Transparency is crucial in building trust
Thu, 12/04/2025 - 4:58am
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By:
Independent Opinion
This newspaper has not minced words when it comes to public transparency: Government entities should be transparent in every aspect of what they do.
Government entities in some cases are responsible for millions of dollars’ worth of taxpayers money and so should be held to a high standard.
That is why it is so disappointing the Byron Public Schools officials were not completely transparent with voters ahead of the November special election, which asked voters to approve two separate levies.
The DCI did not take a stance on the proposed levy during the election, other than to express the need for all the information to be out there for voters to decide.
This newspaper for weeks and months wrote about the issues on the local ballots. We gave ample space for those running to talk about themselves and for government entities to inform the public.
Yet there was no mention until after the election about the unfavorable audit handed down by the State Auditor regarding past practices with credit cards used by the Byron Public Schools.
The school district received the report on Oct. 28, days before the election.
According to the report, 30%, or just under $60,000, of purchases lacked required receipts or itemization, and the district used its credit card to buy gift cards, a generally unauthorized practice.
Why no mention of this?
It is hard to guess, but that is not the point.
The real issue at hand is that officials allowed voters to go to the voting booth without giving them all the information they needed to make their decisions.
As one reader wrote this week in a letter to the editor, it may not have changed their decision one way or another, but that is not for the school district leaders to decide.
The reality is, nothing can be done about the decisions made by school district leaders to not release information about the report until after the election. It’s a moot point.
But the district can and should do better moving forward with providing all the facts, whether or not they are positive.
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