COEUR d'ALENE - The Coeur d'Alene Tribe is in compliance with its gaming compact with Idaho, reports Idaho Lottery Director Jeff Anderson.

"I consider them good stewards of their gaming activities and generous neighbors to the communities on or near the reservation as well as to other good causes," wrote Anderson, in an email sent to The Press.

In response to a story published Saturday in The Press, Tribe Legislative Director Helo Hancock also said the Tribe is in compliance with its gaming compact. However, neither Hancock nor Anderson would provide proof of that compliance.

Saturday's story reported that the Tribe will not disclose the details of its contributions of 5 percent of its annual net gaming income to support education.

"The determination of how and when the amounts are distributed each fiscal year is at the sole discretion of the Tribe per the compact," Anderson wrote. "Details of those distributions can be obtained from the Tribe."

The Press story further reported that superintendents and business managers for the Coeur d'Alene, Post Falls, Lakeland, Plummer-Worley and St. Maries school districts all reported last week that their districts had not received a contribution of funds from the Tribe since July 2009.

Hancock told The Press the Tribe has made its mandated contributions, including donations to two local schools in 2010.

The Press confirmed that a donation of $10,000 was made by the tribe to the Plummer-Worley School District in December 2010. Those funds, according to Marcia Hoffman, the district's business manager, were for junior high basketball uniforms.

Another $10,000 donation was made in February 2010 to the Parent Teacher Organization at West Ridge Elementary School in the Post Falls district.

The contributions to support educational programs on or near the reservation have been a requirement of the Tribe's compact with Idaho since 2002, when voters approved an amendment to the Tribe's 1992 gaming compact.

Coeur d'Alene Tribe Chairman Chief Allan said the Tribe's decision to not disclose details of the education contributions does not mean they have not been made. "When the Coeur d'Alene Tribe makes a promise, we keep it and we always have," Allan said. "Any suggestion that we have not kept our promise to donate 5 percent of our gaming revenues to education is simply untrue and quite frankly, offensive."

Lottery director Anderson provided The Press with the "audited amounts for distribution to education by the Coeur d'Alene Tribe" for the last three fiscal years.

In 2008, the amount was $1.8 million. The Tribe officially announced the disbursement details of those funds during a ceremony held on the reservation in July 2009.

For fiscal year 2009, 5 percent of the Tribe's annual net gaming income was $1.76 million, and in 2010 it was $1.5 million.

"We take a significant amount of pride in making these contributions - we do it willingly and we are happy to do it," Hancock said. "We've chosen not to announce them publicly for a reason."

According to the gaming compact, "Disbursements of these funds shall be at the sole discretion of the Tribe."

While it is up to the Tribe to determine where their contributions go and in what amounts, Hancock said some schools have come to expect and in some cases even demand funds from the Tribe. In the past, there have been hard feelings when educational organizations did not receive what they felt they were entitled to.

"That's exactly what we're trying to avoid," Hancock said.

On Monday, two days after The Press story ran, the Plummer-Worley School District, which lies on the reservation, received a donation of $210,000 from the Tribe. Hancock said the decision to make that contribution was made by the Tribe several weeks ago, along with others.

The Tribe made a $150,000 donation to the Idaho Meth Project in December 2010, he said. On Thursday, Hancock was unwilling to disclose any other contributions.