Lake City Junior Academy principal Ron Jacaban said some seventh- and eighth-graders lost $3,750 they saved up for a trip to Washington, D.C., when a travel agent pocketed the money then declared bankruptcy.

The money was a deposit the students paid for airline tickets, and was earned during a fierce fundraising campaign that included selling homemade pies and cleaning up litter. The academy is a private Christian school located at 111 E. Locust Ave.

Coeur d'Alene police Sgt. Christie Wood said Wednesday the grand theft case remains under investigation.

The Press isn't naming the travel agent because no charges have been filed.

The trip to the U.S. capital is scheduled for April 2014. The history education trip for the school's students takes place every other year.

The students will have to work extra hard during their Oct. 23 "Trash-athon" to make up for the missing funds, Jacaban said. During the event, the kids solicit donations to clean up litter around Coeur d'Alene and Hayden.

"We tend to think of money in terms of trash or pies, and $3,750 represents a lot of garbage collected by these kids," said school trip sponsor Amy Heald.

United Airlines, with whom the class originally attempted to secure a contract, issued one-way tickets to the students for the agreed price but couldn't provide an adequate return flight, Jacaban said.

Purchasing one-way tickets home on Delta Air Lines pushed the cost of the trip over budget.

Jacaban said representatives from the class plan to attend a meeting with creditors today when they will have the opportunity to ask the travel agent what happened to their money.

Lake City Junior Academy: (208) 667-0877