LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — Hundreds of receipts show taxpayer funds were spent to send Clark County School District staff on trips across the country to help with recruiting teachers.

Through a records request, NewsNation affiliate KLAS found one expensive trip over the Fourth of July holiday in Miami with nothing to show for it.

According to records, 17 teacher recruiters and principals went to Miami from July 2 to July 9 for what the district described as “in-person visits” to the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University.

Nova has campuses in Fort Lauderdale and Miami.

Rather than stay at a hotel near the universities, each staffer had their own room at the Holiday Inn Oceanfront on Miami Beach, staying for five nights for a total of $11,530, according to records.

KLAS showed Clark County Education Association Executive Director John Vellardita the receipts.

“Well, a trip on the Fourth of July holiday to Miami, staying at hotels on the beach, for this many employees of administration, should be flagged for did we really recruit any teachers? That’s the bottom line,” Vellardita said.

CCSD told KLAS the Miami trip didn’t result in any new hires.

Unlike other recruitment trips where staffers submitted brochures or registration forms to justify the trip, none were included for Miami.

Documents show COVID-19 relief funds were used to cover some of the hotels, flights and meals for the 17 staffers.

The total price tag was nearly $29,000.

Vellardita blames the school board of trustees.

“Trustees need to be doing their job. They need to be making sure that the budget is being used in a way that it was approved and they should dig deeper,” Vellardita said.

CCSD employees also submitted receipts for rideshare reimbursements to restaurants, not just universities.

Brian Redmond, who served as CCSD’s director of recruitment at the time, signed off on the trip and attended.

He has since been promoted, according to his LinkedIn page, to director of the management leadership academy.

“If nobody was hired from the state of Florida during that venture then one really has to ask, you know, what was this money spent for, and was it actually spent for the right reasons?” Vellardita said.

KLAS reached out to CCSD for comment on the Miami trip, below is the district’s full response:

During a Miami recruitment event, Clark County School District staff arrived in advance of the CCSD recruitment event to set up at the location and promote the event to the local community.

The District follows a common format for CCSD trips, occasionally utilizing larger groups of staff to help recruit and hire candidates. In addition to setting up and staffing the recruiting event, District staff conducted in-person visits to the University of Miami and Nova Southeastern University.

CCSD had multiple applicants register and attend the hiring event. No qualified applicants have been hired as of today.