Richland 2 school board member paid back money for hotel upgrade on district trip
A Richland 2 school board member has paid back the district after upgrading her hotel room at a school board conference last month, including an additional pet-cleaning fee.
Lashonda McFadden told The State she refunded the district $425 for additional charges she racked up on a district-funded trip to Atlanta.
According to district expense reports, McFadden was one of four board members from Richland 2 who attended a conference in Atlanta Sept. 7 through Sept. 10. All stayed at the Omni Atlanta Hotel at CNN Center for the conference on urban school districts put on by the Consortium of State School Boards Associations. All four expensed $1,175.52 each for stays at the hotel.
But McFadden later made an additional charge showing that she upgraded her room at a cost of $100 per night for three nights, then paid an additional $125 to the Omni as a “pet-cleaning fee.”
McFadden told The State she was told upgrading the room would be all right as long as she reimbursed the school district for the additional cost. Richland 2 confirmed it received a payment covering the cost of the upgrade from McFadden last week.
The State asked the school district for board members’ travel expenses on Sept. 19. Richland 2 received McFadden’s payment on Oct. 19, and the district responded to The State’s inquiry the next day.
Board member Amelia McKie also claimed an unspecified “seminar reimbursement” for the Atlanta trip of $406.25. The school district said those charges included mileage to and from the conference, per diem for meals, parking payments and a toll.
McFadden was arrested in May and charged with threatening the life of a public official after Richland County sheriff’s deputies investigated a profanity-laced recording of the meeting in which McFadden can be heard threatening to “f--- up” board chairwoman Teresa Holmes.
In May, Gov. Henry McMaster asked the state’s inspector general to investigate parents’ complaints about Richland 2 dysfunction, including conflicts between school board members.
“Our office has consistently heard from hundreds of parents that are concerned, not only about a singular instance where school board members are yelling at each other, but about the district’s ability to function properly,” McMaster spokesman Brian Symmes said at the time. “These concerns from parents are very real.”
This story was originally published October 26, 2022 at 2:23 PM.
.jpg)