The case against Discovery Tours of Mayfield is getting the attention of Washington.
Senator Sherrod Brown confirms to Channel 3 News that he will be trying to make sure that families who were robbed of the 8th grade trip to D.C., aren’t robbed of the hundreds of dollars they laid out for the trip.
“I am writing a letter tomorrow to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Attorney. I want these families to get their money back,” Brown said in a phone interview on Wednesday.
On Thursday, Sen. Brown officially sent the letters to each agency, writing in part:
Beyond the disturbing reality that hundreds of students will likely miss long-awaited school trips, is the fact that a company allegedly received hundreds of thousands of dollars – and possibly millions – from Ohio families for services that the company will not provide. And the company has failed to provide any information as to when or if the money it received will be returned to those hardworking men and women. This is unacceptable and the affected school districts, parents, and students deserve answers as to what happened to their money.
Sen. Brown letter to Federal Trade Commission by WKYC.com on Scribd
Se. Brown letter to U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman by WKYC.com on Scribd
Over 500 students in Mentor were unable to get money back from Discovery Tours, which went out of business last week and filed for bankruptcy on Monday. But on Tuesday, the Mentor school district announced they were using non-taxpayer dollars to reimburse them.
Brown hopes some pressure from Washington will ease some pressure on these districts.
“School districts and taxpayers shouldn’t have to bare that cost,” Brown said. “I appreciate the Mentor School board doing something like that, but that’s not the full answer, or the long term answer.”
Will Brown be able to help provide that long-term answer? “I never want to raise people's hopes. Because I don’t know -- we haven’t seen a situation like this," he added.