LT May 16, 2008

More on the stipend issue from our investigative reporter, Julian Emerson, who has hung in there with this issue for MONTHS in spite of numerous refusals from former BOE Pres. Mike O'Brien that this issue should not be public. From all of this, it seems clear that this falsifying board action with backdated documents by Klaus and Olson occurred in July 2008 and came to the BOE's attention in October 2008 and their ONLY action at that time was to guarantee that Klaus'family would receive the stipend in the event of his death.

REMINDER: I wrote the ECASD Administration about these rumors in November 2008 and all I got in response was a phone call at my home from Bill Klaus threatening to SUE ME.

WHAT THE !@#$???? And even now Comm. Wogahn says that pursuing it further is "unproductive?" I would say that what the BOE hs done in the last several months is the "unproductive" part of this story. Carol Olson has committed a couple of felonies. Bill Klaus requested her actions and therefore is also guilty of aiding and abetting this kind of thing. The failure of the BOE to just approach this in a timely way is just the beginning of "unproductive".

Maria



Updated: 5/16/2008

On the Record

The Leader-Telegram filed an open records request in December with the Eau Claire school district seeking records related to changes to former Superintendent (and current Northstar Middle School Principal) Bill Klaus' contract. District officials initially released a copy of Klaus' contract but delayed the release of other related records before eventually granting the request. This story is based in part on closed-session minutes of school board meetings.

Stipend issue deepens
Meeting minutes clearing Klaus not discovered
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff

Former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus contends that minutes from a Feb. 5, 2007, closed-session school board meeting would clear him of alleged wrongdoing regarding his attempt to receive stipend payments before he retired. But those discussions apparently never took place, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Leader-Telegram.

The school board approved changes to Klaus' contract on that date allowing him to switch from superintendent to Northstar Middle School principal later that year.

However, closed-session meeting minutes for that date show no discussion of early retirement stipend payments or other issues related to Klaus' contract. Instead, the board's closed-session discussion centered on procedures for advertising the interim superintendent position that would be vacant once Klaus moved to Northstar.

Changes to Klaus' contract were discussed in closed session at Jan. 8 and Jan. 22 meetings, records show, although discussion of early stipend payments isn't specified in minutes from those meetings.

In a May 9 letter to interim Superintendent James Leary regarding the release of school board meeting minutes to the Leader-Telegram, Klaus noted that he is troubled by the lack of detailed information spelling out board members' discussions of his contract.

The Jan. 22, 2007, closed-session minutes "do not reflect the issues raised regarding my contract," Klaus wrote, adding that "they are, at best, incomplete."

Klaus also objected to the lack of Feb. 5 closed-session minutes, saying proper description of those proceedings would allow board members to "review the notes and confirm the discussion and the board's approval" of his early stipend payments.

But school board President Carol Craig said Klaus' account of events doesn't reflect reality. She said the Feb. 5 closed-session meeting minutes are accurate and that no discussion of Klaus' early stipend payments occurred. That discussion wasn't needed, she said, because the board already had approved changes to Klaus' contract earlier that night in open session.

Craig said in addition to herself the other three board members who voted on Klaus' contract change - Brent Wogahn, Trish Cummins and Mary Kneer - have affirmed that the board didn't discuss Klaus' contact during the Feb. 5 closed session.

"There has never been any question among board members about whether we discussed (Klaus' contract) in closed session that night. We didn't," Craig said.

Other board members speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed that Klaus' contract was not part of Feb. 5 closed-session talks.

Three former board members also approved changes to Klaus' contract. Former board President Mike O'Brien left the board earlier this month, while past board President Carol Olson and board member JoAnne Evans exited last spring.

Olson, at Klaus' request, signed a memo last summer shortly before Klaus moved to Northstar directing that Klaus begin receiving stipend payments Aug. 1. Olson was no longer a board member when she signed the document, having left the board two months earlier.

In addition to signing the document, Olson dated her signature as Feb. 5, 2007, making it appear as if the document had been part of Klaus' contract changes the school board had approved on that date.

Olson said the memo she signed represented her best recollection of the board's intent regarding Klaus' retirement stipend payments. She conceded that signing the memo while no longer a board member wasn't in accordance with district policy but said her action was not an attempt to circumvent terms of Klaus' contract.

Other board members said the early retirement stipends were not part of Klaus' contract changes they approved Feb. 5. Several said they were stunned when they learned in an Oct. 22 closed-session meeting that Olson had signed the document without their knowledge or approval.

Klaus said he sought the early retirement stipend to ensure his heirs would receive that money if he died before retiring.

At the same Oct. 22 meeting, board members added a condition to Klaus' contract ensuring his relatives will receive his stipend payments if he dies before he retires. No other district employee receives that benefit.

The issue of Klaus' early retirement payments surfaced after an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailed Klaus' attempt to receive his retirement stipend payments early. The story sparked an ongoing school board inquiry into the issue as well as a police investigation. On April 30 the district placed Klaus on paid administrative leave while the investigations continue.
Growing concern

School district officials haven't been forthcoming about details surrounding Klaus' contract alteration, in part because of ongoing investigations. But closed-session board minutes reveal board members' and district officials' growing concern about the issue that forced four closed-session meetings between Oct. 22 and Dec. 17.

Prompted by questions from the Leader-Telegram and school district employees about Klaus' early stipend payments, the board met in closed session Oct. 22 and denied Klaus' retirement stipend payments until he retires.

During further discussion of Klaus' contract Nov. 5, meeting minutes indicate board members realized the serious implications of the contract confusion. At that point Craig and Cummins expressed concern "that the actions of Dr. Klaus and Carol Olson were deceitful."

Wogahn responded that the document signed by Olson was at that point "meaningless," and attempts to prove fraud on the board's part "would be counterproductive."

Leary, meanwhile, said Klaus and Olson may have backdated the document without the knowledge of other board members "out of fear" but noted he believed their actions did not represent a misappropriation of funds.

In a subsequent meeting about the topic Dec. 3, meeting minutes show Craig said the board should report its Oct. 22 clarification of Klaus' contract in open session "and squelch rumors that have been circulating."

Two weeks later, after discussing the issue once again in closed session, the board announced terms of Klaus' contract.