Sen. Sherrod Brown calls for investigation into Discovery Tours

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, has sent letters to the Federal Trade Commission and the U.S. Attorney General for the Northern District of Ohio requesting investigation into Discovery Tours.

The now allegedly defunct tour line recently canceled trips for several Ohio school districts — including Mentor and Riverside — after students and families had already paid for their trips. The company has not issued any refunds.

“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,” Brown said in a statement. “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.”

There were 511 Mentor students who were scheduled to go on a trip to Washington, D.C., May 2 and return May 4. Each student was paying $455 for the trip. That trip was canceled after issues with Discovery Tours arose. The district has since found an alternative and will be going to Cedar Point May 1718.

The school will hold a parent meeting May 14 to lay out detailed plans and expectations for the parents.

“We continue to work on the recovery of funds for the families whose money was not returned by Discovery Tours,” Superintendent Bill Porter said.

The district has met with attorneys to discuss taking formal action for financial restitution.

Riverside students were still able to go on their tour to Chicago scheduled May 9-11 despite the Discovery Tours situation. Each student pre-paid $520 — a total of $110,000 — for the trip.

After multiple unsuccessful attempts to reach the travel company, the school board agreed to pay the difference of outstanding fees that were left unpaid by Discovery Tours.

“We are continuing to work with our legal counsel and insurance company to investigate what additional recourse may be available to the district,” Riverside stated on its website.