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In her letter Mindy Cameron objects to LPOSD being called spendthrift for certain purchases and executive pay. Her letter omits some important information on both issues.

LPOSD’s budget line items of a $1,800 chair and a $3,400 desk/chair set are listed in the singular — no indication of multiple purchases. Cameron wants citizens to call LPOSD if they have questions about such line items. Why should they? Proper and transparent budget procedures call for clear indications of the number of purchases.

Let’s remember that it took years to get LPOSD to agree to publish its budget online. Now that it is, inscrutability of line items is not uncommon. Is this non-transparency due to incompetence or yet another indicator of this district’s penchant for secrecy?

As for the six-figure executive pay of our top school administrators, 2014-15 salary records by the Idaho Department of Education show Superintendent Shawn Woodward in the top 10 of Idaho superintendent salaries while heading one of the smaller districts, which also happens to have a steadily shrinking enrollment.

Cameron’s justification for the large executive bonuses is that they are negotiated by contract as deferred compensation for meeting or exceeding performance goals. What is her point? We’re still paying for them. But the real question is: why pay bonuses in the first place? High performance should be expected at those salaries.

And, by the way, those performance goals are confidential and not even accessible by public records request. So, we really don’t know what we’re paying for.

TOM CLEVELAND

Sandpoint