(Radio Iowa) – Residents in the Sioux City area say their local community college needs to be more transparent about a $3 million settlement with 13 Chilean students who accused the school of human trafficking.

Three other international students from Chile have not yet settled with Western Iowa Tech. Dave Bernstein, the president of State Steel in Sioux City and a former member of the Iowa Economic Development Board, addressed the Western Iowa Tech board yesterday.

“I think there’s great concern over the fact that most likely there will be additional settlements taking that number up significantly, whether or not you actually have insurance in place to cover that or not, whether that’s going to take a hit to tuition’s or come out of your state funding or come out of the levy that goes against property tax holders within this area,” he said. “I think that’s a very significant concern that all taxpayers have a right to know.”

Rosanne Plante, a Sioux City lawyer, is a former instructor at the college. She said the school’s reputation has been tarnished. “You don’t reach a settlement of $3 million without spending a significant amount of money on lawyers,” Plante said, “and without determining that it’s far better to settle than it is to have your dirty laundry aired.”

The students say the college promised a free two-year program with internships, but they were forced into manual labor jobs at a dog food factory and a food processing plant to pay off tuition. The trial in a separate case involving Western Iowa Tech students from Brazil is scheduled to start about a year from now.