LT Editorial 6/25/08 and Letter to the Editor

Updated: 6/25/2008 11:32:03 PM
Justice now in hands of school board
The issue: No criminal charges will be filed as a result of the controversy over former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus' contract.

Our view: Even if they weren't illegal, actions taken in this case were unethical. Now the school board must discipline those responsible.

Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White's announcement Wednesday that he won't file criminal charges as a result of the dispute over former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus' contract undoubtedly disappointed many people in our community.

Count us among the disappointed. Considering they've already been convicted in the court of public opinion, it would have been gratifying to see those involved in "Backdategate" called before a criminal court too.

Nonetheless, it's hard to fault White for his decision. We agree with him that efforts last summer by Klaus, former school board President Carol Olson, and Patti Iverson, Klaus' secretary, to backdate a provision of Klaus' contract were "plainly suspicious." At Klaus' direction, Iverson prepared - and Olson signed - a document stating Klaus could begin collecting his retirement stipend at age 53 even though he hadn't retired (he became Northstar Middle School principal last summer). Here's the suspicious part: That provision wasn't in the contract approved by the board in February 2007, and Olson signed the memo after she left the board.

However, board members gave investigators conflicting accounts of whether they'd approved that contract provision: three said they had, three said they hadn't, and one said she didn't remember. Unfortunately, minutes of the board's closed sessions are laughably vague and don't clarify the matter, once again highlighting the need for the Legislature to mandate that local governments electronically record such meetings.

White concluded that the inadequacy of the records would make it difficult to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the school board hadn't approved the early payments. To put it another way, even though it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's hard to conclusively say it's a duck unless you've got feathers to run DNA tests on. Lacking such indisputable evidence, White was put in an unenviable position: filing charges that might not stand up in court or not filing charges and riling a community whose attitudes about the scandal range from disgusted to very disgusted.

White chose the latter route. He acknowledged the public's frustration, and pointed out that just because no crime was committed doesn't mean that no one behaved unethically or contrary to the public good. However, as White added, "It is not my place, and it shouldn't be my place, to make those decisions."

Such disciplinary decisions should - and must - be made by the school board and the voters who elect them. And now that criminal charges are off the table, it's even more important for the board to take bold, swift action to discipline - or even fire - those responsible for this major ethical breach. Even if laws weren't broken, the public's trust was - and that might we even worse.

- Tom Giffey, editorial page editor

Updated: 6/25/2008 11:27:02 PM
Letter to the Editor
Fire, recall those involved
If the Eau Claire school board had been smart, it would have had language in employees' contracts spelling out matters of deportment that could lead to firing or discipline, included things such as: violating federal, state or local laws; lying to any school board member (either verbal or in writing); any attempt to deceive the school board; and any policy violation, for starters. Does the school board even have any written policy that is inclusive of all district employees? If not, we should insist on one.

Under his contract, Klaus' remaining salary and retirement stipend total $775,000, which is a lot of money in anyone's book. All I see Klaus doing is getting paid for doing nothing and laughing all the way to the bank. He violated the public trust by an attempted theft by fraud and it appears that the school board wants to just pay him off. He should be summarily fired. If our illustrious school board decides to hurry up and pay off Klaus to leave the district without firing him, we should have an immediate recall election of every school board member.

I strongly suspect that the reason there is not a comprehensive policy that governs deportment of school district employees is because many have skeletons in their own closets.

I think it's time to fire every employee who was involved in this fraud and cover-up and replace them with people who have guts enough to do their jobs. We are in a serious financial mess and we taxpayers must regain control of our school board and school administration now!

ROLAND LARSON

Eau Claire