SAD 9 is facing a difficult budget year. The administration and board have worked very hard to reduce the impact on local taxpayers while striving to provide a quality education. Of 117 K-12 school systems in the state, 20 operate more cheaply than SAD 9, but 96 spend more. Our proposed budget reflects an increase of slightly less than 2.1 percent.

Although we seek out and welcome input from all citizens, it is not constructive to make inaccurate and misleading statements in letters to the editor, as Mr. David Hargreaves did in his letter of April 30.

We do not pay our superintendent over $100,000 per year. In fact, his salary is $84,144. His total compensation, including all benefits, is less than $95,000.

The letter also stated that SAD 9 paid up to $12,000 for employees’ health insurance. In truth, the very maximum benefit would be $11,336 for a teacher and family. The average health benefit paid is $5,813 per employee.

Mr. Hargreaves stated that SAD 9 still pays for health insurance for retired teachers. That is incorrect. We do not make that payment.

The above facts are a matter of public record. I know we can not all agree on how much to spend on education in our SAD 9 communities. However, as we come to our decisions how to vote on the budget, I sincerely hope we can all base it on the same factual and accurate data.

Neil S. Stinneford,

SAD 9 director,

Weld