Pay Klaus Even More Money to Go Away?

This possibility had occurred to me and it makes me SICK TO MY STOMACH. This is just one more disaster that can be hung on the decade of failed leadership that was headed up by Bill Klaus, Gregg Butler, Carol Olson, Mike O'Brien, JoAnne Evans, Bob Janke, Mary Kneer, and more recently even Brent Wogahn who all did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING while the district headed into the pit of no Strategic Planning, no community involvement, no accountability, and just pretending they were a cozy private club at the top of the social heap in EC. The current BOE would be doing more long term damage by paying the jerk even more money to go away.

How much lower can we go before we hit bottom?

Maria


Updated: 6/19/2008 8:42:02 AM
The Eau Claire school district had paid $14,840 as of the end of April for legal costs associated with an investigation into contract changes for Bill Klaus, the Northstar Middle School principal and former superintendent.

Buyout of former superintendent's contract possible
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
While firing former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus remains a distinct possibility, school board members haven't ruled out a negotiated agreement in which Klaus could leave his job as Northstar Middle School principal.

Klaus' contract guarantees him payment from the district through 2012, but that could be altered as part of any deal the board and Klaus might agree upon, school district sources close to the investigation into alterations to Klaus' contract said.

Klaus' contract calls for his receiving compensation for 2007-09 and 2009-11. As part of the deal the board approved on Feb. 5, 2007, an additional year was added to the contract, granting him payment through 2012.

Total compensation for Klaus' four remaining contract years totals about $550,000, not including Klaus' $225,000 stipend payment.

Specific terms of a possible separation deal have not been discussed by the board, but nothing has been officially negotiated between district officials and Klaus, sources said.

"This isn't something we can talk about in detail now because we're not willing to jeopardize the investigation," school board President Carol Craig said. "But we are working very diligently."

Negotiations to discipline or fire public-sector employees like Klaus often are time consuming and fraught with legal concerns, in large part because those employees have signed contracts guaranteeing certain conditions as part of their employment.

Terms of possible negotiations with Klaus remain uncertain, but severance payments or contract buy-outs are relatively common in cases of public employees who are dismissed.

Buying out employees who resign or have been fired has precedent in the Eau Claire school district. For instance, the district paid former North High School Principal Terry Downen $83,000 when he resigned eight years ago after attempting to exempt students from a state standardized test without permission to boost test scores, as well as concerns about his disobeying the school's truancy policy. Other district employees have been allowed to resign with full benefits rather than be fired.

"When you look at the cost of defending a lawsuit, you have to ask 'why not just settle this now and put it behind us?'" said one board member who requested anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the Klaus contract investigation.

Another district official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, called fears of continued negative publicity surrounding the ongoing investigation "a huge concern."

Klaus' contract change became an issue after an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing how former school board President Carol Olson, at Klaus' request, signed and backdated a memo authorizing that Klaus begin receiving his stipend earlier than his contract allowed. Olson signed the memo last summer, at least two months after having vacated her board position.

Olson and Klaus admit to creating and backdating the document but contend the board previously had approved granting the early stipend payment. However, other board members said they never even discussed the issue. Klaus' contract did not call for him to begin receiving stipend payments until he retired. District officials said he didn't receive stipend payments, and the school board voted Oct. 22 to deny them.

The board and Eau Claire Police Department launched separate investigations in the days after revelations of the contract alteration surfaced, and on Monday the board met for the ninth time behind closed doors to discuss the issue.

That same day police officials announced they had completed their investigation into the matter and forwarded their work to Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White, who said he expects to decide whether to file criminal charges related to the case sometime next week.

School board members have said they want to give information to the public about the matter, but they must balance that with concerns about imperiling their investigation.

Slowing the process is the fact that district administrators who normally would be assisting with the inquiry are subjects of the investigation.

Klaus isn't the only district employee facing possible board reprimand, district officials close to the investigation said. Interim Superintendent Jim Leary, Deputy Superintendent Gregg Butler and Personnel Director Jim Kling could be disciplined - or fired - for their roles in failing to notify board members and others about the contract change once the issue surfaced last summer, sources say.

Instead, board members say those administrators kept much of that information secret even as the board questioned it in the weeks after the Oct. 22 meeting.

How much those administrators knew about the issue remains uncertain, but they have acknowledged having been involved in discussions with Klaus about it last summer and fall - before board members learned about it.

Leary's one-year interim superintendent tenure ends June 30, likely before the board would issue any possible disciplinary action against him.

Likewise, Butler is slated to leave the district July 3 after he recently announced he won't reapply for his position despite having expressed previous interest in continuing that job.

Butler retired as deputy superintendent at the end of last school year and was immediately rehired to continue in that position for the past school year on an interim basis after being denied the interim superintendent job.

Kling is expected to work at least one more year for the district before retiring.

Board members also said former board President Michael O'Brien apparently had knowledge of the contract change prior to Oct. 22, as evidenced by the fact that he requested a legal opinion on the matter from the Davis and Kuelthau firm prior to that meeting.

Several board members said O'Brien advised them against commenting on the topic to the Leader-Telegram. O'Brien said he and other school board members could not discuss the issue because discussion of it had occurred in closed session. He and other administrators also declined to release records related to Klaus' contract change to the Leader-Telegram.

Attorney Kirk Strang with the Davis and Kuelthau law firm subsequently determined those records should be released to the newspaper.

Emerson can be reached at 830-5911, 800-236-7077 or julian.emerson@ecpc.com.