Board attorney approved to represent Springville Band in financial dispute

The St. Clair County Board of Education greenlit the approval for Board Attorney John Rea to represent the Springville High School Band in a financial dispute with a travel company based out of Florida.

Dating back to before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Springville Band was supposed to travel to Disney World to perform. However, due to the pandemic, the trip was canceled.

While the band was no longer traveling to Orlando, students never received their money back from the travel company, Musical Destination Inc. The company was supposed to handle busses, hotel rooms and tickets to the parks. According to Rea, the company is “reputable” and other schools have used in the past.

Before the pandemic, communication with the company was frequent and smooth. That ended as COVID-19 cases began to tick up. The plaintiffs say communication with the company broke down, making it difficult for reimbursement.

The company had previously said they were in the process of paying people back before the loss of communication.

Rea says he is only in the picture because the school has exhausted all other options. He remains hopeful this can be peacefully resolved.

“The resolution is simply that they return the money parents have paid,” Rea said. “It is all we are looking for.

Rea also noted that he has talked to other parties and discovered other schools are in a similar situation with the travel company.

More details about further action and a timeline will become clearer as Rea continues to speak to people and consider all his options.

Musical Destination Inc. did not respond for comment before press time.