For several years, Susan Tanzman booked flights for personnel at the Los Angeles Unified School District. As owner of Martin's Travel and Tours in L.A., hers was one of five agencies in the area that staffers could call to arrange flights. Like Houston ISD, the district was charged a $30 service fee per ticket.

“And for that, the school district saved money on fares, because we knew how to negotiate,” Tanzman said. “We save 30 to 50 percent for our corporate clients.”

The agencies were given strict orders as far as booking flights for teachers and administrators who called: “Get them from point A to point B for the cheapest fare,” Tanzman said.

"And if they wanted a flight that left an hour later or earlier that cost more, or they didn’t want a flight where they changed planes, that was too bad. We couldn’t do that. The district’s travel policy manual said we didn't have that discretion. We were hired to save money.”

L.A.’s school district had no staffers for arranging travel, she added.

“It makes no sense to pay someone at the district and then pay a service fee to an agency,” Tanzman said. “There is no sense in paying a middle man.”

At HISD, the district’s travel clerks often present flight options for travelers, who opt for more expensive flights that are nonstop, records show.

In October 2008, Alan Summers, principal of Scarborough High School, was given a choice of travel options for a trip to Portland, Ore., Southwest had a flight with a connection in Albuquerque for $342, and Continental had a $474 direct flight.

“I wanted you to know that you don’t have to change planes," Lynne Lyman, an HISD travel coordinator, advised Summers in an e-mail.

“I prefer the Continental option,” Summers said in his reply.

Summers declined to comment for this story.

A biology teacher from Scarborough, Caresha Scales, and Tina Elzy, dean of instruction, were also scheduled to take the Portland trip and received the same e-mail from Lyman.

Both instructed Lyman to get them the more expensive Continental flight.

Staffers on many occasions take the cheaper flights, but it is not always out of a desire to save taxpayer dollars.

One staffer, presented with two fares for a flight to San Diego in July 2009, opted for the cheaper fare from Southwest with a stopover "because it is from Hobby [airport.]" She did not indicate by e-mail that cost was her prevailing concern.

That same trip was marked by a communications delay and other travelers opting for more expensive, direct fares.

According to e-mails, the purchase process was begun July 15 for a July 26 flight, which at that time was $747.70 on Continental, which eight staffers preferred. But because of delays in the approval process, the price jumped $300 to $1,047.70 by the time it was booked on July 20, costing taxpayers $2,400 more than in would have at the $747.70 price. Price tag for the trip for those eight staffers was $8,381.60.

Larry Swerdlin books travel for a large school district on the East Coast, where staffers who need to travel contact him, get the lowest price quote, and then take it back to one designated district staffer for approval. There is no wiggle room for time or airline preferences, and advance notice is enforced, said Swerdlin, who works for Burton Travel in Owings Mills, Md.

"Everything is price-driven," he said.

Word to the wise: Book at least two weeks out

Zamora, the school support superintendent, led a contingent to Greensboro, N.C., in September to visit the Guilford County Schools Middle College, a school in Superintendent Terry Grier's former district. The trip, which ran from Sept. 27-29, was booked on Sept. 25, making Zamora's ticket $601.41, including the travel agency fee.

Fares for her three companions were around the same and the total came to $2,346.82. Hundreds of dollars could have been saved by planning farther in advance.

"You save a lot when you book 14 to 21 days out," said Tanzman, the former travel agent for the Los Angeles school district. "We are not talking months in advance."

Garrett acknowledged frustration among those charged with booking travel at the district. But there is nothing that prohibits such poor, costly planning decisions.

“You know I have had staff complain about last-minute trips,” Garrett said. “Our current policy does not have anything. It's been talked about.

"We are making a new policy, though, and it should be finished in 30 days, and that is something we may look at.”

She could also look to Rebecca Flores, director of government relations for the district, who practically sighed in print when she received a quote of $503.70 for a flight last year to Baltimore.

"If this is the cheapest ticket we can find ... yes," she said in an e-mail.

Flores acknowledged to Texas Watchdog that she is "cheap."

In her five years as the district's governmental liaison, she has flown to Austin once.

"All the many other times I have driven," Flores said.

Contact Steve Miller at 832-303-9420 or stevemiller@texaswatchdog.org. Contact Lynn Walsh at 713-228-2850 or lynn@texaswatchdog.org.