The following post is LONG and goes back to events of several months ago only because definitive information verifying the "rumors" has been unavailable until recently. I believed that it was important enough to wait until the proper documents were available and reviewed before putting information into the public domain. Sadly, what was "rumored" was fully supported by actual documents recently received.
The BOTTOM LINE:
Former Superintendent Klaus and Former BOE President Olson collaborated and created a document in the summer of 2007 that was intended to allow Dr. Klaus to collect his early retirement stipend while he was still working as a Principal. This document was backdated to Feb. 5, 2007 to agree with the dates on his legitimate contract. The document was inserted into Dr. Klaus' personnel file and then was used by him to try to increase his compensation. During the Fall of 2007 the current BOE members became aware of this attempt to falsify Board action and manipulate Dr. Klaus' compensation. It appears that NO DISCIPLINARY action was taken as Dr. Klaus is clearly still employed by the ECASD in a position of trust and high remuneration as a Principal. No legal action appears to have been taken against former BOE President Olson who created, backdated and signed a document that falsified action of elected officials.
Accountability has flown the coop. Transparency is a pipe dream. Honesty is not part of the Core Values of the ECASD.
Just when we thought that Former Superintendent Bill Klaus and Former BOE President Carol Olson had done enough damage to our district and that they had "moved on", I heard rumors from community members in November 2007 (yup, 5 months ago) that they were doing some really naughty things! When I first heard this story I was absolutely flabbergasted as it sounded truly beyond belief. Again, even though my harshest criticism of our former leadership would include words like "incompetent" and "arrogant" I have NEVER believed that Klaus or Olson were downright greedy, unethical and, guilty of illegal acts. I was wrong.
Anyway, the short version of the story I heard in November was the following:
1. That former Supt. Klaus was expecting some form of "stipend" ($2,000/month) that he had in his position as Supt. to be continued in his position as a Principal which he started in July 2007.
2. That in July he spoke with former BOE Pres., Carol Olson, who apparently agreed that he was entitled to this compensation.
3. That in July 2007, after her tenure with the BOE was fully completed she signed and backdated some documents that would allow this stipend payment to continue.
Since this "news" seemed to be well circulated in the public I contacted Dr. Leary, Mr. VandeWater and Mr. Kling who would know about any such agreements or payments. I asked them to please "clarify this and put to rest this rumor as being NOT TRUE so we can get staff and citizens back to the business of focusing on the business of our district and with students." The silence was deafening. No response at all.
A few days later I received a phone call at my home with an ECASD "caller ID". I no longer have school age children at home so this was a little unusual. I answered the phone and the caller said: " Maria, this is Bill Klaus. I just got a phone call from a local attorney offering to defend me in a lawsuit against you." I asked him why he would sue me and he said that the attorney had just read him an e-mail from me. Hmmm....
The BOE was informed of this event on the day it happened (Dec. 3, 2007). On Dec. 6th I wrote another e-mail to follow-up with Dr. Leary, Mr. VandeWater and Mr. Kling that contained the following:
How does an e-mail from a citizen asking about serious legal and ethical questions regarding a current ECASD employee and the former Pres. of the BOE result in a not-so-thinly-veiled threat of legal action against the person asking the question?
In our telephone conversation Dr. Klaus did confirm that a document regarding his compensation was prepared in July/Aug. 2007 and signed by Former BOE Pres. Carol Olson (a timeframe when she had absolutely no legal authority for such action). He further stated that the date she signed on the document was Feb. 2007 which was a time that she was Pres. of the ECASD BOE.
Clearly, the actions of Dr. Klaus and Ms. Olson will be viewed by the public as an abuse of their former leadership positions in the ECASD. Any further erosion of public trust in the ECASD would be terribly destructive. However the response by the current leadership of the ECASD and the BOE has the potential to demonstrate to our community an absolute commitment to the expectation of honesty, fairness and transparency. (I ask you to consider the theoretical response of the leadership of the ECASD Administration and BOE to discovering that a teacher attempted to manipulate/increase their compensation in actions similar to those of Dr. Klaus and Ms. Olson.)
I think that it is clear that the seriousness of this has elevated and deserves a response. I respectfully ask the following:
1. Who else received a copy of the e-mail I sent to you?
2. Were any other ECASD employees involved in this incident?
3. Since these actions are now the subject of growing public discussion and dismay, what is the response to our community by the ECASD leadership and BOE?
I can assure you that I am completely committed to looking to the future of our district. Because of that, I think that it is crucial that leadership errors from the past be dealt with in a timely, fair and transparent manner.
Both Dr. Leary and Mr. VandeWater lateralled the ball to Mr. Kling who never responded at all.
Shortly after this my father died and I was out of town and busy with family and the Holidays and I did not do any additional follow up until January 2008. At this point I was aware that the LT and others were asking for copies of documents related to Dr. Klaus' compensation but they were all being stonewalled by the ECASD Administration and BOE leadership (Pres. O'Brien to be precise). Multiple Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests were filed with the district with no response or additional delays. Attorneys here in Eau Claire as well as Madison were consulted and the taxpayers of EC will be paying for all this needless legal wrangling and avoidance of just telling the truth.
Here is another instance of where Conflict of Interest is harmful to good decision-making: Pres. O'Brien's employer, the Weld Riley law firm, is also the legal counsel for the ECASD. When a legal sticky wicket like this shows up the complications of obtaining an INDEPENDENT legal opinion about possible unethical/illegal activity involving persons who have worked for years together (Klaus, Olson and the Weld, Riley attorneys) is completely compromised.
FINALLY on the Friday afternoon before Spring Break word was that the documents were available to review at the ECASD Main Office. I have no doubt that all of this delay was due to Mr. O'Brien's desire to avoid having to actually make a few tough decisions during his tenure as President of the BOE that might involve some legal unpleasantness with Mr. Klaus and Ms. Olson, his former BOE buddy. I have repeatedly indicated that one of the past leadership failings of the BOE has been the inappropriate chumminess with ECASD Administration that has left them without the proper independence in decision-making.
Anyway, we have the documents. I am too much a technological lame brain to be able to post them on the blog. I am consulting some technological whiz kids who might be able to get them posted here so the rest of you can see the sad truth. For now we just need to keep hoping that we will keep making progress in other ways and the lousy leadership of the past will not insert themselves into the present anymore!
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17 comments:
I think the following excerpts from posted BOE Board Minutes are relevant to this issue:
FROM BOE Minutes Dec 3, 2007
President O’Brien stated that the Board would go into closed session following the committee meeting under 19.85 (1)(c) to discuss a compensation issue regarding a district employee and 19.85 (1)(e) to hear a negotiation update.
From BOE Minutes Dec 17, 2007
President O’Brien stated that in closed session the Board clarified the contract with Dr. William Klaus. The original contract for Dr. Klaus was intact but there was a clarification on the retirement stipend. President O’Brien stated that the Board reached consensus on the following items:
· The Board agreed to the previously stated agreement that the retirement stipend for Dr. William Klaus will be determined based on his salary as a superintendent and not as a principal or other administrative position.
· The Board agreed that Dr. Klaus would be eligible to receive a retirement stipend at or after age 55.
· The Board agreed that after Dr. Klaus retires from the Eau Claire Area School District, his 60 equal payments will be based on his adjusted salary as a superintendent as used for state retirement calculations.
· The Board agreed that in the event of the untimely death of Dr. Klaus, his heirs would have the right of survivorship to these benefits.
Check it out...
http://www.bobschwartz.us/node/48
Bob,
I checked it out on your blog but was not able to magnify the documents enough to make them readable,
Bob,
I was able to magnify and read the documents
after all- Thanks for posting them.
That entire issue of stipends for non-represented
staff is certainly complex and need some explanation
for the average citizen to understand it.
That is true. But the issue of using a false document to increase your compensation is simple and something that anyone can understand.
Bob, I can only speculate but I think I do have a reason why Dr. Klaus would not want to have his compensation during his last few years of employment be the reduced salary as a pricipal as compared to that as superinetendent. The reirement system has a formula for payments after retirement that factors in the ending salary in some way. I forget exactly how. So that stipend could be considered retirement related in that sense even though it comes before retirement..
As to all of the signatures and dates etc. I imagine that the document by the current board clarifies that.
You probably speculate differently. I'll leave all that to the lawyers.
There is no need to speculate. It's all in the contract.
This is spelled out on page 3, at the top.
His retirement benefits are based on his last year as superintendent.
At any rate I think the current BOE at its last meeting did pass a salary/benefit pacakge for non-represented staff that hopefully will preclude some of these questionable issues coming up in the future.
The big question is, "so what becomes of any of this?" Let me see... Klaus is the leader of the smallest middle school (smaller in population than at least one of our elementary schools.) With this stipend, he makes more than the principals of the elementary and middle schools, staff salary increases are seemingly stuck. And the reward will continue for Klaus beyond his retirement!
Leadership comes out criticizing one staff member and her principal for breaking trust with the community for being honest with the community, yet we see examples from the BOE building of people lying, assuming, possibly misusing school equipment (cell phones, building keys, school vehicles even when there's been a 'retirement'), dating documents when out of office to increase earnings and benefits.
I don't think I can stand anymore!
This school district is a mess. Any hope of passing a referendum is gone. A very high number of people are really angry over the events at South, especially parents and senior citizens who see their traditional values being condemned. Then, as they struggle on a fixed income, Klaus gets a sweetheart deal. Two more reason they have to vote no again - not only do the schools reject what they believe but they can't be trusted with their money. That voting block has had enough, just watch the next time they are asked for money.
So who wrote the document and who placed the new document into Klaus's personnel file? It seems as though this would be relevant information in any investigation, if, indeed, we can trust the powers that be to proceed with one.
I mean, they managed to get the health teachers together and make some quick changes within a matter of weeks, right?
So how did this information end up on this blog before it was in the paper? Not to say this didn't need to be made known, because it is appalling. I just suspect there is a direct pipeline of information flowing out of someone on the BOE. We can all speculate who that might be, but it would sure be interesting to know who started talking about what occurred at a closed-door meeting. In this case, they might qualify as a whistle-blower and be in the right. But someone is talking out of turn.
So what do you do for a living...oh that is right you sit on your fat ass and write about others lives!! So maybe instead of using all your negitive energy in ruining other peoples lives you take some of your husbands money and do something postive for the community. If you are so concerned about the education of the children in this city you should start putting your money where your big fat mouth is instead of writing about minimal issues! IF YOU HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO, THEN MAYBE ADOPT A PUPPY!!
I completely agree with the person questioning how this information got out. I have your answer! Maria, the creator of this blog, is close personal friends with Carol Craig and Trish Cummins on the schoold board. Maria is known around Eau Claire for being a horrible vendictive person so these two board members, who we trust to make decisions for our kids, have used Maria's loud mouth and lack of concious to do their dirty work. These two board members have made it a personal goal to go after a number of previous board members and they have used any means possible. I think that they are the ones that should be punished for leaking information from a closed door meeting. I also think that Maria needs to stop causing problems all over town. If she doesn't get her way she makes up lies to hurt the people that upset her. Maria needs to find a way to spend her time to help people instead of hurting them. I suggest a job in the service industry so she can have the pleasure of being treated like dirt the way she treats others.
First, to the anonymous commenters. You should know that anonymity on the internets ain't all it's cracked up to be. While I am a fan of invective, if you are going to cross over into character assassination my advice is to do it from a computer at the public library. That is another of the wonderful services your local library provides. If you do launch an exceptionally juicy rant from one of their computers, please consider a donation to the Friends of the Library.
I do not know how this vectored out of the building. It does not seem reasonable that this would have been unknown to staff prior to its appearance on a closed session agenda. Each of the administrators involved has clerical staff. Remember, prior to last October it was a routine personnel matter.
The workplaces I am familiar with do not have the kind of secrecy that some of you are assuming.
You know, sometimes the guy with the shovel really needs to stop digging.
WQOW did a piece on this.
What is interesting is that he tells some pretty bold faced lies to the camera. He claims it was about clarifying survivor's benefits, while the document in question very clearly is about the stipend.
He also appears to implicate Jim Kling ("the personnel office gave Olson the green light") and completely blows off the violation of the multi-signature protocol, which is what tells you with certainty that Carol was pulling it out of someplace dark.
I was expecting a certain amount of entertainment from this. Bill and Carol have certainly delivered. And there's more to come! A gift that truely keeps on giving!
Hey, let's leave the size of my butt out of this dialog! I It is unfair that the size of your butt is unknown and yet you think mine is too fat. And I can't get a puppy because I have allergies.
As to intimations that I have some secret or not-so-secret source on the BOE I really feel like I was a latecomer to the scoop on all the Klaus and Olson naughtiness. I first heard about it in late November and at that time the newspaper was already investigating the rumors.
As in other things, when people don't like the message; i.e. that Klaus and Olson have been doing all kinds of greedy, unethical and illegal things, it is best to shoot the messenger.
I would love to move forward with the district and work on REAL IMPORTANT STUFF like Strategic Planning and Community Engagement but it is the ECASD leadership (former and current) that remains stuck with all these dumb allegiances to their buddies who are choosing to line their own pockets rather than do their jobs.
I hope I can continue to allow anonymous postings but any further references to the size of my butt may force me to have the people commenting identify themselves so we all know the size of their butts!
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