Three months before teachers picketed outside a school board meeting in May 2024, Troy Public Schools Superintendent Richard Machesky took five out-of-state trips from December 2023 through February 2024.

He flew Delta Comfort+ every time, a step below first class, to Tucson, San Diego, Marco Island, and Washington D.C., according to a Freedom of Information Act request.

The school district picked up most of the tab.

Two of the trips were reimbursed by third parties, according to Kendra Montante, director of communications for the district, in an email to Michigan Capitol Confidential.

The first of the five trips was to the National Superintendents Forum and Special Education Congress in San Diego in December 2023.

Machesky was a panel speaker for the December trip and was reimbursed by RTM Business Group, Montante said.

The Midwest Suburban Superintendents Association offers annual membership. The membership levels include basic membership dues for $300 or two comprehensive plans. Manchesky chose the most expensive plan, which cost $4,080 and includes annual membership dues, registration, and three nights lodging at the Marco Island Beach Resort and Spa for a conference. It also included registration for another conference with two nights lodging at the Four Seasons in Chicago.

Another option would have cost the district $2,550.

When the panel ended, the superintendent added another night at Marco Island for $600 and took a family member, according to travel records.

Machesky did not reimburse the $600 for the extra night of lodging.

Montante verified that Machesky did not reimburse the $600 for the extra night of lodging. The conference ended at noon on Saturday, Jan. 13, and he departed the resort early Sunday morning.

Machesky used Metro Cars, a chauffeur service, to travel to DTW, Detroit’s airport, from a location an hour away. It costs $186 each way.

The superintendent also attended the National School Boards Association Advocacy Institute in Washington, DC, from Jan. 28-30, The Education Research Development Institute from Feb. 6-9 in Tucson, AZ, and the American Association of School Administrators National Conference on Education in San Diego, California, from Feb. 15-16.

The research institute awarded a $1,500 honorarium to the district’s education foundation because he spoke on a panel. He was reimbursed, Montante said.

The money spent traveling nationwide could have been spent on education, said Molly Macek, director of education policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

“The superintendent’s use of taxpayer dollars to attend five conferences in three months’ time seems extreme,” said Macek, a former school administrator who believes it is beyond the scope of travel typically needed to perform the job well.

Machesky was ranked 18^th for the highest superintendent salary in the state in 2022, out of 593 school districts, according to the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.

The district has the 11th-highest enrollment in the state and is ranked third for the best school district in the state, according to Niche.

Five years after the COVID-19 pandemic, the voicemail of one Michigan agency says that employees are working remotely to slow the spread of COVID-19.

Since 2020, more than 20,000 government workers have started working remotely instead of showing up to offices in Lansing.

The voicemail of the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings and Rules says, “To lessen the spread of COVID-19, we are currently working remotely,” Detroit News reporter Beth LeBlanc wrote in a Feb. 21 social media post.

The agency conducts administrative hearings and helps promulgate rules.

Neither the agency’s media line nor the Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity responded to a request for comment about the voicemail.

A Michigan Capitol Confidential reporter visited the Lansing office on Feb. 24 and was not allowed beyond a security checkpoint. A security manager said the reporter could only enter the building’s work areas with an escort. The building is open only for hearings, the manager said.

CapCon will file records requests to see what percentage of employees work from home.

A year-to-year comparison of a parking lot serving the building that houses the department suggests more employees worked in person in 2017 than in 2025.

The lot in 2017:

Courtesy of Google Earth

The same parking lot in 2025:

Courtesy of Google Earth

Michigan’s government has provided subpar services since the pandemic, Rep. Jay DeBoyer, R-Clay Township, told CapCon in an email. DeBoyer chairs the House Oversight Committee.

“Everyone knows exactly how poorly government operates but so many people walk around pretending it isn’t true,” DeBoyer wrote. “It’s time for that to end. This is exactly why the House Oversight Committee is focused on making state agencies accessible to Michiganders, whether they’re trying to make their voices heard or seeking assistance.”

Someone who posted a review on the department’s location on Google Maps said the agency was inaccessible. “In the middle of the hearing my phone died. After it turned back on I called multiple times and tried calling around. They wouldn’t let me join the hearing again and when I tried getting assistance I was sent to a voicemail you can’t leave messages on,” wrote Latoya Jones.

About half of state workers worked remotely as of December 2022, CapCon reported last year.

Remote work hurts hundreds of Lansing’s small businesses, the Lansing Regional Chamber wrote in a Feb. 18 letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.

“The vitality of our capital city is directly linked to the presence and activity of state employees, and the ongoing remote work policies continue to impact hundreds of small businesses that rely on a steady customer base,” the letter signed by chamber president and CEO Tim Daman said.

Whitmer’s office didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Jimmy Greene, former president of the Associated Builders and Contractors of Michigan, described Lansing as almost deserted in a March 12 social media post.

“Our Lansing downtown is damn near a ghost town as a result and when legislators are out, even the pigeons leave. Our State Capitol should be bustling and have more than 2 restaurants to eat at,” Green wrote in a post.