Educators' hotel stays, parties on you

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Updated: February 7, 2011 2:07PM

During a spring 2008 trip to Columbia, Mo., Ronald Wynn and his wife got the call.

Wynn had been tapped to become the new superintendent of Matteson School District 159. So thrilled were the couple they picked up a German shepherd puppy during the trip and named it "Matteson."

"This is where God wanted me to be: Here," Wynn told a Matteson audience shortly afterward.

Two years later, Wynn and his family still live in Zion, a good 80 miles away from his school district. That's led the district to frequently pick up the tab for Wynn to stay overnight at a hotel closer to the district.

"Most generally, I go home. But if it's a real late meeting, yeah I will stay, or if the weather is bad," he told the SouthtownStar. "But it's only in extreme circumstances."

Records obtained by the SouthtownStar as part of the newspaper's Sunshine Week project to spotlight government transparency show Wynn stayed at the hotel after six of 13 regular board meetings from July 8 to Jan. 13 and once for a special board meeting.

In a test of the state's newly revamped Freedom of Information Act, the newspaper requested credit card bills and other expense receipts from 25 Southland school districts. Several Southland school administrators are prone to living high on the hog - at taxpayers' expense - when attending conferences in Chicago's Loop or out-of-state, valeting their cars or opting for that New York strip steak.

But some of the biggest tabs have been run up right in their districts' back yards.

Once, sometimes twice a month, Wynn bunks at The Hampton Inn in Matteson. Over a six-month period, taxpayers shelled out more than $1,100 for hotel bills at the Hampton, including one $375 charge for "board governance training." The remaining $740 was spent to put Wynn up in a hotel after board meetings.

Wynn said he is in the process of putting his house in Zion on the market for the third time but has been unable to sell it.

A soiree hosted at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park for a couple of retiring teachers ended up costing Evergreen Park taxpayers more than $2,500. Evergreen Park High School District 231 Supt. Beth Hart said about 50 people attended the event, which had a cash bar.

Bloom Township High School District 206 threw a staff-wide party at Aurelio's Pizza in October, charging the district credit card $1,703 in food and non-alcoholic drinks. The teachers union paid for the $1,058 in booze consumed at the party, the district said.

With those hefty credit card bills sometimes come equally hefty late fees - at least in Wynn's Matteson district, which routinely pays the bills late. The district has racked up more than $1,000 in late fees in just six months.

Wynn blames the credit card company. He claims the company improperly mails statements to other school districts with similar names, such as Mokena 159 or Matteson 162.

But Matteson District 159's correct address is listed on the credit card statements. And Matteson 162 Supt. Blondean Davis said her district has never received a credit card bill for District 159. The Mokena district doesn't use a credit card.

"It's just not our fault when those types of things happen," said Wynn, adding his district is working on getting reimbursements for the late fees.

Wynn isn't the only school administrator charging for hotel rooms less than four miles from the district office.

Rich Township District 227 prefers the Holiday Inn in Matteson. That's where the district staged a three-day "retreat" for board members in July, spending $640 on a meeting space, AV equipment and meals. Supt. Howard Hunigan said the board has had issues with "teaming" and the retreat was designed to promote bonding among the members. Hunigan said the board, which polices its own spending, might not keep it going next year.

"These are tough (financial) decisions the board is going to have to deal with," Hunigan said.

Local restaurants are also getting a boost in business from school officials.

Mokena District 159 twice ordered food from Giordano's so people attending two all-day workshops could work through lunch, totalling separate bills of $227 and $120.

Burbank taxpayers didn't know it at the time, but they treated Reavis High School District 220 school board members to a $316 holiday dinner at Chuck's BBQ.

Mokena District 159's Jim Connelly and other school administrators pointed out that school board members aren't paid.

"School board members spend a lot of time working for the district and don't get paid," Connelly said. "So remember that."

Most expenses on school board credit cards are fairly small. But $20 here, $40 there can start to add up.

Just ask District 206, which spent nearly $1,275 on local restaurants in a six-month period, not including the party at Aurelio's. Most of those meals were charged by Supt. Glen Giannetti or Mark Sheahan, assistant superintendent of business affairs.

Sheahan said the money spent on those meals is small compared with the district's $57 million budget, and argued that private businesses and corporations also pay for meals and other expenses incurred when business is being conducted.

At one meeting in January, Sheahan took two consultants to Mr. Benny's Steak & Lobster House in Matteson to discuss a possible wind turbine project. The three dined on shrimp cocktail, raw oysters and steaks, totaling a tab of $191. Sheahan said he reimbursed the district for $16 worth of alcohol on the tab, which is district policy.

"Here, when we ask people to come to a meeting all day, we feed them," Sheahan said.

Matteson District 159 placed second, spending $1,149 at restaurants - all non-related to conferences, travel or staff parties. Its largest lunch bill was a tab at Cooper's Hawk in Orland Park for $389.76, when Wynn took administrative staff out to lunch after completing a training session. And at four school board meetings, board members ordered food from Let's Do Lunch in Tinley Park, costing a total of $333.

Wynn used the district credit card to pay for multiple smaller expenditures at area restaurants that included lunch dates with school board members and a village administrator.

Wynn, who makes $151,465 a year, said he sometimes pays out of his own pocket and only uses the card for lunches where business is discussed.

"It is rare I use the district credit card for lunch. It's not tied to me directly," Wynn said. "I don't want anyone thinking this guy is having a free lunch on the district."

Contributing: Joe Biesk, Shenequa A. Golding, Amy Lee and Maura Possley

Cost Reason

$1,370 Non-conference related lunches and refreshments at school board meetings

$1,113 Matteson hotel rooms superintendent and school board members

$1,000 Credit card late payments

$214 Gifts and "get-well" wishes