WEAU April 24, 2007

Ken, please tell us that WEAU mis-quoted you about considering that "it was a clerical mistake or something else." This was NO clerical mistake. Bill Klaus himself told me on Dec. 3rd when he called me at home that the document was drafted and signed by Carol in July 2007 and backdated to February 2007 when she was the BOE President. The entire Administrative team (Leary, Butler, Kling, and Vandewater) knew about this memo for months before I first heard about it and asked about it in November 2007. The entire BOE knew about it as well in October 2007 as they clarified his contract after seeing the "Naughty, Fake, Backdated, Illegal Document" signed by Carol. Former Pres. O'Brien has been trying to keep this whole event out of the eyes of the public for more than 6 months because: 1.) he knew it was totally illegal, 2.) he knew that it was done by his 2 "buddies", Carol and Bill, and 3.) he didn't want to have this come out while he was President of the BOE and his employer was the legal counsel and also good buddies with Carol and Bill. How dumb do they think we are?


Closed Door Session Lasts for 5 Hours
Posted: 8:27 PM Apr 24, 2008

A piece of paper has sparked a police and school board investigation in Eau Claire.

Board members tell us they will investigate whether the former Eau Claire school superintendent Bill Klaus and the former school board president Carol Olson did something wrong by creating a document that may have allowed Klaus to get retirement stipends earlier than the board intended. Eau Claire School Board member Ken Faanes says no payments were ever made. He says former board president Carol Olson approved it, but the board is trying to weed through whether it was a clerical mistake or something else.

Faanes says the issue of earlier stipend payments came up in October, the board took action and changed it back to receiving payments at 55.
The board clarified he would not see that money until he retired.
It was a retirement stipend worth $225,000 over five years.
Faanes says the board has not talked to Carol Olson, but said she approved the memo in question.

Board member Brent Wogahn says says the board welcomes a police investigation and says this has been a distraction from important issues, like strategic planning. He says the board hopes to interview Dr. Klaus and any other administrators it needs to in order to get answers. He says the board will have to look at its policies to see what, if any action, it can or may want to take.

Wogahn says he thinks the system worked like it was supposed to, because no district dollars were wasted. Now he just wants to figure out exactly when the document in Klaus' file was signed, and what the intent was behind it. Basically, who knew what and when. He says no one board member can ever sign anything without a second signature on it in the first place.

Wogahn did add, that the board's trust has been shaken and the members need to get that trust back. He says the board has so much to do, that he wishes the members didn't have to get sidetracked on this, but that the members want to do what's right and what's in the public interest.

Thursday the Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White says a member of the public asked him to investigate. Per policy, he forwarded that request to the police department.

Klaus is still the Northstar Middle School principal. Olson is no longer on the board. The board will meet behind closed doors Friday at 2:30 p.m. to investigation and determine if it wants to take action. We will be there and have the latest on NewsCenter 13 at 5, 6 and 10.