Roughly 40 people at Thursday's Girard school board meeting finally got their chance to ask about the huge pay hike former treasurer Mark Bello got last year.
Only two took advantage.

"Are the discussions on contracts generally done in executive sessions or in public meetings?" asked Brian Joyce.

"Maybe if someone would've said 'you know, we gave him a half million of your dollars and we're sorry'...but no one ever said that," remarked Amy Sobnosky.

21 News told you first about a change in contract language that gave Bello a huge pay raise from 2022 to 2023.
He went from making close to $189,000 to more than $460,000.
Bello got a base salary plus two and a half percent of any grants he brought to the district under his prior contract.
In the new contract, that number was one percent of the district's entire budget.

The crowd Thursday didn't seem to get a clear answer as to how or why that change got overlooked.

"Does everyone read the whole deal?" asked Joyce. "Do you have a lawyer representing you that reads it and tells you it's OK to vote? How do you, what's the process like?"

Board member Joe Datchuk replied "whether we have an attorney or not, it depends, whether we all read them or some read them, it...It's all on a case by case basis."

The board told 21 News they're not commenting, citing a pending investigation.
Board president Diane Alejars would not tell us who is doing the investigation, or who or what is the focus.
Meanwhile, Stacy foster has been appointed interim treasurer.
The board is in the early stages of hiring a permanent treasurer.