Bibb school board member reimburses district for travel expenses

Bibb County school board member Wanda West has made good on her promise to reimburse the school district for the costs of conferences she did not attend.

Over the past two years, West failed to attend five training sessions she had signed up for that were paid by the school district.

“I have given them three checks,” West said. “I will be paid up before December.”

One check was dated for the beginning of September, and the other two were postdated for October and November.

West said personal circumstances were to blame for her failure to attend, adding that she feels like she has been “singled out unfairly.”

West’s travel practices were discovered following a Telegraph report about travel expenditures across the school district.

In recent years, those costs -- which included trip costs for teachers, students and other employees -- have increased almost 80 percent. Bibb’s total travel spending increased from about $160,000 in 2010 to nearly $285,000 in 2014.

West said she thought there were more important issues involving taxpayers’ money than her absences from conferences.

“I am a professional and I do what I’m supposed to do at all times,” she said.

To contact writer David Schick, call 744-4382 or find him on Twitter@davidcschick.

This story was originally published September 24, 2015 at 3:05 PM.