April 23rd LT

Updated: 4/23/2008
Contract issue angers board
Memo's backdating to be investigated
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
To say a majority of Eau Claire school board members are upset about an attempt to alter former Superintendent Bill Klaus' contract without their knowledge would be an understatement.

But the perceived actions of district officials to keep information surrounding that incident from them for months have board members nearly as peeved.

The board on Tuesday announced it will conduct an inquiry into the backdating of a document by former school board President Carol Olson that would have allowed Klaus to receive early retirement stipend payments sooner than called for by his contract.

Klaus did not receive those payments - totaling $225,000 over five years - after district officials questioned the arrangement. He is scheduled to receive the district-paid stipend when he retires.

The investigation, slated to begin Friday, will include interviews with district officials with knowledge of the attempted alteration of Klaus' contract.

"Why wasn't this board made aware of this in a timely manner? That's a big question we need to have answered," board member Carol Craig said. "There is some real frustration that we didn't receive information that we should have."

An interview lineup hasn't been released, but it seems certain to include Klaus as well as district administrators involved in subsequent meetings about the issue, including interim Superintendent James Leary, Personnel Director Jim Kling and Business Services Director Dan Van De Water.

Other district personnel also could be interviewed as more information about the incident surfaces, Craig said.

Board members have expressed frustration about the apparent efforts of various district officials to keep the issue from them, even after the attempted contract change surfaced and was discussed in closed session by the school board on Oct. 22. The board voted at that meeting to deny early stipend payments to Klaus before age 55 and his retirement. That vote reiterated what board members said was agreed to in closed session on Feb. 5, 2007, as they approved contract changes to allow Klaus to become Northstar Middle School principal.

"We should have been kept in the loop to a much greater degree than we were," board member Ken Faanes said. "Back in October, we weren't even given all of the details surrounding this. There were people we count on for information who weren't as forthcoming with this as they should have been."

Board members said they haven't discussed possible disciplinary action for district officials they determine were involved in the attempted contract alteration and subsequent cover-up, but said they're open to a range of actions, including suspensions and firings.

"We don't want to have any preconceived notions about this, but at the same time we need to be willing to take strong action if it's warranted," Craig said.

Faanes expressed frustration at having to deal with the contract issue. Just last week the board discussed how to best address student achievement. Now board members are bogged down in a controversy that leaves the district with a public black eye.

"We shouldn't have to be looking at this at all," Faanes said. "There are so many other issues we would like to be dealing with instead, the things that have to do with our students."

The board on Tuesday also announced it has directed district administrators to ensure the Leader-Telegram and others who have sought information about the contract will receive appropriate records. District officials had refused for several months to turn over documents to the Leader-Telegram before doing so earlier this month. The newspaper still has not received some of the documents it requested.

The contract issue surfaced after a Saturday Leader-Telegram story detailed how Olson in late June or early July signed and backdated a document at Klaus' request allowing his early stipend payments to begin Aug. 1. Olson was no longer a board member when she signed that document, which was made to appear as if it was part of Klaus' contract changes the board approved on Feb. 5, 2007. Olson said she signed the document because she felt it accurately reflected what the board agreed to in the Feb. 5 closed session.

In June, shortly before he was to begin his job at Northstar, Klaus inquired about the stipend payments, but Van De Water told Klaus he could not authorize those payments because the contract didn't stipulate that. Kling then told Klaus he needed the board to verify its intent to begin early stipend payments.

The document signed by Olson was then created, backdated and placed in Klaus' file. But Kling and Van De Water still delayed the payments before district officials sought a legal opinion about whether to pay out the stipend.

Emerson can be reached at 830-5911, (800) 236-7077 or julian.emerson@ecpc.com.