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Lake Pend Oreille School District’s administration presents itself as running a tight financial ship. But here are some facts to ponder:

The 2016-17 operating budget is $31.6 million, a 4.2-percent increase over the previous year, despite flat enrollment projections. This spring the state provided a 7.7-percent funding increase amounting to $1.3 million. Additionally, generous annual grant infusions from different sources total in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. On Aug. 30, LPOSD will ask voters to approve a $55 million facilities levy for six years (Phase 1 of additional facilities levies), and next March a $7.5 million supplemental levy renewal for each of the next two years.

Meanwhile 2016-17 LPOSD salary increases run 3.5-5 percent. Top administrators’ total compensations are among the highest in Idaho (in the $105,000-$150,000 range, plus 5-10 percent bonuses); and records show purchases for such items as a $1,800 chair and $3,400 desk-chair set. The ship doesn’t sound very tight!

Given these spendthrift financial expenditures, how does LPOSD justify charging its students fees of $10-$30 for certain course offering, which also violates the Idaho Constitution which requires that the state provide a free public school system? A 2015 ruling in Fourth District Court reiterated the unconstitutionality of charging fees for classes after parents challenged two southern Idaho school districts. Last month, those parents filed class action lawsuits to recover what could amount to hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of dollars unconstitutionally collected from them. The LPOSD needs to pay back its unconstitutionally collected student fees!

SHARON OLDFIELD

Sandpoint