School Board To Discuss Two Different Investigations
The Eau Claire School Board is once again meeting behind closed doors Monday night, discussing two different investigations. One involves a former superintendent, the other involves an incoming superintendent.
First, the board will talk about former superintendent Bill Klaus. The Eau Claire School Board will meet in closed session Monday night to continue its investigation into Klaus' contract. Changes were made to his contract that would have allowed him to start collecting retirement benefits early.
Another major issue is a memo that was backdated to clarify his contract. A former school board president is accused of doing that when she was no longer president. The board's investigation is ongoing along with a criminal investigation by police.
Also being discussed behind closed doors is new information about the incoming superintendent. That information surfaced after a report by News 18 on Friday. Last week, News 18 learned that Dr. Ron Heilmann was the focus of an investigation by the Oshkosh School Board at the same time he was being considered fort he top job in the Eau Claire School District. Right now, Dr. Heilmann is the superintendent in Oshkosh. He was named Eau Claire's new superintendent March 26th.
That announcement came exactly one week after an internal investigation by the Oshkosh school board wrapped up. That investigation focused on an alleged trip between a student and Heilmann. According to open records requested by News 18, the Oshkosh board reviewed the allegation with its lawyer both on March 5th and the 19th. On the 19th, the board determined there was nothing to the allegation, so the investigation ended.
Eau Claire School Board members are concerned that at no time during their visit to Oshkosh or during interviews with Heilmann was this investigation ever brought to their attention. They say they never knew about it until we contacted them. We talked to some of those same board members again Monday. One of them told News 18 all evidence points to the conclusion that Dr. Heilmann was falsely accused, but they still want to look into the Oshkosh investigation and they do have concerns about how it was handled, so they will meet in closed session Monday night to determine what, if anything, to do next.
2 comments:
This is Jim Olson. I am using the anonymous post because the name post method doesn't seem to be working as I have had the same problem before- probably some quirk in the sotware,
In his press conference Tuesday Heilmann said
“We need community support now more than ever. It's not just a matter of funding and what public funding and state funding is doing to public schools, but it's also all about building the public's trust in public education.“
That trust will require more openess than ECASD has shown in the past and more of a sense of fairness
and examining the larger picture than critics have shown in the past.
A new rhetoric of more civil public discourse would help as well.
"A new rhetoric of more civil public discourse would help as well."
Thank you, Jim, for reminding us of this essential point.
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