READING — Several members of the Reading School Board spent more than $93,000 on conference travel during the two most recent academic years — exceeding their budget and outpacing pre-pandemic costs, according to a Spotlight PA review of spending records.
A majority of members also broke state and district policy by taking more than two out-of-state trips per school year, the newsroom found. Those expenses came as the district raised property taxes and tapped its reserves to balance its budget.
Trips over the past two years ranged from short stays in Hershey or the Poconos to flights to cities including Atlanta, Las Vegas, and San Juan, Puerto Rico. From the start of the 2024 school year to June 2026, the board approved six members to attend a total of 15 conferences — 11 outside of Pennsylvania.
Expenses included stays at conference hotels, meals, cabs, and chartered transportation.
While conference travel for school board members is not uncommon, the increased spending has deepened a rift among board members, some of whom question whether it’s appropriate. Going over travel limits is not illegal and has no clear consequences for violations.
To conduct its analysis, Spotlight PA obtained reimbursement and purchase card logs through a public records request, and compared the spending with the board’s trips over five years.
According to the records provided, the board spent between $2,000 to $3,000 in both the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school years. Costs increased the following years to more than $63,000 in 2024-25 and more than $29,000 in 2025-26.
The largest expense was $11,551 in 2025 for attendance at the California Association of Black School Educators conference in Napa. That single charge covered five rooms at the conference hotel. Separate expenses from the trip included "luxury" transportation, flights, and food.
Despite going over the travel budgets for those years, the board still stayed within its overall budget each year, the district administration said.
The school board has nine elected or appointed members. They perform various roles for the district of more than 16,000 students, including approving the budget and property tax rate, overseeing employees, and choosing the superintendent. The district administration, which includes the superintendent, handles day-to-day management and planning, like organizing the budget.
On Oct. 2, Spotlight PA sent the board’s attorney questions for the members about the spending, trips, and educational value of the conferences. Almost two weeks later, the newsroom received four different letters in response.
One letter received from the attorney was signed “Reading School District.” It’s unclear who wrote the letter, as there were no signatures. Three board members told Spotlight PA they did not approve it. Those three spoke with the newsroom independently, and another responded to written questions through the attorney.
The attorney also provided two additional letters from anonymous board members.
The letters provide conflicting accounts of when board members became aware of the district’s travel policy. The letter signed only “Reading School District” says members believe they acted in compliance with the policy, but that they have not broken it since learning of it.
President Noahleen Betts did not directly respond to Spotlight PA’s questions, but she mentioned the issue during the Oct. 21 committee meeting, saying the group had only recently become aware they had a budget, a travel budget, or trip limit.
“The information came to us, we didn't know,” Betts said at the meeting. “And we are doing due diligence to research so that we can do better in the future. Conversation needs to be had. That's how change comes about.”
She proposed raising the board travel budget so future board members could attend three conferences a year (one in Pennsylvania, two out of state).
She suggested increasing it from around $12,000 to as much as $100,000, calling that more “realistic” since all nine members attending would already exceed the current budget.
The board planned to vote on whether to increase its travel budget, and by how much, on Oct. 28. One member suggested waiting until June, when the board annually approves the entire district’s spending plan.
Detailing expenses
The board approves member conference attendance ahead of any travel, under a local policy that mirrors a state law. The statute describes what expenses are reimbursable (including lodging, meals, and incidentals), and allows the board to attend up to two “educational conventions” per school year, in addition to regular meetings.
The Reading district handbook is most explicit about trip expenses: “No school director shall be reimbursed for more than two (2) out-of-state meetings in one (1) school year.” It does not give a budget framework for travel.
The board’s attorney informed all members of the policy in April, according to internal emails obtained by Spotlight PA, in response to board member Jonathan Tinoco asking if the group had the power to amend the travel rules. They could not, attorney John Miravich explained, because local rules cannot conflict with state law.
Three members have already been approved to travel to three out-of-state conferences this school year, but the district told Spotlight PA that does not guarantee their attendance. For example, board members did not attend an approved trip to Washington, D.C., this September.
It’s normal practice across the country for school board members to attend educational sessions and be reimbursed for certain costs, good-government experts told Spotlight PA. Members volunteer their time, and conferences allow them to represent their districts on a wider scale and learn best practices.
Still, the jump in year-over-year costs should be explainable, and transparency is necessary, said Marguerite Roza, director of the Edunomics Lab at Georgetown University, in an August interview.
“Reasonable is in the eye of the beholder,” Roza said, noting that there is no definitive way to say how much spending is too much — but that members have to be able to justify the taxpayer dollars spent.
Policy violations
During the 2024-25 and 2025-26 school years, at least five members exceeded the trip limit and were reimbursed.
The school district told Spotlight PA it does not keep a running list of what conferences members attend. The newsroom compiled out-of-state conference attendance by member using the board’s meeting agendas from July 2024 to June 2026. Six of the nine board members attended multiple trips during that time.
The response letter attributed to the school district says the board was unaware of specific travel budgets, and that members do not know when they were last given an update about their spending. The letter also said the policy itself is open to interpretation, and that the board does not believe traveling to make presentations, participate in panel discussions, or support the superintendent (if being honored) count as “ordinary educational conferences.”
One example, the letter says, was when members went to San Antonio because Superintendent Khalid Mumin was a keynote speaker.
“Going forward, the board remains committed to transparency, accountability, and ensuring that any travel undertaken at district expense serves the educational interests of Reading students and the broader Reading community,” the letter reads.
Board member Melissa Eggert, who attended two conferences, told Spotlight PA she believes the board needs better education about policies and duties, adding that before she knew the specifics of the particular policy, she questioned the travel.
“They just kept going to more and more, and I thought this isn't right because it's a waste of money and time,” Eggert said of the conferences.
Board Member Robin Costenbader-Jacobson has not traveled since her recent 2024 election, and has vocally opposed the trips. She told Spotlight PA that the board’s previous informal policy when she served as president was to attend the National School Boards Association (NSBA) and Council of Urban Boards of Education conferences.
Travel has since expanded, she said.
“To me, they're taking paid vacations on school district, on taxpayer money,” Costenbader-Jacobson said, referencing a 2025 trip to the SOMOS, Inc. conference in Puerto Rico.
Board Member Shaykayarira DelRio-Gonzalez said, through the board’s attorney, that she disagrees and believes the trips are opportunities to learn from other areas and represent the district.
“When I attend a conference, I am giving up my own personal time to do so,” DelRio-Gonzalez said. “I have used vacation time from my full-time job to attend conferences, and there have been times when I did not have vacation time available and therefore lost pay in order to participate. As an elected school board member, I am making a personal sacrifice to participate in these opportunities.”
During an October board meeting, DelRio-Gonzalez said the NSBA conference allows her colleagues to advocate for the district to state representatives.
Mike Mucha, deputy executive director of the Government Finance Officers Association, said in an August interview that the organization advocates for professional development and sees value in continuing professional education. Those costs, however, have to be properly documented and responsibly spent, he said.
If attending a conference requires a flight, for example, employees at any level should be able to justify why that particular travel was worth the investment if a similar event was within driving distance.
“There's a value to attending conferences, to networking with peers, to learning about best practices,” Mucha said. “I'm not saying that $10,000 is twice as good as $5,000, but to cut it to zero is potentially not a wise decision because you're missing out on potentially learning about innovative practices or best practices that might be able to help you.”
Roza, the Georgetown professor, said it is not common to have rules dictating how many out-of-state conferences can be attended, in part because other cities along the East Coast may be easily accessible.
If the board is divided on the issue, she suggested they post all travel costs and receipts online for the public to see.
“I would take a ‘We have nothing to hide’ approach,” Roza said.
The letter signed by the district said board members would consider making formal, public presentations to share what information they learned at each conference and how it will inform their jobs.
‘Level of trust’
School spending in Reading is monitored by district administrators, officials who maintain records and ensure compliance with policy. Mucha said that in general, these roles do not determine the educational value of a conference, but do monitor the district’s budget.
“I think there's a level of trust that those school board members are given a budget, and they then, as public servants, act to appropriately, responsibly, prudently use taxpayer funds to carry out the intent of the budget,” Mucha said.
The Reading board is responsible for approving its own conference attendance, but the details required ahead of the trips differ from what’s disclosed before other employees can travel.
When teachers or school personnel request to attend a conference, the board approves a list of what expenses will be covered, a maximum amount that can be reimbursed, and the source of the funding.
School board trips are also approved ahead of time, but without a listed maximum budget. Payments are split between district purchase cards and the board member’s personal cards. After the travel, the superintendent and the district’s chief financial officer or business office review and approve any submitted reimbursements.
The district solicitor told Spotlight PA the difference between board and personnel spending is that most school board travel is approved before flights and hotels are booked, and costs always come from the general fund, as opposed to a grant or state source.
Records reviewed in person by Spotlight PA show that when board members went above their per diem rates for certain reimbursements, the district only paid up to the allowed rate. The district also did not reimburse expenses without receipts.