Published Oct 16, 2008
An Española School Board member’s attempt to curtail expensive Board travel has met stiff resistance from other Board members.
At an Oct. 8 meeting, Board member Leonard Valerio objected to a three-day trip to San Diego, Calif., planned for next April that Valerio estimated would cost close to $9,000. Valerio tried to round up votes to cancel the trip, but only one other member, Board Secretary Joann Salazar, agreed to his proposal, and it was shot down.
The trip in question is the National School Board Association’s annual conference, scheduled for April 4 to April 7, which Superintendent David Cockerham and every Board member except for Valerio are slated to attend. Aside from a star-studded roster of “inspirational speakers” that includes author Toni Morrison and actress Julie Andrews, the conference’s web site promises “sessions and workshops covering all facets of school governance” and “networking opportunities” with Board members from around the country through icebreakers and ice cream socials.
The trip would cost at least $8,737 and as much as $14,083, depending on factors like how soon the group registers for the conference and makes plane and hotel reservations and whether every member claims full per diem and mileage reimbursements.
The state Per Diem and Mileage Act entitles Board members and District employees to collect mileage reimbursements at 32 cents a mile and per-diem fees of $115 to $215 a day for out-of-state travel.
A trip to the same conference in March in Orlando, Fla. — attended by Cockerham, Board President Joe Romero, Vice President Floyd Archuleta and member Andrew Chavez — cost the District at least $8,921, according to payment vouchers and trip itineraries. The District has not provided documentation for meal expenses for that trip. The group spent $2,145 on air fare, $1,840 on a four-night stay at the Orlando Holiday Inn, $3,550 in registration fees and $1,386 in mileage and per diem reimbursements, payment vouchers state.
The trip to San Diego is still six months away, but Cockerham said he is starting to make arrangements because he wants to meet an early registration deadline Dec. 30 that would net the participants a $100 discount each. Cockerham paid early, non-refundable registration fees for himself and four Board members for last year’s conference. This plan backfired when Salazar wound up cancelling and forfeiting her $710 registration fee. She still has not reimbursed the District.
“I told (Cockerham), I’m just waiting for him to send me the bill. I’ll be happy to refund it,” Salazar said.
Archuleta said attending the conference in Orlando was invaluable to him as a new Board member, still unfamiliar with education issues. He did not produce concrete examples of what he learned at the conference.
“It’s hard to pinpoint the information that you learn from being there,” Archuleta said. “But it’s like anything else: the more you participate, the more you’re informed, the better the job you’re going to do.”
Cockerham would leave the District only three months after attending the April conference. His contract expires June 30, but he insisted the $2,250 or more it would cost for him to go will be a sound investment for the District. Besides, he said, his contract entitles him to attend the conference.
State law requires Board members to receive training every year on topics from Board policies to legal issues pertaining to education, whether by attending conferences or by hiring consultants for in-house training sessions.
One District policy calls for each Board member to receive training each year through state Education Department seminars and attendance at the state and national school board association conferences. The same policy, however, also calls for only one member to attend the national conference if the District is short on funds.
“Funds for participation at such meetings will be budgeted on an annual basis,” the policy states. “When funds are limited, the Board will designate which of its members would be the most appropriate to participate at a given meeting.”
Valerio argued that should be the case this school year, which the District began with a $500,000 funding shortfall that he said might lead to job cuts in January.
“I love going on trips. I’d love to go. But I just don’t have the heart, when our finances aren’t in order,” Valerio said.
Salazar said she would only go on the trip if Cockerham can assure her the travel funds cannot be applied toward the salary of an employee that would otherwise be laid off.
Romero argued the trip to the national conference is worth the cost because Board members learn about issues they would not be exposed to at local conferences. He said he learned about special education, funding problems with the federal No Child Left Behind Act and student obesity at the Orlando conference.
Archuleta suggested another reason for why Valerio objects to other members’ travel.
“He doesn’t travel out of state because of his fear of flying,” Archuleta said.
Valerio said he is not afraid to fly and pointed out that he flew to Las Vegas, Nev., last year on vacation with his wife.
Despite their enthusiasm for the trip, Archuleta and Romero could wind up not attending the April 2009 conference: both are up for re-election in February. Romero acknowledged his upcoming re-election bid makes committing to the trip “maybe not so wise.”
Archuleta instead argued it is all the more reason to sign up for the trip: his replacement could go instead. Romero and Archuleta said their participation in the trip is not set in stone, and would tell Cockerham to hold off on making any payments for the trip until late December.