Three of the Birmingham area’s 10 school districts spent big money on administrative retreats last year, according to an investigation by WBRC 6, Birmingham’s Fox affiliate television station. That spending stands out in a year battling inflation and higher costs of living.

None were as expensive as Bessemer City Schools’ $93,000 retreat in 2022. Fifty-seven people went to Huntsville for four days and three nights at the Westin Hotel, costing about $1,600 per person. WBRC is awaiting response to a records request for itemized receipts from the retreat.

The station also reported Midfield City Schools spent a total $24,000 on a three-day retreat for 12 administrators to stay two nights at the Grand Bohemian hotel in Mountain Brook.

The room rate was $467 for each night. More than $6,500 was spent on food and $3,000 on meeting rooms at the hotel.

Bessemer and Midfield’s administrators were the only ones to stay overnight in hotels.

Midfield Superintendent Shun Williams said the theme for their retreat was self-care. “My team came to me and said, ‘let’s really have a retreat that centered around burnout, self-care and mental wellness’ and I thought it was a great idea,”Williams told the station.

Other Midfield expenditures included a $306 group massage, “from the shoulders up,” Williams said, and two $420 expenditures for “Bohemian breaks”.

Williams said the district typically spends between $15,000 and $30,000 each year on the retreat.

WBRC also requested records from nine other school districts in the area. Fairfield, Tarrant, Trussville, Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills, Hoover and Homewood held their retreat on their district campuses and most were free, the station reported.

Birmingham City Schools spent $18,000 for 83 employees to attend a retreat at Renaissance Ross Bridge in Hoover. They did not stay at the resort overnight.

WBRC examined five years of financial records for all of the districts and found all except for Birmingham, Bessemer and Midfield spent less than $1,000 on average.

Birmingham spent an average of $30,000 and Bessemer spent $60,000 on average on retreats.

The expenses are allowable under Alabama law.