Montco Intermediate Unit staff criticize leaders for taking ‘dream trip’ to Africa on agency credit cards

The head of the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit came under fire Wednesday amid news that she and another official at the educational service agency used public funds for a 14-day African safari and other overseas travel for professional development.

The IU’s monthly board meeting in Norristown, typically sparsely attended, drew a crowd of about 50 people, and at least 225 more joined by Zoom.

It was the first meeting following an Inquirer report last week that the Montco IU’s executive director, Regina Speaker, and its assistant executive director, Sandra Edling, had used their agency-issued credit cards to book about $40,000 worth of international travel since 2023.

Board president Margaret Wright told the crowd that in response to the story, she was forming an ad hoc committee to look at the IU’s practices and procedures. She did not offer specifics.

Speaker, whose base salary last year was $298,000, apologized for the poor “optics” of the situation.

“I am committed to doing whatever it takes to improve,” she said.

Employees were not mollified.

Liz Forcellini, an occupational therapist at the IU, said during the public comment section of the meeting that the high travel expenses highlighted the “inequalities in our organization,” where some staffers are paying for supplies with their own money.

“The trips felt deceptive and intentionally secretive, and I struggle to understand how they related to our mission,” she said.

Forcellini said if she attends a work conference, she’d be expected to make a presentation and share lessons learned with colleagues.

Speaker’s and Edling’s trip to Kenya and Tanzania, however, was not widely known within the organization, even to some board members.

Expense reports The Inquirer obtained through a Right-to-Know request show Speaker made $9,342 in purchases related to the safari in May 2023 without providing a receipt or any indication that they involved overseas travel. The only supporting documentation was what appears to be a screen grab from her phone showing the amount of money charged to her procurement card.

Juliane Ramić, the former Montco IU board president who signed off on the expenses after Speaker had returned from Nairobi, said this month that she could not recall if she was aware at the time what the charges were for.

“Most of us would consider it a dream trip,” Andrew MacLeod, a personal care assistant at the IU, said at the meeting.

Speaker has defended the trip to Kenya and Tanzania, which culminated a yearlong academy for education leaders run by the School Superintendents Association, or AASA. She said that the money had already been allocated for professional development and that the safari included a visit to a tribal school.

“Everything was through the lens of leadership,” she previously told The Inquirer. “It was about that process of survival of the fittest, and how are you a leader, and what do you prioritize.”

MacLeod questioned whether the trip, which included six sightseeing tours and eight wildlife drives, was a good use of public funds. He said the board needs to provide better oversight.

“All I can see is a bunch of leaders who didn’t do anything,” MacLeod said, drawing applause from the audience. “The board didn’t ask any questions.”

The intermediate unit, which has a $198 million budget and receives a mix of local, state and federal funding, is one of 29 state-mandated agencies that provide schools with support services, such as early childhood intervention and technical assistance.

The 21-person board is composed of members from each school district board in the county.

In addition to the 2023 trip to Africa, Speaker traveled to South Korea and Singapore for 11 days in April 2025 as part of a $13,000 leadership academy.

Edling, who earns $215,000 a year and traveled to Africa with Speaker, used her procurement card in March 2025 for about $7,000 related to a planned 10-day trip to Germany, Switzerland, and Austria sponsored by AASA.

Speaker said that she subsequently halted all IU travel due to the state’s budget impasse and obtained a refund for Edling’s Central Europe trip. According to the itinerary, it would have included two school visits, as well as dance lessons, a train ride underground into Austria’s ancient Hallein Salt Mine, and a “journey to crazy King Ludwig’s fairy tale castle of Neuschwanstein.”

“Strap on your dancing shoes as an expert teaches you how to dance the excitingly beautiful and quick-tempo Viennese Waltz,” reads the itinerary.

Emily Chandler, a teacher in the Pre-K Counts program, told the board on Wednesday that it should be allocating money more wisely.

“The money is going to the wrong places,” Chandler said, “or at the very least, not enough money is going to the right places.”

The last speaker at the meeting was Sharon Reynolds, a reading specialist at the IU, who recounted how her colleagues would run out of cheap supplies, such cleaning spray for white boards, “on a regular basis.”

Reynolds said that she didn’t have a problem with professional development, but that it shouldn’t be limited to expensive trips for senior leadership. She wants the administration to “talk more about what professional development looks like for the average IU employee.”

Last fall, for instance, Reynolds said she was initially told by IU staff that she’d have to pay out-of-pocket to take a training course. While Reynolds said she eventually was reimbursed, it wasn’t entirely covered by the agency.

“I did have to take a personal day,” she said.