Records show Blackfoot board tried to hide payout

Documents show the school board in Blackfoot agreed to a $210,000 contract buyout with the former superintendent and sought to keep the payments secret.

The documents were made public by Blackfoot School District 55 Monday as part of an open records lawsuit filed by a former teacher and an Idaho Falls newspaper.

Last week, a state judge sided with Joyce Bingham and the Post Register and ordered the district to turn over the separation agreement reached in April with former superintendent Scott Crane.

Documents show the board approved two $105,000 payments to Crane. He retired June 30, then days later the district made the first payment to an unnamed source. A second payment is due July 2013.

Crane is now working for the Grand County School District in Moab, Utah.