Questions have surfaced about the price tag on a Willy Wonka-themed faculty and staff back-to-school event at Cy-Fair ISD.
The mandatory event, hosted for teachers and staff in the third largest district in the state, took place as it faces a $140 million budget deficit.
The shortfall has resulted in recent cuts from bus routes to librarians.
“It’s this huge expense in the context of this catastrophic budget crisis and these cuts that are feeling like we’re bleeding now,” Tara Cummings, a former Cy-Fair ISD school psychologist, said.
Cummings’ daughter’s bus route was eliminated as part of the cuts.
ABC13 is still working to uncover the total price of the event but has confirmed with the district that the event’s keynote speaker, a Nevada-based guitarist, was paid $30,000. Bottled water cost nearly $5,150, according to a district spokesperson.
A spokesperson said ABC13 will need to file a records request for information on how much it was to bus the district’s thousands of teachers and staff members to the event. They also acknowledged that the elimination of bus routes resulted in significant traffic delays on Monday.