Travel Refunds Ordered for Decathlon Teachers

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 Providence, R.I., where the squad won the national championship over the weekend.

The school district paid for five administrators to attend the competition, using funds 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.

“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,” he said.

El Camino teachers greeted Zacarias’ decision enthusiastically.

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

Two other teachers not involved in training the students attended to cheer the team and won’t be reimbursed.

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

For their work, the teachers received district stipends of $200 to $300 each. But the five teachers who decided to attend the competition paid their own travel expenses. “I didn’t even think to ask to be paid for going,” said the teacher, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Zacarias also said that he would establish a fund to pay for travel costs of teachers and other staff 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 that schools can pay for teachers and other staff 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 who helped prepare academic teams. The district will seek private funding to offset the costs.

El Camino decathlon coach Mark Johnson praised Zacarias’ efforts, saying they mirrored the strong support offered over the years by school 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 eight-member team.

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 other states, and claimed the national title after two straight 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 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.”