Judge: Blackfoot district must disclose why it spent $100K

A judge has ordered a school district to disclose why it spent thousands of dollars on consulting fees.

Judge David Nye has granted a petition to Joyce Bingham of Blackfoot. Bingham is demanding to know why the District 55 school board spent the more than $100,000.

The board refused to tell her and the Post Register, which joined her on the case. She took it to court. The judge ruled today the school district has three days to turn over the documents.

“Everything about this case smacks of a public agency trying to hide its decision making from the public,” said Nye in his order.

Sources said the payout was a buyout of former Superintendent Scott Crane’s contract.