Santee Teachers Treated to Tune of $4,500 : Use of Lottery Money for Dinner Criticized

When it came to honoring teachers on May 14, the state’s official Day of the Teacher, the Santee Elementary School District went all out.

School officials treated 401 people--about 300 of them teachers--to lunch at San Diego’s Atlantis Restaurant. Also attending were Santee’s mayor, a councilman, three school board members and PTA officials. Total price: about $4,500.

But the school system had raised only $1,700 in donations to pay for the affair. So it dipped into its share of California State Lottery proceeds and came up with the additional $2,800 to cover the tab.

Using lottery money for the repast has infuriated at least one parent in this small San Diego County city and may have been illegal, state lottery officials say.

“There would be a question in my mind as to whether or not it was legal,” said Timothy Ford, staff counsel for the California State Lottery.

“I think that there’s definitely an issue there, which means that reasonable minds could differ on that one, and there could be a very strong argument that that is a problem.”

Under state law, school systems can spend lottery money for just about any “instructional” purpose, as long they don’t build schools, buy land or finance research.

But the legal guidelines have never been tested in court to determine exactly what school officials are prohibited from doing, Ford said.

According to Supt. Doug Giles, last week’s affair to honor his staff and some outstanding teachers easily fits the definition of “instructional” use of lottery funds. After the three-hour lunch, the teachers headed over to Sea World for a free behind-the-scenes glimpse at how animals are trained.

“I would not have done it if I had any qualms. I had none then and I do not now,” Giles said.

Giles said he was acting on encouragement from State Schools Supt. Bill Honig to recognize teachers with “special activities.”

The Santee Teachers Assn. had warned the school board at a March meeting that spending lottery money on the event would be a mistake.

“We indicated that we did not think it was wise to use lottery funds to do that, and we questioned its legality,” said Margaret Steinrichter, president of the teachers union.

Then why did 300 teachers take part?

School officials told the union that the event was a mandatory training session, one of 10 held yearly. Failure to attend would be considered “an act of insubordination and a letter of reprimand” would be put in the personnel files of any missing teachers, Steinrichter said.

Steinrichter said that the gratis tour of Sea World was educational, but she added that she doubts that the district will spend lottery money on meals again.

That would suit Gloria Jean Barrett just fine. Barrett, parent of a Santee elementary school student, spoke out against the lottery expenditure at the district’s board meeting Tuesday night.

“I thought it was ridiculous to pay that much money, $4,500,” she said of the total expenditure. “I thought it should go to schoolchildren, to buy pencils, paper or whatever.”

Giles said he has received about a dozen expressions of praise from the district staff and only one “negative” phone call about the lunch expenditure. He noted that sending five teachers to a conference in San Francisco for five days--which the district has routinely done--costs more than the $2,800 that has created such a furor.

“It was the biggest single event boosting morale and positive feelings among this staff in the nine years that I have been superintendent of Santee school district,” he said.