Blackfoot board members skirt questions on buyout at meeting
The board met before a room filled with community members to discuss the quarter-million dollar payout of ex-superintendent Scott Crane.
The meeting was expected to get heated, but things took an unexpected turn.
The board effectively fired its legal counsel, attorney Dale Storer, who was the former Idaho Falls city attorney.
The board put forth a motion to search for new legal representation.
Furious district patrons demanded answers from their school board — that was expected.
The board declared all actions including the buyout void — that was expected.
What wasn’t expected was Storer’s call to the board to explain what happened in those March and April meetings when the discussion was made to pay Scott Crane that $220,000 payout.
The board relented. Trustee Taylor Johansen, a Blackfoot surgeon, began the discussion. Johansen said Crane had presented the board with two options; one was the contract buyout, one was something Johansen says would have cost the district $300,000 more.
The board will hold its January meeting on the 17th at 6 p.m.
