Leaders of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit (MCIU) in Norristown released a statement in response to the use of public funds to book roughly $40,000 worth of travel to three continents, as reported by The Philadelphia Inquirer last week.

According to The Inquirer’s coverage, records show that the MCIU’s executive director, Regina Speaker, and its assistant executive director, Sandra Edling, have traveled to South Korea, Singapore, and Africa—including a 14-day safari through Kenya and Tanzania that cost about $18,000—since 2023.

Speaker described the trips as professional-development outings, The Inquirer said.

Glenside Local confirmed with the MCIU that the statement below was written by Board President Dr. Margaret Wright. An excerpt:

The trips discussed in this article were in complete alignment with MCIU’s goals of integrating a more global understanding of educational systems and in turn having a global impact. We will continue to consider best practices across the industry, and ways to ensure that our full MCIU community can have deeper understanding and trust that the professional development we are funding is meaningful and applicable.

The Inquirer ran a follow up story about Wednesday’s monthly board meeting, during which Dr. Wright said she was forming an ad hoc committee to look at the IU’s practices and procedures, though specifics were not provided.

“Speaker, whose base salary last year was $298,000, apologized for the poor ‘optics’ of the situation,” The Inquirer wrote. “Speaker’s and Edling’s trip to Kenya and Tanzania, however, was not widely known within the organization, even to some board members.”

The MCIU has a $198 million budget and 848 employees and provides support services to more than 200 public and private schools, The Inquirer said.

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