Updated: 6/26/2008 11:32:01 PM
Larger Stipend
The retirement stipend payment to former Eau Claire school Superintendent Bill Klaus that has prompted police and school board investigations has previously been reported as totaling $225,000. Klaus' retirement stipend actually totals $267,208. District officials say the $225,000 provided previously to the Leader-Telegram was an estimate.
Attorney: Klaus not going to quit
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Forget the allegations of wrongdoing. Forget the harm to his reputation. Embattled Northstar Middle School Principal Bill Klaus wants to keep his job, his attorney said Thursday.
"There has been an incredible amount of harm to Bill's reputation, but he definitely wants to keep working in the district," attorney Thomas Guelzow said.
Klaus' desire to remain with the district could be easier said than done.
The Eau Claire school board continues to decide whether to take disciplinary action against Klaus in the wake of an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing how last July former board President Carol Olson, at Klaus' request, signed and backdated a document directing Klaus' $267,209 retirement stipend payments to begin Aug. 1, earlier than allowed in his contract. Retirement stipend payments are payments to certain school district employees after retirement in addition to other retirement benefits they have accrued.
Klaus worked as superintendent for nine years before becoming the Northstar principal last summer. District officials say he didn't receive his stipend payments after the school board voted in October that he couldn'taccess them until age 55.
The board's investigation of the matter has included interviews with six district employees and could lead to discipline and possible firings of Klaus and other employees. Sources familiar with the investigation say board members are strongly considering firing Klaus. It remains uncertain whether that would entail a buyout of a portion of Klaus' contract, which extends through 2012.
Guelzow said he will advise Klaus to contest any attempts to fire him, especially given Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White's decision Wednesday against filing criminal charges related to the contract alteration.
Division among board members regarding their recollections about whether contract changes they approved on Feb. 5, 2007, allowed Klaus to receive the stipend payments early gives his client's version of events more merit, said Guelzow, noting he blames the board for confusion surrounding Klaus' contract.
Former board members Carol Olson, Michael O'Brien and JoAnne Evans said they believe the contract intended the early stipend, while current board member Mary Kneer - who praised White's decision - said she can't remember whether early payments were discussed or not.
In contrast, statements by board members Carol Craig, Trish Cummins and Brent Wogahn directly contradict other board members' versions of contract discussions.
"No way did we say (Klaus) could retire at age 53. That's just not what happened," Cummins said.
While Olson said she believes Klaus' contract allowed the early payment, her statements to investigators on that topic were vague, as noted in the 400-page Eau Claire Police Department investigation report.
According to the report:
Olson said it was "not made clear" that Klaus could begin receiving his stipend in August but that she remembered the board agreeing that he should receive it at age 53. Klaus turned 53 in July. When asked whether the board intended Klaus' stipend payments to begin at age 53, Olson responded that "could very well be the intent."
The statements of Evans and O'Brien are more direct. They told investigators they recall discussion of allowing Klaus to lower his retirement age from 55 to 53.
However, both Evans and O'Brien had difficulty explaining details confirming that the board intended for Klaus to receive his stipend early.
Evans conceded that the stipend is not mentioned in board minutes of Jan. 8 and Jan. 22, when changes to Klaus' contract were discussed, but maintains the board intended the early stipend payments to Klaus. Likewise, when asked if the board discussed when Klaus' stipend payments were to begin, O'Brien "said he did not recall any specifics," the report states.
White said the lack of clarity regarding Klaus accessing his stipend payments "is troubling," as is the fact that Klaus sought out Olson when she was no longer a board member to sign and backdate a document instead of going before the full board. However, that wasn't enough to overcome board members' differences of opinion that he said precluded his filing criminal charges in the case.
"There was a definite lack of clarity regarding this contract and its intent," White said. "But I still needed more proof about the intent of that board."
Emerson can be reached at 830-5911, 800-236-7077 or julian.emerson@ecpc.com.
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1 comment:
So let's take a look at where we are now.
There is not sufficient evidence to prove beyond a reasonable doubt the Dr. Klaus is guilty of a crime.
Is there evidence that he should be terminated for "just cause," the standard stipulated in his contract?
How does "just cause" fit into the legal scheme compared to "beyond a reasonable doubt?"
Is there a role and capacity in which he can continue to serve the district?
Has the school district lost the trust of the citizens of the district?
How does one determine that?
If it has lost public trust how can it regain that trust?
That is the only question I can answer and I can only answer it for myself.
For me the district can only maintain my trust if they carefully, reasonably and thoughtfully answer the first set of questions in as open and forthright a manner as possible and take whatever actions those answers dictate that will result is the best possible solution that not only deals with the issues of needed discipline of personnel involved but addresses the underlying procedures that exacerbated the problem. And I will not be the first one to cast a stone if their solution isn't perfect.
Inaction is the only response on their part that will send me to the stone pile.
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