5 Teachers Will Be Reimbursed for Decathlon Trip

Los Angeles schools Supt. Ruben Zacarias ordered reimbursements Tuesday for five teachers who paid their own way to accompany the academic decathlon team from El Camino Real High School to Rhode Island, where the squad won the national championship over the weekend.

The school district paid for five administrators to attend the competition, usingfunds from private donations. But teachers who helped train the team had to pay their own travel bills.

“With regard to the decathlon, we’re going to take care of those expenses for the teachers--air fare, hotel costs and daily stipend for food,” said Brad Sales, a district spokesman. “The superintendent made a decision to cover them.”

Added Sales: “The superintendent felt that the teachers involved in this process were an important aspect of the experience, and it was an oversight in the beginning that needed to be corrected.”

El Camino teachers greeted Zacarias’ decision enthusiastically.

“It’s great news,” said one who spent $340 on a plane ticket to Providence. “I think the administration acted fast once they were aware of the situation. That was nice.”

Since last fall, nearly a dozen El Camino teachers spent an average of 50 to 75 hours--and some as many as 200 hours--prepping the eight-member decathlon team in subjects such as poetry, literature, chemistry and essay writing.

For their work, the teachers received district stipends totaling $200 to $300. But the five teachers who attended the competition paid their own bills. “I didn’t even think to ask to be paid for going,” said the teacher, who declined to be quoted by name.

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Two other teachers--not involved in prepping the students--attended only to cheer the team on and won’t be reimbursed.

Zacarias also said Tuesday he would establish a fund to pay for travel costs of teachers and other staff members who help train students for academic competitions.

In a memo to the board of education, Zacarias said the district will contribute up to $5,000 per event so schools can pay for teachers and other staff members to attend state and national academic competitions such as the decathlon and the national science bowl. The funds will be available beginning next school year.

According to the memo, school principals and team coaches will decide how to spread the grants among teachers or staff members who helped prepare academic teams. The district will seek private funding to offset its cost, the memo states.

Mark Johnson, El Camino decathlon coach, praised Zacarias’ efforts, saying they mirrored the strong support offered over the years by district administrators for the school’s decathlon program.

“I’m thrilled that the district responded so quickly,” Johnson said. “The issue has been resolved.”

The state academic decathlon association paid the travel expenses for Johnson, co-coach Dave Roberson and the team members.

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Johnson lamented that the teacher reimbursement issue had deflected attention away from his team’s accomplishments.

The El Camino squad of seven seniors and one junior beat teams from 37 states, and claimed the national title after two consecutive years of second-place finishes. The victory marked the third time in five years that a Los Angeles high school had won the national decathlon.

“From our perspective, the thing [reimbursement] is somewhat overblown. We want to keep the focus on the kids. They won the championship and that’s great not only for El Camino but L.A. city schools.”

* CHAMPS: Decathlon team honored at school rally. B3