The wives of four board members and a staffer of the state's student financial aid agency honed their culinary skills at the posh Greenbrier resort in West Virginia for $583.

But that September 2000 charge didn't come out of their pockets. It came out of yours.

So did the $115.54 pedicure and manicure bill racked up in June 2004 at The Homestead in Virginia by Joan Stairs -- wife of state Rep. Jess Stairs, R-Westmoreland, one of the board members of the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency.

And so did the $665 tab for cigars smoked by retreat attendees at Nemacolin Woodlands resort in Fayette County in June 2005.

PHEAA released the records yesterday following a 19-month legal battle the agency initiated against The Patriot-News and two other media organizations -- The Associated Press and WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.

The fight ended in the state Supreme Court, and PHEAA was ordered to release the documents.

The records detail expenses that the agency claims add up to more than $862,000 of public funds for board retreats held between 2000 and 2005.

The retreat locations were usually high-priced resorts, which PHEAA spokesman Keith New justified by saying the gatherings were "patterned on those of our competitors and market peers." The retreats typically included three hours of meetings in the morning, followed by free time in the afternoon and a cocktail reception and dinner with clients.

New defended the expense as contributing to the agency's bottom line by generating about $100 million in revenue from the financial institutions and business partners who attended. And New said that the board hasn't gone on a retreat in two years.

However, state Sen. Sean Logan, D-Allegheny, who was elected the board's vice chairman in February, said the board plans to find a less expensive way for itself and agency staffers and executives to build client relations.

And so did the $665 tab for cigars smoked by retreat attendees at Nemacolin Woodlands resort in Fayette County in June 2005.

PHEAA released the records yesterday following a 19-month legal battle the agency initiated against The Patriot-News and two other media organizations -- The Associated Press and WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.

The fight ended in the state Supreme Court, and PHEAA was ordered to release the documents.

The records detail expenses that the agency claims add up to more than $862,000 of public funds for board retreats held between 2000 and 2005.

The retreat locations were usually high-priced resorts, which PHEAA spokesman Keith New justified by saying the gatherings were "patterned on those of our competitors and market peers." The retreats typically included three hours of meetings in the morning, followed by free time in the afternoon and a cocktail reception and dinner with clients.

New defended the expense as contributing to the agency's bottom line by generating about $100 million in revenue from the financial institutions and business partners who attended. And New said that the board hasn't gone on a retreat in two years.

However, state Sen. Sean Logan, D-Allegheny, who was elected the board's vice chairman in February, said the board plans to find a less expensive way for itself and agency staffers and executives to build client relations.

Logan attended the last board retreat held in 2005 at Nemacolin Woodlands in Farmington, Fayette County.

He said he found it to be "too big, overdone." As an example of that, the receipts showed a dinner buffet on the final night of the three-day retreat for 51 people at $95 a person, plus appetizers and open bar for a total tab of $11,101.51.

Logan said he made known his feelings to agency board members and its executive. He has since reimbursed for many of the services and treats charged to him at that retreat, and he suggested other board members should do the same.

"If they haven't, they have to use their own discretion," Logan said.

But state Rep. Ronald Buxton, D-Harrisburg, said that was never conveyed to board members when they received the invitations to the retreats.

"Listed on the invitations were activities that board members and their spouse could make themselves available to," he said.

He has not reimbursed PHEAA for services.

"There was never an indication from PHEAA that anything had to be reimbursed," he said. That is, he said, until recently, when the agency provided board members with files listing their expenditures in advance of yesterday's release to the news media.

"It was verbally conveyed to the board," he said. "That was the first time any reference was made to a board member about reimbursing any expenses."

Buxton's wife, Judy, charged a European facial and "escape pedicure" to the agency's tab at The Homestead spa for $115.54. Ronald Buxton also visited the spa during this June 2004 retreat to receive a "golfer's glow" treatment and mineral bath for $103.84.

In 2001, Frank "Chick" Tulli, a former PHEAA board member and former state House member from Derry Twp., charged the agency for a room that cost $697.52 a night for a three-night stay. Receipts for that trip also showed three consecutive days' visits to the spa for a total of $321 in services charged to former board member and former state senator Charles Lemmond of Luzerne County.

Lemmond's wife, Barbara, was among those who attended the $583 cooking lesson at the board retreat at that same resort in 2000. Joining her were Joan Stairs; Fran Colafella, wife of former board member and former House member Nick Colafella of Beaver County; Polly Stetler, wife of former board member and former House member Steve Stetler of York County; and Linda Berkoben, wife of former PHEAA executive Bill Berkoben.

Sen. Vince Fumo, D-Philadelphia, questioned some of the charges listed in the records, including a $247.50 charge for him and guest Terri Reilley for a half-day fly-fishing trip during the 2005 Nemacolin retreat, said Gary Tuma, Fumo's spokesman. That receipt lists that the couple was a no-show, but the agency was still charged. A handwritten note states "he didn't incur expense."

Tuma said the senator "reimbursed in cases where he thought there might even be an appearance that this was a personal expense even though in many cases, board members were encouraged to participate in these activities."

Government reform advocate Tim Potts called on PHEAA's board members to pay back expenses they incurred for spa treatments and other recreational activities.

"They have to restore the money so that students can get benefit from it," he said. "I can't think of any excuse for this."

"PHEAA's appetite for abuse has shortchanged a lot of kids," said Eric Epstein, another government reform advocate.

Calls seeking comment from board members -- Stairs, Rep. Sandy Major, R-Susquehanna, and Sen. Robert "Tommy" Tomlinson, R-Bucks -- were not returned yesterday afternoon.

Buxton said board members were told that the retreats were paid for with "profits we made from our out-of-state business." He added he wasn't trying to justify the spending on retreats.

"What's done is done," he said. "The best that we can hope for is that change occurs and that we don't repeat the sins of our past."