November 16, 2015
Contact: Jill Moberley, Public Information Officer
Jmoberle@dps.k12.oh.us
For Immediate Release

Dayton Public Schools willingly responded to a recent media request for district-wide travel costs over a three-year period. The information was used in a televised report that raised questions about district travel and its implied impact on instructional needs. We offer the following clarification:

• These conferences provide professional development and/or critical legislative updates and are often required for assigned individuals to attend. Funding is often earmarked specifically for travel and does not come from the district’s general fund dollars that support instruction and pay teachers.
• Attendees are responsible to return with information that can be used by them and their colleagues to move the district forward-operationally, fiscally and academically.
• Travel and classroom support are not mutually exclusive. For example, we travel across Ohio and outside the state to recruit highly-qualified classroom teachers at college career fairs throughout the year. Bottom line: It has to be about the students.

Travel is done selectively through a process that requires our employees to be fully accountable to meet the district’s goals and be good stewards of district resources.

Note: As part of that stewardship, our district agreed to place our spending online through the state treasurer’s Ohio Checkbook program last June, making us one of the first large school districts in Ohio to participate.