To the editor:

I read with interest your article in the Call regarding the employment contract for Terry Noble.

Firstly, I want to express my outrage at this contract, and secondly, I question the integrity, motives and ability of the Board of Education to make decisions of this magnitude.

Your article stated that prior to coming to Mehlville in 2007, Mr. Noble made $126,000 at De Soto. Mehlville paid him $165,000, $173,250 and $181,912 for the years 2007 to 2010.

The new base is apparently $226,000. Mr. Diehl is then quoted as saying, “Noble could have retired from the district June 30 and earned most of his current salary in retirement benefits.”

Now assuming most of his “current” salary relates to the $181,912 figure, I fail to understand the math behind Mr. Diehl’s statement. Presumably, Mr. Noble made less than $126,000 for all the years prior to 2006, so unless his retirement pay is based on 100 percent of his 2009 salary I question the veracity of Mr. Diehl’s assertion.

If his statement is correct, then it certainly indicates that the retirement system needs to be radically overhauled.

This school board has recklessly inflated salaries without any regard for the fiscal well-being of the district and saddled taxpayers with huge pension liabilities. Perhaps the school board should review the economic realities of the past two years and adjust its myopic thinking accordingly. But then again, I guess they figure they won’t be here when it hits the fan.

Carl Lane

Concord