In a recent OPED published by the Statesman Mr. Oppenheimer, tried to infer that the problems with the West Ada school district were about Dr. Clark? This issue is about her compensation not about her credentials. This is a resource issue on how to properly allocate the resources of the West Ada District. There are 150 school districts in Idaho that are failing to comply with a state law that requires them to post expenditures, contracts, strategic plans, labor agreements and budgets online. West Ada is one of those districts who are not in compliance. Fact is that there are only 14 out of 164 districts and charter schools who are in compliance. There is little or no transparency in our education budgets and how our tax money is spent on either a local or state level and this needs to be addressed.
The current board is calling into question a contract that is so bloated with goodies that the correct thing to do was to challenge it. When the West Ada District is asking taxpayers for $14 million in a special levy the responsible thing for the new board to do is to challenge exorbitant expenses especially in Dr. Clark’s lucrative contract. There are only four districts who pay their superintendents more money than West Ada, they are Blaine, Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Nampa.
However; only one county pays the similar benefits aside from the $29,000 retirement bonus and that is Blaine. If the previous board did not follow the open meeting rules when Dr. Clark’s contract was approved than the current board has made the correct decision for the taxpayers who fund the West Ada district by canceling the contract extension.
My question: why is there such a protest from the former board members? Recalling the current board will only cause more consternation in the district and will not look good when the vote for the next levy comes up. If the old board members feel so strongly about the contract they have the same rights as any citizen of the West Ada District to present their case to the current board. Their bullying tactics are those of a group of kids who are unhappy with a decision by their parents. They lost the election, GET OVER IT. The only ones who will suffer if the levy doesn’t pass because of all this bickering will be our children. Are the former board members more concerned about the loss of their jobs on the board and Dr. Clarks compensation package then they are about our children’s education? We applaud all of the board members who voted to nullify the contract extension as they were being prudent and not political by looking out for the taxpayers in the West Ada District.
