Merced Union High School District workers off to Lake Tahoe

Awash in red ink and with the Merced Union High School District restricting its spending to essential items, district officials have planned a two-day staff development workshop next month at Lake Tahoe.

They're using donations from a nonprofit foundation that funds scholarships for students, among other projects.

The MUHSD Education Foundation, a donation-based nonprofit, will pay for one night's stay at the the Embassy Suites Hotel in Lake Tahoe if administrators agree to share rooms, said Raynee Daley, MUHSD chief business officer.

The trip is estimated to cost between $9,000 and $11,000, said Caroline Bennett, treasurer for the MUHSD Education Foundation.

No taxpayer money will be used for the cost of the trip.

Last year, those who went to the workshop paid out of pocket for the trip, said George Sziraki, MUHSD assistant superintendent and district adviser to the MUHSD Education Foundation.

This year, 56 people will attend the event, he added.

Of those attending, 20 people chose to pay for their own rooms, said Leslie Rohrback, administrative assistant to MUHSD Superintendent Scott Scambray. Other costs of the workshop include the rental of the conference room and two meals.

A districtwide communication from Scambray stated that there would be 40 employees arriving one day early to participate in a golf tournament and that employees are responsible for the cost of their room that night.

During the two-day workshop, administrators will create the district's strategic plan -- setting the direction for the year, Daley said.

"It's a place where we can be removed from distractions and have quality time and team-building," Daley said.

Some, however, question the need to go as far away as Tahoe to set those necessary goals, especially during such tough economic times.

Sheila Whitley, president for MUHSD California Teachers Association, said she understands the importance of getting people together, but felt there could be a more economical solution, especially when some teachers had been laid off because of the state budget crisis.

Earlier this year, the district handed out pink slips to more than 20 teachers; however, because 20 teachers retired after a retirement incentive was offered, nearly all positions were saved.

Sziraki defended the necessity of the trip. He said it directly affects students because it helps create a cohesive staff that can implement the district's strategic plan.

The strategic plan is the district's operation manual for addressing student achievement.

"Sometimes it's nice to get away," Sziraki added. "If you are around campus, you can't really focus on goals."

The nonprofit now has $311,000 in its coffers.

Some of the donors include Blick Art Materials, Greg Opinski Construction and the Save Mart Shares Program, according to the fund's treasurer, Caroline Bennett.

According to Sylvia Smith, chief executive officer for the MUHSD Education Foundation between 1996 and 2008, the fund would typically pay for instructional materials in underfunded programs, such as buying choir robes or a piano for the a school's music program.

On MUHSD's website, the goals of the foundation are to provide supplemental programs to the district, to develop and implement funds and strategies that ultimately benefit the district's goals and to create plans to distribute the fund's resources to the district.

Reporter Jamie Oppenheim can be reached at (209) 385-2407 or joppenheim@mercedsun-star.com.