Teacher told to pay $750 to chaperone trip, commenters press board on travel spending

At the Romulus Community Schools board meeting on Dec. 9, public comment included a complaint from a staff member who said the district asked her to pay to serve as a chaperone on a recent middle-school trip and criticism from another resident about board travel spending.

Megan Maxwell, who identified herself as a staff member present at the previous meeting, said she was asked to pay to chaperone a middle-school trip to Mackinac and described chaperoning as work, not a vacation. "I was asked to pay to work to be a chaperone ... I find it extremely unfair that I'd be asked to pay $750 to work," Maxwell said, and she provided a district-level per‑student figure: "We factored it out, and it's about $30 per student." No administrator offered a policy change or formal response during the public-comment block recorded in the transcript.

Rita Hampton followed, raising accountability concerns and criticizing district spending on conferences. "We paid $44,000 to $18,000 for the for board members to go on, conferences to Michigan Association and the school board members," Hampton said; the comment gave a wide dollar range and the board did not provide detailed spending data during the public‑comment period.

Board members acknowledged the remarks; the meeting proceeded to scheduled agenda items and presentations. Trustees did not take a formal vote or direct staff to change chaperone rules during the session. The consent agenda and routine business proceeded as recorded later in the meeting.

What the transcript does and does not show: Maxwell’s statement is a public comment and no motion or board response to alter chaperone policy is recorded in the meeting segments provided. Hampton’s figures were stated during comment and were not verified in the meeting. The transcript records no subsequent motion or staff report with clarified travel expenditures or chaperone policy during the meeting.