LT Editorial: 7-9-08

Updated: 7/9/2008 6:22:01 PM

Current school board, Heilmann left to clean up mess

The issue: Police reports indicate former Eau Claire school Superintendent Bill Klaus supervised changes to his own contract.

Our view: Policies to correct this blatant conflict of interest need to be implemented and publicized as the first step in trying to restore public trust in our school system.

In the murky matter of what the Eau Claire school board did or didn't do regarding former Superintendent Bill Klaus' contract, one thing has emerged crystal clear: The slipshod way the superintendent's contract is handled must - and apparently will - change.

The superintendent is the only district employee who reports directly to the school board, so the seven-member board negotiates, discusses and votes on the superintendent's contract, which obviously includes pay and benefits. It is now clear that somewhere that process broke down.

At issue is whether the school board last year approved a provision in Klaus' contract to allow him to begin receiving his nearly $270,000 stipend starting at age 53 rather than at the customary age of 55. It's also standard for an employee to actually be retired before getting the payments. Klaus last year stepped down as superintendent to become principal at Northstar Middle School.

New Superintendent Ron Heilmann said any changes to his contract will be typed up by the Personnel Department after board approval. That apparently isn't how it worked under Klaus, who directed changes in his contract by writing alterations in the contract's margins, which then were typed up by Patti Iverson, Klaus' former executive assistant.

Most incredible is that these changes were not seen by the entire school board, according to a statement Iverson gave police investigators looking into possible criminal activity. Eau Claire County District Attorney Rich White decided not to charge anyone in the matter because he found the school board members divided over whether they did or didn't allow Klaus to begin receiving the stipend at age 53.

According to the police report, Iverson said not all board members saw Klaus' contract before it was adopted, a practice she said has been the case "for as long as I can remember." Klaus' controversial 2007 contract bears the signatures of only two board members, Carol Olson and JoAnne Evans, both of whom have since left the board.

There are no minutes of any board meeting approving the early stipend payments for Klaus. Board President Carol Craig and fellow board members Trish Cummins and Brent Wogahn said that is because the issue never was discussed. Mike O'Brien, who was on the board at the time, joined Evans and Olson in contending that the early stipend was approved. Board member Mary Kneer said she can't remember either way.

A reasonable person would conclude that something this significant should have been recorded in the board's closed-session minutes. That same reasonable person would be aghast to know not all board members reviewed and voted on the final agreement. Finally, a reasonable person would wonder if some of the fuzzy memories in this case have more to do with covering butts than setting the record straight.

Iverson also told police she doesn't recall changing the stipend eligibility age from 55 to 53 but conceded, "I have a feeling that I did."

Olson, who was school board president in early 2007, recalled being asked by Iverson, most certainly at Klaus' request, to sign and backdate a memo authorizing the early stipend payments, even though Olson no longer was on the board when she signed the memo.

By now, many people are probably tired of reading about this, but even more people feel angry and betrayed that such a thing could occur in the first place. Heilmann and Craig, the current board president, certainly realize this, and their first step moving forward is to inform the public in loud and clear terms what changes will be made to prevent something so damaging to the district's image from ever happening again.

- Don Huebscher, editor