Gazette: Tribe gives to $210,000 to school
By Dan Hammes, St. Maries Gazette Record
Two days after a report about the Coeur d’Alene Tribe’s contributions to schools from casino profits the tribe made a donation to the Plummer/Worley school district.
“The tribe made a generous contribution to our school district,” Judi Sharrett, superintendent, said.
She said the tribe called Monday afternoon to request a meeting at which two checks, totaling $210,000, were given to the district. Ms. Sharrett said the tribe has been a great supporter of the Plummer/Worley district through the years.
“The Plummer Worley School District is grateful for the financial donation from the Coeur d’Alene Tribe and the priority they have given over many years to their local school district. We recognize they are not obligated to any one district or educational institution in their distribution.”
A survey of the St. Maries, Kootenai, Post Falls and Coeur d’Alene school districts indicated none had received a contribution as of Tuesday morning.
News of the checks issued to the Plummer/Worley school district late Monday came after two spokesmen for the tribe said payments to schools for 2010 and 2011 had already been made.
Eric Van Orden told the Gazette Record two weeks ago the tribe had made its contributions to public education. “They have made the contributions consistent with the compact,” Mr. Van Orden said in an Aug. 5 interview.
In previous years the tribe would call a press conference when making payments to local schools, which generated considerable news coverage about the payments. Mr. Van Orden, an attorney with the tribe, said that practice changed. “They haven’t been doing a formal ceremony the last couple of years,” he said.
Helo Hancock, legislative affairs director with the tribe, confirmed what Mr. VanOrden said. He told the Coeur d’Alene Press that the tribe had made contributions to local schools in 2010 and 2011.
Several local schools, however, reported the last payment they received from the tribe came in July, 2009.
The stipulation for the payments from casino profits is part of the gaming compact between the tribe and the state of Idaho and is also detailed in the gambling initiative, which the Coeur d’Alene Tribe supported, approved by voters in 2002. The initiative reads that the “tribe agrees to contribute 5 percent of its annual net gaming income for the support of local education programs and schools on or near the reservation.”
The Idaho Lottery is the state agency charged with enforcing the gaming compact and the initiative. As part of the agreement with the state, the tribe reports casino profits to the Idaho lottery, including how much is due local schools.
In 2009 and 2010, the tribe reported total casino profits of $65.4 million. Of that amount, $3.26 million was earmarked for local schools.
When contacted Monday, Idaho Lottery Director Jeff Anderson said he believed the tribe made the payments, adding that he did not have a list of the disbursements. “The specifics of the disbursements are at the sole discretion of the Tribe,” he wrote in an e-mail.
When told that no local school districts had received payments and when asked whether the state would investigate, Mr. Anderson said there was no need for the state to respond. “Public schools on or near the reservation have received distributions over the last couple of years,” he wrote in an email late Monday afternoon
. That statement prompted calls to area school districts Tuesday morning which revealed the payment to the Plummer/Worley district. The state believes the tribe is current on all payments to public schools. “I get reports from the tribe that indicate the money has been set aside and distributed,” Mr. Anderson said.
He would not name the school districts that received payments. “What I’m telling you is there are school districts that received money from the tribe. I know school districts got money.”
The tribe reported that schools were due $3.26 million for profits earned in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. The gaming compact stipulates the money is to be divided equally between tribal and public schools. The public school share of casino profits for the two years would be $1.63 million.
The Coeur d’Alene Tribe has been a generous supporter of the Plummer/Worley district. In 2008, the tribe gave the district $160,000. Since 1993, the tribe has paid the district $3,105,500 from casino profits.
Calls to the Coeur d’Alene Tribe were not returned.
