Delco School System Spent $300K On Catering, Executive Travel, Cruise: Officials

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include comment from DCIU's interim executive director that Patch received after publishing.

MORTON, PA — A school system serving Delaware County spent over $300,000 in public funds on lavish retreats for executives and catering at board and staff meetings, according to findings in a state audit.

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Within two years, the Delaware County Intermediate Unit spent about $250,000 in taxpayer funding on dinners at monthly board meetings and for food and refreshments at staff meetings, said Pennsylvania Auditor General Timothy L. DeFoor.

DCIU also spent nearly $40,000 for seven senior-level administrators to attend a leadership training course in Orlando, Florida, which included an event at Universal Studios featuring rides and a five-course dinner with an open bar, the state's report says.

Nearly $14,000 went toward a team-building retreat in Maryland that included a cruise around the Chesapeake Bay, officials said.

Intermediate units are school systems established by the state to help meet a geographic area's educational needs, including special education, career and technical education, and other specialized programs.

DCIU serves students from Delco's 15 public school systems and its funded by the school districts, state subsidies and grants.

"At a time when education funding is a challenge across the Commonwealth, school districts are tightening budgets and families are feeling the strain, this is how DCIU chose to spend taxpayer dollars?" DeFoor said in a statement.

Auditors found that DCIU lacked adequate documentation of spending during the examined period of July 2022 through June 2024. The lack of records increased the risk of questionable spending, officials said.

In that time, DCIU received more than $83 million is state funding.

Dr. Jim Scanlon, DCIU's interim executive director, said the audit report identified some areas of improvement but also had some "misinterpretations" of DCIU's spending.

"I do believe there is room for reform with regards to funds spent on food and professional development trips, and will immediately address this," Scanlon told Patch via email. "I also believe there are some misinterpretations in some of the items mentioned in the audit, for example, some of the dinners and experiences referenced were paid for by external vendors, and not with DCIU funds. We want an opportunity to clarify what was spent, and by whom, and will take the next few weeks to do that."

DCIU is governed by a Board of Directors that includes a member from each of Delco's local school boards.

Click here to view the audit report.