Dear Readers,
This link was posted in one of the LT comment section and it was way too good not to share with everybody. This guy (from Jefferson, WI) has the ECASD BOE (at least Mike O'Brien and the Weld, Riley firm) and Administration perfectly drawn with this tongue-in-cheek guide to the Open Records statutes. For those individuals making these requests they pulled ALL OF THESE STUNTS to avoid complying with the law. It was certainly a concentrated effort among Klaus, Olson, Mr. Weld, Mr. O'Brien, Dr. Leary, and Mr. Kling to pull this all together for so many months. The only thing that was missed was Klaus' stunt toward me: Threaten to sue them for asking questions!
Enjoy. Pray that things will change under Dr. Craig's and Dr. Heilmann's leadership.
Maria
A Guide To Hiding Records:
How to Avoid Complying with Wisconsin's Open Records Law
by John Foust
In my experience with Wisconsin's Open Records Law and making requests of bureaucrats of all shapes and sizes, I've learned a few tricks that might help other government workers avoid complying with the requests of Open Records fanatics.
Why Avoid Surrendering Records?
Reason number one: You have nothing to hide. Literally. If you haven't accomplished much, you're probably working very hard to insure no one learns that. It's hard enough hiding it from the boss. It's just as important to hide it from the public. Assure the record-seeker that you have nothing to hide and that you'd be glad to help them with their request, as long as it's allowed by the law.
Reason number two: It's none of their business. No doubt there are plenty of facts that would make your job more difficult if they were printed in the newspaper. Every fact can be made to look bad if twisted by someone with an agenda. You want to hand out as few pieces of the puzzle as possible. If you need inspiration to avoid dispensing information, imagine what would happen if everything on your desk was printed in tomorrow's newspaper. Only you know what's best for the public when it comes to your job and whether you're doing it right.
Reason number three: We can't do our job if we had to tell everyone what we're were doing. Gain the sympathy of your superiors by whining about the incredible burden of supplying all the information requested by record-seekers. Claim that revealing this information will make it more difficult for you to do the job you're supposed to be doing. By taking as much time as possible to fulfill requests, you'll hit two birds with one stone. One, you'll have less real work to do. Two, you'll accomplish just as little by delaying the fulfillment of the open records requests.
Keep the above three reasons in mind while you practice the other craft of avoiding requests, as follows:
Deny the record exists. The very fact that someone wants to see a record should give you a nice big hint that it might contain something juicy that you don't want to reveal. This gives you a good opportunity to destroy the record. Take it home, hide it in a filing cabinet, or better yet, file it somewhere where only your successor will rediscover it. The shredder is your friend. If you can't find it, they can't get it.
The law also says you need not hand over intermediate or personal notes. Therefore, if in doubt, claim something is a note. For example, raw data is almost always a note. After all, this is the raw material that you spin as part of your job. You only present cooked, digested and properly spun information. If someone else got the raw data, they could digest the information and draw different conclusions, exposing all the hard work you did to fudge the figures.
Claim the request isn't specific enough. This stall is always good for a few days and often inspires frustration in the requester. After all, you just want them to go away, right?
When they ask what would make the request specific enough, say "I don't know." It's your discretion. "Specific" means different things to different people. For example, if they ask for the first six memos you wrote to person X, it's easy to argue that this is not specific enough. Be creative.
Make them pay for what they really want. Like a parking ticket or a speeding ticket, levy a fine. Claim that finding the record will incur a tremendous amount of time. You can charge for time to find long-buried records. If your budget is tight, urge your superiors to set a higher per-page copying cost to help offset those copier expenses. You're not responsible for reducing costs. You are able by law to charge to help offset the cost of producing some kinds of records.
Charge a burdensome flat fee for anyone who wants to see a record. It's probably illegal, but it'll eliminate a large number of casual requests. It will also add much-needed funds to your budget, especially if you can set a hefty fee for records commonly requested by businesses with deep pockets. They'll regard it as an official sort of bribe, or at least the cost of doing business.
Make haste slowly. The law says records requests must be fulfilled "as soon as practicable and without delay." Don't deliver immediately. If the Attorney General tells you that ten days is a reasonable response time, always be sure to take at least ten business days to respond regardless of the complexity of the request.
Push the limit and take longer than ten days. Claim you're busy assembling their request. If they take it to the District Attorney, that office will wave it off, and you've bought more time.
If someone shows up on your doorstep to make a request, claim you have a meeting to attend in ten minutes and that you must leave immediately. Offer to schedule an appointment, but as far in the future as reasonably possible. In this case, "practicable" means your schedule is very full. Who's to say that you're not accommodating the requester? How are they going to prove you are delaying on purpose? You have a busy schedule, don't you? If you know the requester isn't available at a certain time, insist that's the only available slot you have.
Similarly, schedule meetings with your superiors and governing Boards to discuss the issue, but be sure that all decisions are pushed into the next meeting, and that the next meeting is next month. Again, who's to say you're not working on the issue and getting opinions from all involved?
As soon as you've responded to the requester, regardless of whether you refused their request or surrendered the wrong records, be sure to inform all your superiors that all open records requests have been handled properly and there's nothing to worry about.
Drive them nuts. Be sure to repeat this "as soon as practicable and without delay" phrase to the requester as often as possible with a straight face, especially while scheduling other delays. Dare the requester to point out your hypocrisy. Once they do, use the incident to gain more sympathy from your superiors.
At every turn, paint the requester as a lunatic. As you spend more and more time on these requests, your superiors will encourage you to find under-the-table methods of discouraging future requests and be more willing to look the other way when you actually break the law. They'll join in your little game if you can use it as a team-building exercise.
Don't say more than you have to. The law says you need to surrender records, not explanations. Do not respond to any general questions. If they're asking general questions, say that those do not constitute a valid open records request and that there's no need to respond.
Don't look happy if you don't feel like it. You may be a public servant, but always keep in mind the shining example of the clerks at the driver's license desk at the Department of Transportation. If a requester asks a question, give them a blank stare, ten seconds of silence, followed by the words "I don't know."
Make mistakes. You can always ask for forgiveness. Surrender the wrong records. Forget to hand over some of their request. Split up the request into pieces, give out some, forget others. When they complain, say their request was so complicated and that you were so busy, you made a mistake.
Mea culpa! Big deal! "What are you going to do, make a Federal case of it?" It's not as if you're going to be fired for making a mistake.
The best mistake destroys a record. Zap those e-mails, and later claim you didn't know you had to keep them. Don't make backups. Claim you don't have the budget for that.
Erase audio tapes as soon as someone asks for them. These sorts of literal records are the most dangerous to release. After all, everyone knows the minutes of a meeting are the first opportunity to re-write history. One phrase in the minutes like "It was the general consensus that we should move ahead" will clear away the evidence of an hour of dissent on a tape. Losing the tape is an important part of preserving the official record of the minutes.
If someone asks for an electronic record in electronic form, print it out and destroy the computer file. A database on paper is almost worthless for research, but the printed version probably complies with the legal requirements for preservation of the record.
On the other hand, if the requester makes a mistake of any kind, say a lot about it. You'll look smart for pointing it out, and it'll build sympathy with your superiors. Point out that frivolous and repeated requests need not be answered.
Fake ignorance. This excuse can be especially powerful when you want to eliminate access to all the past records, in order to gain a chance to sanitize them for the future. Attempt to flatter the record-seeker and gain sympathy by claiming they know more about the open records law than you do.
By pretending not to understand the fine points of the law, you can demonstrate to your superiors that you're willing to learn. You can spend time researching the law. This could take a long time. Use it as career advancement and a chance for a field trip. You might need to be sent to a seminar.
Meanwhile, the record-seeker will be forced to explain the law in greater detail, researching and citing case law, referring to other authorities, and consulting with the district attorney or state attorney general's offices.
All this causes a wonderful delay. In the end, you can claim that you didn't realize you were doing it all wrong, but that you'll do it right in the future. Armed with your new knowledge of the law, you can cycle again through the reasons above, except this time you can claim the law is on your side.
Invent authority. Telephone calls are your friend. Claim that an authority confirmed that you need not supply a record. There's no recording of your phone call. When you describe the situation to the authority, you can spin the situation any way you want. After all, you already know the answer you want, you're just looking for confirmation.
When you call the League of Municipalities or the Attorney General's office for advice, be sure to spin the facts in your favor. Leave out important details. Give your side of the story. Return with an answer in your favor, and the burden is back on the shoulders of the requester to prove you wrong.
Hire attorneys. This will show your bosses that you are serious about doing the right thing. It's the taxpayer's money and the taxpayer's information, so it's your responsibility to spend their money to keep the records out of their hands.
Find an attorney who will write nasty letters saying whatever you'd like to say. Remind them that their arguments need not be grounded in the law, and that there's more money available where this came from.
Teach the attorney about these rules and tricks of the trade, if they don't know them already. Believe it or not, you may be more experienced in these tricks than a lawyer. After all, the lawyer has to please the client eventually or they don't get paid. As a bureaucrat, there's no need to satisfy the public's request for information.
- John Foust
Friday, May 30, 2008
LT Editorial 5/25/08
Updated: 5/25/2008 8:32:02 AM
Closed meetings should be taped to protect all
The Wisconsin Newspaper Association, which has 265 members, including the Leader-Telegram, is backing a proposal that would force local governments to record and maintain minutes of all closed meetings.
If such a system were in place in February 2007, Bill Klaus most likely wouldn't be on administrative leave from his job as principal of Northstar Middle School, and former Eau Claire school board President Carol Olson wouldn't find herself in the middle of an investigation by the current school board and the Eau Claire Police Department.
When Klaus moved from superintendent to Northstar principal, he reportedly asked that he begin receiving stipend payments - a five-year retirement cash benefit that in Klaus' case is worth $225,000 - starting in August 2007. Other district employees don't start receiving stipends until they retire. His recollection is that the board approved the arrangement. Olson apparently recalled the same thing, and in summer 2007 she signed and backdated a memo approving stipend payments for Klaus starting in August 2007.
But that's not what other school board members recalled. In fact, they remember nothing of the sort, and that's why this situation looks so bad.
Minutes obtained by the Leader-Telegram from the school board's February 2007 closed session at which the matter was discussed give no indication the board approved the early stipend payments, but Klaus contends those minutes are incomplete.
Had that meeting been taped, Klaus, Olson and other board members could have listened to what was said and quickly determined if the early stipend payments were approved.
Reluctance to record or keep detailed minutes of closed sessions no doubt is on the advice of some legal experts who see such "evidence" as a red flag to anyone looking for a reason to sue or otherwise cause mischief for the school district. But there's also a risk in not recording your discussions, because when a conflict arises over what did or didn't happen, there is nothing to fall back on other than people's recollections. That's no way to run an operation responsible for tens of millions of dollars in other people's money.
Eau Claire City Council member Dave Duax rightfully believes elected bodies should keep detailed records of what goes on in closed session so they can be reviewed months or even years later if needed. That's simply good management, and if that means being careful what you say in closed session, so be it.
Judges asked to release closed session records would have to balance the public interest in releasing the information against the privacy rights of people whose reputations may be harmed if the information is let out. Other times if the elected body is negotiating a land purchase, the public may be better served if that information remains secret, at least in the short term.
Open government is at the bedrock of who we are as a people. Our collective attitude should be that the activities of government will be open unless there is a clear and compelling reason to go behind closed doors, and even then what goes on there should be recorded to ensure everyone agrees what took place.
You never know when it might be important.
- Don Huebscher, editor
Closed meetings should be taped to protect all
The Wisconsin Newspaper Association, which has 265 members, including the Leader-Telegram, is backing a proposal that would force local governments to record and maintain minutes of all closed meetings.
If such a system were in place in February 2007, Bill Klaus most likely wouldn't be on administrative leave from his job as principal of Northstar Middle School, and former Eau Claire school board President Carol Olson wouldn't find herself in the middle of an investigation by the current school board and the Eau Claire Police Department.
When Klaus moved from superintendent to Northstar principal, he reportedly asked that he begin receiving stipend payments - a five-year retirement cash benefit that in Klaus' case is worth $225,000 - starting in August 2007. Other district employees don't start receiving stipends until they retire. His recollection is that the board approved the arrangement. Olson apparently recalled the same thing, and in summer 2007 she signed and backdated a memo approving stipend payments for Klaus starting in August 2007.
But that's not what other school board members recalled. In fact, they remember nothing of the sort, and that's why this situation looks so bad.
Minutes obtained by the Leader-Telegram from the school board's February 2007 closed session at which the matter was discussed give no indication the board approved the early stipend payments, but Klaus contends those minutes are incomplete.
Had that meeting been taped, Klaus, Olson and other board members could have listened to what was said and quickly determined if the early stipend payments were approved.
Reluctance to record or keep detailed minutes of closed sessions no doubt is on the advice of some legal experts who see such "evidence" as a red flag to anyone looking for a reason to sue or otherwise cause mischief for the school district. But there's also a risk in not recording your discussions, because when a conflict arises over what did or didn't happen, there is nothing to fall back on other than people's recollections. That's no way to run an operation responsible for tens of millions of dollars in other people's money.
Eau Claire City Council member Dave Duax rightfully believes elected bodies should keep detailed records of what goes on in closed session so they can be reviewed months or even years later if needed. That's simply good management, and if that means being careful what you say in closed session, so be it.
Judges asked to release closed session records would have to balance the public interest in releasing the information against the privacy rights of people whose reputations may be harmed if the information is let out. Other times if the elected body is negotiating a land purchase, the public may be better served if that information remains secret, at least in the short term.
Open government is at the bedrock of who we are as a people. Our collective attitude should be that the activities of government will be open unless there is a clear and compelling reason to go behind closed doors, and even then what goes on there should be recorded to ensure everyone agrees what took place.
You never know when it might be important.
- Don Huebscher, editor
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Open Records (LT 5-25-08)
In my opinion, there can be no doubt that the provisions of the Open Meetings Laws and the interpretation of them with the more recent court rulings was used and abused by the ECASD BOE under the Presidency of Mike O'Brien. His decision to withhold the discussions related to the Klaus/Olson backdated document reflected his desire to protect his buddies (Klaus and Olson) and avoid disclosure of their fraudulence. This was further complicated and affirmed by the fact that there WERE NO CONSEQUENCES AT ALL for Klaus for his deception. They just said that he could not get the money early as he was attempting to, Illegally, do.
Maria
Updated: 5/24/2008 11:12:02 PM
Questions raised about open records
By Tom Giffey
Leader-Telegram staff
The controversy surrounding an Eau Claire school administrator's contract has thrown a spotlight on the use of closed meetings by local governments.
In particular, the situation highlights how a recent state appeals court ruling may have a chilling effect on the public's attempts to examine what goes on behind closed doors.
While local government meetings are for the most part open to the public, bodies such as the Eau Claire school board can meet in closed session for specific purposes spelled out in state law. Discussion of personnel matters - including performance evaluations and compensation - are among the exceptions.
And it's under those exceptions that the Eau Claire school board met in closed session several times last year. On Jan. 8, 2007, the board met in closed session to discuss the evaluation of then-Superintendant Bill Klaus. According to minutes of that meeting, the board agreed to allow Klaus to move into another administrative job within the district. At another closed meeting Jan. 22, 2007, the board again discussed the terms of Klaus' contract. Then, at an open session meeting Feb. 5, 2007, the board approved the contract changes, allowing Klaus to become Northstar Middle School principal beginning this school year.
The matter would have ended there except for actions taken last summer by Klaus and Carol Olson, the former school board president. At the behest of Klaus, Olson signed and backdated a document to Feb. 5, stating that the school board had agreed to allow Klaus to begin collecting his retirement stipend payments at age 53, rather than at retirement, as stated in his contract. (Klaus is now under investigation by the school board and police, and was placed on paid leave last month.)
Klaus and Olson have maintained that they were not trying to circumvent the contract; rather, they were clarifying a misunderstanding about when the stipend payments should begin.
In a letter to interim Superintendent James Leary earlier this month, Klaus said the minutes of the Jan. 22, 2007, closed session meeting "do not reflect the issues raised regarding my contract" and "are, at best, incomplete." He also complained that there apparently were no closed session minutes from Feb. 5, 2007, "the very meeting at which the Board addressed and approved the matter of my stipend payments."
However, board members - including current President Carol Craig - have said Klaus' contract wasn't discussed in closed session that evening, an assertion backed up by closed-session minutes obtained by the Leader-Telegram.
Records may be vague
This disagreement highlights one ambiguity in the state's meetings laws: How comprehensive should minutes be? According to an open meetings guidebook published by the state Department of Justice in 2007, the law requires minutes be kept of open and closed session meetings. However, these minutes don't have to be "detailed"; rather, they can merely be records of motions and roll-call votes. In other words, the school board would be operating legally if it talked about Klaus' stipend but didn't write down the discussion's details - as long as proper notification of the closed meeting was given.
But the state attorney general's office said governmental bodies must keep a record of any actions taken in closed meetings, formal or otherwise. The Leader-Telegram requested the opinion, which was written last week by Assistant Attorney General Thomas Bellavia.
"A body must create and preserve an intelligible record of the essential elements of all such decisions regardless of the decision-making method used and regardless of whether a formal motion has been presented to the body," Bellavia wrote.
"Regardless of where the outer limits of the record-keeping requirement ... may lie ... it is clear that every action or determination made by a governmental body on any substantive item of the body's business lies well within those limits," Bellavia wrote.
Eau Claire City Council member Dave Duax worries that the minimal record-keeping requirements of the law could land local governments in trouble if their closed session decisions were questioned in court. He noted that the Department of Justice has stated that government bodies can keep tape recordings of their meetings to satisfy the open records law.
"In Eau Claire, that would be an epiphany," he said. If the school board had recorded its closed-session deliberations about Klaus' contract, "It may have saved the man a job, and saved the Eau Claire school district a significant amount of embarrassment," Duax said.
Coincidentally, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association has begun to press state lawmakers to amend the law to require audio or video recordings of all closed session meetings. In a letter last fall to state Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, WNA Executive Director Peter Fox said the law also should be amended to allow public access to the recordings (and other meeting minutes) after the reasons for the meetings' confidentiality had expired.
Ruling criticized
The WNA effort came on the heels of a 1st District Court of Appeals decision that slammed the door shut on access to closed meeting records in Wisconsin. In December 2006, the appeals court ruled in Sands v. Whitnall, a dispute between the Whitnall school district in Greenfield and a former employee who sought disclosure of what went on in a closed meeting during which her employment was discussed. The court ruled that the meetings law was intended to shield some discussions from the public, and that the law "contains no exceptions to the non-disclosure principle, none for litigation or any other circumstance."
Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, called the decision "astoundingly bad." It was appealed, and Lueders hopes the state Supreme Court overturns the ruling. (The high court is expected to announce its decision by the end of June.)
Mike O'Brien - who was Eau Claire school board president until last month - cited Sands v. Whitnall as the reason board members couldn't talk about discussions of Klaus' contract that took place at a closed session meeting Oct. 22. (The board clarified provisions of Klaus' contract in an open session meeting Dec. 17.)
In a Dec. 20 e-mail to the Leader-Telegram, O'Brien wrote that the questions that arose about Klaus' contract involved "information discussed in closed session which I cannot divulge."
In another e-mail, sent April 14, O'Brien wrote that, based on his interpretation of the Sands v. Whitnall ruling, "If the information cannot be disclosed in a court case, it stands to reason it cannot be disclosed to the press."
Lueders, news editor of the Isthmus newspaper in Madison, said the appeals court ruling could be read as a broad prohibition against releasing closed-session information.
"It's an arguably valid interpretation of an astoundingly bad decision," Lueders said. "The fact you could interpret it that way shows what a bad decision it is."
The court ruling notwithstanding, Lueders believes the law allows the release of information from closed session meetings.
"There's no requirement that they treat the (closed session) discussion as part of some top-secret occurrence," he said.
Indeed, earlier this month, the Eau Claire school district responded to a records request from the Leader-Telegram by providing copies of minutes from six closed session meetings last year at which Klaus' contract was discussed. The records weren't completely open, however: Paragraphs were blacked out on three of the documents.
Giffey can be reached at 833-9205, 800-236-7077 or tom.giffey@ecpc.com.
Maria
Updated: 5/24/2008 11:12:02 PM
Questions raised about open records
By Tom Giffey
Leader-Telegram staff
The controversy surrounding an Eau Claire school administrator's contract has thrown a spotlight on the use of closed meetings by local governments.
In particular, the situation highlights how a recent state appeals court ruling may have a chilling effect on the public's attempts to examine what goes on behind closed doors.
While local government meetings are for the most part open to the public, bodies such as the Eau Claire school board can meet in closed session for specific purposes spelled out in state law. Discussion of personnel matters - including performance evaluations and compensation - are among the exceptions.
And it's under those exceptions that the Eau Claire school board met in closed session several times last year. On Jan. 8, 2007, the board met in closed session to discuss the evaluation of then-Superintendant Bill Klaus. According to minutes of that meeting, the board agreed to allow Klaus to move into another administrative job within the district. At another closed meeting Jan. 22, 2007, the board again discussed the terms of Klaus' contract. Then, at an open session meeting Feb. 5, 2007, the board approved the contract changes, allowing Klaus to become Northstar Middle School principal beginning this school year.
The matter would have ended there except for actions taken last summer by Klaus and Carol Olson, the former school board president. At the behest of Klaus, Olson signed and backdated a document to Feb. 5, stating that the school board had agreed to allow Klaus to begin collecting his retirement stipend payments at age 53, rather than at retirement, as stated in his contract. (Klaus is now under investigation by the school board and police, and was placed on paid leave last month.)
Klaus and Olson have maintained that they were not trying to circumvent the contract; rather, they were clarifying a misunderstanding about when the stipend payments should begin.
In a letter to interim Superintendent James Leary earlier this month, Klaus said the minutes of the Jan. 22, 2007, closed session meeting "do not reflect the issues raised regarding my contract" and "are, at best, incomplete." He also complained that there apparently were no closed session minutes from Feb. 5, 2007, "the very meeting at which the Board addressed and approved the matter of my stipend payments."
However, board members - including current President Carol Craig - have said Klaus' contract wasn't discussed in closed session that evening, an assertion backed up by closed-session minutes obtained by the Leader-Telegram.
Records may be vague
This disagreement highlights one ambiguity in the state's meetings laws: How comprehensive should minutes be? According to an open meetings guidebook published by the state Department of Justice in 2007, the law requires minutes be kept of open and closed session meetings. However, these minutes don't have to be "detailed"; rather, they can merely be records of motions and roll-call votes. In other words, the school board would be operating legally if it talked about Klaus' stipend but didn't write down the discussion's details - as long as proper notification of the closed meeting was given.
But the state attorney general's office said governmental bodies must keep a record of any actions taken in closed meetings, formal or otherwise. The Leader-Telegram requested the opinion, which was written last week by Assistant Attorney General Thomas Bellavia.
"A body must create and preserve an intelligible record of the essential elements of all such decisions regardless of the decision-making method used and regardless of whether a formal motion has been presented to the body," Bellavia wrote.
"Regardless of where the outer limits of the record-keeping requirement ... may lie ... it is clear that every action or determination made by a governmental body on any substantive item of the body's business lies well within those limits," Bellavia wrote.
Eau Claire City Council member Dave Duax worries that the minimal record-keeping requirements of the law could land local governments in trouble if their closed session decisions were questioned in court. He noted that the Department of Justice has stated that government bodies can keep tape recordings of their meetings to satisfy the open records law.
"In Eau Claire, that would be an epiphany," he said. If the school board had recorded its closed-session deliberations about Klaus' contract, "It may have saved the man a job, and saved the Eau Claire school district a significant amount of embarrassment," Duax said.
Coincidentally, the Wisconsin Newspaper Association has begun to press state lawmakers to amend the law to require audio or video recordings of all closed session meetings. In a letter last fall to state Sen. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, WNA Executive Director Peter Fox said the law also should be amended to allow public access to the recordings (and other meeting minutes) after the reasons for the meetings' confidentiality had expired.
Ruling criticized
The WNA effort came on the heels of a 1st District Court of Appeals decision that slammed the door shut on access to closed meeting records in Wisconsin. In December 2006, the appeals court ruled in Sands v. Whitnall, a dispute between the Whitnall school district in Greenfield and a former employee who sought disclosure of what went on in a closed meeting during which her employment was discussed. The court ruled that the meetings law was intended to shield some discussions from the public, and that the law "contains no exceptions to the non-disclosure principle, none for litigation or any other circumstance."
Bill Lueders, president of the Wisconsin Freedom of Information Council, called the decision "astoundingly bad." It was appealed, and Lueders hopes the state Supreme Court overturns the ruling. (The high court is expected to announce its decision by the end of June.)
Mike O'Brien - who was Eau Claire school board president until last month - cited Sands v. Whitnall as the reason board members couldn't talk about discussions of Klaus' contract that took place at a closed session meeting Oct. 22. (The board clarified provisions of Klaus' contract in an open session meeting Dec. 17.)
In a Dec. 20 e-mail to the Leader-Telegram, O'Brien wrote that the questions that arose about Klaus' contract involved "information discussed in closed session which I cannot divulge."
In another e-mail, sent April 14, O'Brien wrote that, based on his interpretation of the Sands v. Whitnall ruling, "If the information cannot be disclosed in a court case, it stands to reason it cannot be disclosed to the press."
Lueders, news editor of the Isthmus newspaper in Madison, said the appeals court ruling could be read as a broad prohibition against releasing closed-session information.
"It's an arguably valid interpretation of an astoundingly bad decision," Lueders said. "The fact you could interpret it that way shows what a bad decision it is."
The court ruling notwithstanding, Lueders believes the law allows the release of information from closed session meetings.
"There's no requirement that they treat the (closed session) discussion as part of some top-secret occurrence," he said.
Indeed, earlier this month, the Eau Claire school district responded to a records request from the Leader-Telegram by providing copies of minutes from six closed session meetings last year at which Klaus' contract was discussed. The records weren't completely open, however: Paragraphs were blacked out on three of the documents.
Giffey can be reached at 833-9205, 800-236-7077 or tom.giffey@ecpc.com.
More on Retirement Stipends (LT 5/24/08)
My Comments: This all, again, seems so self serving that those at the very top (including the secretary at the very top) have gotten all the best and most exclusive deals for themselves while others (teachers and staff) are being hit repeatedly with cuts and increased work loads (larger class sizes).
Go, Julian, go! All of this is finally seeing the light of day which is what needs to happen to begin the process of change.
Maria
Updated: 5/24/2008
Officials forgo benefits for pay
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Four top Eau Claire school district administrators get monetary compensation in lieu of some fringe benefits because they already receive those benefits after having previously retired.
Because they receive benefits available to them via the Wisconsin Retirement System, interim Superintendent James Leary, Deputy Superintendent Gregg Butler, Personnel Director Jim Kling and Business Services Director Dan Van De Water forgo some district benefits.
But that doesn't mean the district is saving huge sums by hiring the retirees. Those administrators are recouping some of those potential taxpayer savings in other forms.
For Leary and Butler, that compensation comes in the form of higher salaries than their positions would have paid were they receiving other benefits.
Leary, hired last summer as interim superintendent, is making $170,000 this school year, to be paid in $34,000 installments during each of the next five years. He isn't receiving district-paid retirement benefits as part of that deal.
Leary replaced former Superintendent Bill Klaus, who earned $141,766 during the 2006-07 school year along with other benefits.
Butler earned $122,835 plus other district benefits during the 2006-07 school year, when he retired. He was subsequently rehired for that position and is receiving $134,750 this school year.
As part of his one-year contract, Butler does not receive district benefits nor the $3,500 annual annuity payment others in that position would receive. Likewise, Leary doesn't receive the superintendent's annuity, $12,000 annually for incoming Superintendent Ron Heilmann.
Instead of a salary boost, Kling and Van De Water get their compensation in the form of tax-sheltered annuities, commonly known as TSAs. Those payments - $20,562 this school year for Kling and $14,387 for Van De Water - are invested in retirement accounts, dollars in addition to state retirement system money they already receive.
Van De Water retired from the Green Bay district and Kling from Spooner.
Fringe benefits for school district officials have come under scrutiny in the wake of an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing Klaus' attempt to access his early retirement stipends earlier than allowed in his contract.
A story earlier this month outlined how district taxpayers will pay an estimated $100 million for teacher and administrator stipends - payments in addition to salary and benefits - by the time current employees receiving them retire. Teachers hired after July 1, 2004, no longer receive stipends, and administrators hired after July 1 won't either.
Administrators defended their trading benefits for pay, saying they shouldn't be expected to work - especially given their experience - for less than others would be paid in those positions. They noted the practice doesn't cost taxpayers any more money than if a non-retired employee were working those jobs.
"I'm not willing to work for less than anybody else doing this job," Van De Water said.
In the cases of Butler and Leary, the district actually saves money because their compensation packages are less than the district would pay in salaries plus benefits to non-retirees, Van De Water said.
Leary said his compensation is "a straightforward amount" that is slightly more than he was paid while working for the Chippewa Falls district four years ago. His salary payments from the district begin July 1.
Not everyone agrees with that sentiment. Several district residents said the practice amounts to double dipping and greed.
"These guys are already receiving those benefits, so why do they need to be compensated for them again?" said Jerry Larson of Eau Claire, when asked about the arrangement.
Calling the annuities "self-serving measures of compensation," Eau Claire teachers union president Jo Burke said the district should re-think its policy of granting them, given budget constraints.
"The classroom is where the real important stuff is taking place, and that's where the resources need to go," she said.
Retirees are working in increasing numbers in school districts nationwide. An administrator shortage means those with experience are in high demand.
According to Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators statistics, 85 of the state's 426 public school districts are seeking superintendents this year. Add in vacancies for other administrative positions, and the shortage becomes even more acute.
Superintendent searches usually take many months, meaning districts often hire an interim such as Leary to fill in. WASDA figures show about 30 interim superintendents currently working in Wisconsin.
Annuities questioned
Kling and Van De Water aren't the only district employees receiving annuities. Student Services Director Fred Weissenburger receives a $2,700 annual annuity, as do Memorial High School Principal Tim Leibham and North High School Principal Dave Valk.
Annuities for those positions and those held by Butler, Kling and Van De Water were put in place during the 1993-94 school year, and amounts have varied since. Annuities for the superintendent are negotiated with the school board.
The only non-administrator to receive annuities is Patti Iverson, the superintendent's executive assistant. Beginning this school year, Iverson receives a $3,000 annual annuity as part of a deal the school board approved last March that also boosted her salary by $5,000 to $50,875.
Other executive assistants did not receive a pay raise at the time Iverson received hers. They did receive a 2.4 percent pay raise for this school year, while Iverson - who also is school board secretary - did not.
As part of her compensation, Iverson, like other executive assistants, receives annual longevity pay based on time worked in the district. In Iverson's case, that figure totals 9 percent of her salary, or $4,579 this year, which is in addition to her base salary.
Iverson's pay has stirred controversy among district employees, according to documents obtained by the Leader-Telegram.
An April 30, 2007, message signed by Bev Christianson, president of the bargaining unit representing district support staff members, notes the "many, many" e-mails circulating regarding Iverson's pay bump.
The letter references new public relations duties Iverson took on, although March 19 school board meeting minutes don't denote that.
"If you have additional questions about why one individual has been granted significant salary and benefit increases (separate from the remaining members of that employee group) at a time when staff in other employee groups are being reduced and/or eliminated, I do not have the answers," Christianson wrote.
Other e-mails note staff dissatisfaction with Iverson's raise and question why she received it while others in her job classification didn't.
Iverson's possible involvement regarding Klaus' contract has come under scrutiny since the attempt to access his $225,000 early retirement stipend surfaced. District officials say Klaus did not receive that money.
Klaus, Iverson's supervisor during his nine years as superintendent, sought the raise and annuity for Iverson a month after the school board approved contract changes allowing him to become Northstar Middle School principal.
Sources familiar with the matter have said Iverson, at Klaus' request, typed the document authorizing that Klaus begin receiving his retirement stipend Aug. 1. The document was signed by former school board President Carol Olson last summer and backdated to make it appear it was part of changes to Klaus' contract the board approved Feb. 5, 2007.
Olson was no longer a board member when she signed the document. The incident has prompted ongoing school board and police investigations.
Emerson can be reached at 830-5911, (800) 236-7077 or julian.emerson@ecpc.com.
Go, Julian, go! All of this is finally seeing the light of day which is what needs to happen to begin the process of change.
Maria
Updated: 5/24/2008
Officials forgo benefits for pay
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Four top Eau Claire school district administrators get monetary compensation in lieu of some fringe benefits because they already receive those benefits after having previously retired.
Because they receive benefits available to them via the Wisconsin Retirement System, interim Superintendent James Leary, Deputy Superintendent Gregg Butler, Personnel Director Jim Kling and Business Services Director Dan Van De Water forgo some district benefits.
But that doesn't mean the district is saving huge sums by hiring the retirees. Those administrators are recouping some of those potential taxpayer savings in other forms.
For Leary and Butler, that compensation comes in the form of higher salaries than their positions would have paid were they receiving other benefits.
Leary, hired last summer as interim superintendent, is making $170,000 this school year, to be paid in $34,000 installments during each of the next five years. He isn't receiving district-paid retirement benefits as part of that deal.
Leary replaced former Superintendent Bill Klaus, who earned $141,766 during the 2006-07 school year along with other benefits.
Butler earned $122,835 plus other district benefits during the 2006-07 school year, when he retired. He was subsequently rehired for that position and is receiving $134,750 this school year.
As part of his one-year contract, Butler does not receive district benefits nor the $3,500 annual annuity payment others in that position would receive. Likewise, Leary doesn't receive the superintendent's annuity, $12,000 annually for incoming Superintendent Ron Heilmann.
Instead of a salary boost, Kling and Van De Water get their compensation in the form of tax-sheltered annuities, commonly known as TSAs. Those payments - $20,562 this school year for Kling and $14,387 for Van De Water - are invested in retirement accounts, dollars in addition to state retirement system money they already receive.
Van De Water retired from the Green Bay district and Kling from Spooner.
Fringe benefits for school district officials have come under scrutiny in the wake of an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing Klaus' attempt to access his early retirement stipends earlier than allowed in his contract.
A story earlier this month outlined how district taxpayers will pay an estimated $100 million for teacher and administrator stipends - payments in addition to salary and benefits - by the time current employees receiving them retire. Teachers hired after July 1, 2004, no longer receive stipends, and administrators hired after July 1 won't either.
Administrators defended their trading benefits for pay, saying they shouldn't be expected to work - especially given their experience - for less than others would be paid in those positions. They noted the practice doesn't cost taxpayers any more money than if a non-retired employee were working those jobs.
"I'm not willing to work for less than anybody else doing this job," Van De Water said.
In the cases of Butler and Leary, the district actually saves money because their compensation packages are less than the district would pay in salaries plus benefits to non-retirees, Van De Water said.
Leary said his compensation is "a straightforward amount" that is slightly more than he was paid while working for the Chippewa Falls district four years ago. His salary payments from the district begin July 1.
Not everyone agrees with that sentiment. Several district residents said the practice amounts to double dipping and greed.
"These guys are already receiving those benefits, so why do they need to be compensated for them again?" said Jerry Larson of Eau Claire, when asked about the arrangement.
Calling the annuities "self-serving measures of compensation," Eau Claire teachers union president Jo Burke said the district should re-think its policy of granting them, given budget constraints.
"The classroom is where the real important stuff is taking place, and that's where the resources need to go," she said.
Retirees are working in increasing numbers in school districts nationwide. An administrator shortage means those with experience are in high demand.
According to Wisconsin Association of School District Administrators statistics, 85 of the state's 426 public school districts are seeking superintendents this year. Add in vacancies for other administrative positions, and the shortage becomes even more acute.
Superintendent searches usually take many months, meaning districts often hire an interim such as Leary to fill in. WASDA figures show about 30 interim superintendents currently working in Wisconsin.
Annuities questioned
Kling and Van De Water aren't the only district employees receiving annuities. Student Services Director Fred Weissenburger receives a $2,700 annual annuity, as do Memorial High School Principal Tim Leibham and North High School Principal Dave Valk.
Annuities for those positions and those held by Butler, Kling and Van De Water were put in place during the 1993-94 school year, and amounts have varied since. Annuities for the superintendent are negotiated with the school board.
The only non-administrator to receive annuities is Patti Iverson, the superintendent's executive assistant. Beginning this school year, Iverson receives a $3,000 annual annuity as part of a deal the school board approved last March that also boosted her salary by $5,000 to $50,875.
Other executive assistants did not receive a pay raise at the time Iverson received hers. They did receive a 2.4 percent pay raise for this school year, while Iverson - who also is school board secretary - did not.
As part of her compensation, Iverson, like other executive assistants, receives annual longevity pay based on time worked in the district. In Iverson's case, that figure totals 9 percent of her salary, or $4,579 this year, which is in addition to her base salary.
Iverson's pay has stirred controversy among district employees, according to documents obtained by the Leader-Telegram.
An April 30, 2007, message signed by Bev Christianson, president of the bargaining unit representing district support staff members, notes the "many, many" e-mails circulating regarding Iverson's pay bump.
The letter references new public relations duties Iverson took on, although March 19 school board meeting minutes don't denote that.
"If you have additional questions about why one individual has been granted significant salary and benefit increases (separate from the remaining members of that employee group) at a time when staff in other employee groups are being reduced and/or eliminated, I do not have the answers," Christianson wrote.
Other e-mails note staff dissatisfaction with Iverson's raise and question why she received it while others in her job classification didn't.
Iverson's possible involvement regarding Klaus' contract has come under scrutiny since the attempt to access his $225,000 early retirement stipend surfaced. District officials say Klaus did not receive that money.
Klaus, Iverson's supervisor during his nine years as superintendent, sought the raise and annuity for Iverson a month after the school board approved contract changes allowing him to become Northstar Middle School principal.
Sources familiar with the matter have said Iverson, at Klaus' request, typed the document authorizing that Klaus begin receiving his retirement stipend Aug. 1. The document was signed by former school board President Carol Olson last summer and backdated to make it appear it was part of changes to Klaus' contract the board approved Feb. 5, 2007.
Olson was no longer a board member when she signed the document. The incident has prompted ongoing school board and police investigations.
Emerson can be reached at 830-5911, (800) 236-7077 or julian.emerson@ecpc.com.
Letters to the Editor (5-20-08)
A couple of Letters to the Editor regarding this stupid mess. The first one from Brent Wogahn, ECASD board member. My comments, as usual: Comm. Wogahn's claims that "the fact that the document is there at all in Klaus' file is not meaningless...we will continue to inquire into the facts..." blah, blah, blah.... The ECASD has had MONTHS to inquire about this and has not done a DAMNED thing until the LT story appeared in April even though they, apparently, knew the details in October (6 months!!!). The public confidence in the ECASD is shot. We don't even want to hear their stupid clarifications about whether things were "in context" or not.
Let's get to the big picture: Klaus and Olson faked and backdated a document that was intended to give him his retirement stipend before he even retired. End of story. Game over. Do your jobs.
The second letter says it all: Fire Bill Klaus.
Maria
Updated: 5/19/2008 5:22:01 PM
Comment needed context
In Leader-Telegram reporter Julian Emerson's article on Friday, May 16, I am quoted as saying that "the document signed by Olson was at that point meaningless, and attempts to prove fraud on the board's part would be counterproductive." While the statements attributed to me are factually accurate, context is everything.
The Feb. 5 document signed by Carol Olson will never have any legal effect on the contract the Eau Claire Area School District has with William Klaus, and that is what I meant by calling it meaningless. The fact that the document is there at all in Klaus' file is not meaningless to either the school board or myself. We will continue to inquire into the facts of this case. The way Emerson includes my comment makes it appear as if I feel the existence of the document is meaningless to this community. That couldn't be further from the truth.
The decision on whether Klaus' actions rise to the level of fraud is up to District Attorney Rich White. We on the board will need to decide the next appropriate action to take and whether Klaus can recover his credibility in order to be an effective administrator.
BRENT WOGAHN
Eau Claire school board member
Updated: 5/20/2008 7:32:01 AM
Klaus should go
We all should give a big "Thank You" to the Leader-Telegram reporter Julian Emerson for his fine work on exposing what a farce the Eau Claire school board has become.
Now the school board is in a dilemma of what to do about Bill Klaus. Let me help you out: "You are fired!" Eau Claire schools do not need a principal with no principles. The school has no money to keep schools open, yet they throw money at new Superintendant Ron Heilmann.
I will vote "yes" on any future school referendum right after the school board starts making cuts in administrators' pay and benefits.
GERALD N. OTTO
Let's get to the big picture: Klaus and Olson faked and backdated a document that was intended to give him his retirement stipend before he even retired. End of story. Game over. Do your jobs.
The second letter says it all: Fire Bill Klaus.
Maria
Updated: 5/19/2008 5:22:01 PM
Comment needed context
In Leader-Telegram reporter Julian Emerson's article on Friday, May 16, I am quoted as saying that "the document signed by Olson was at that point meaningless, and attempts to prove fraud on the board's part would be counterproductive." While the statements attributed to me are factually accurate, context is everything.
The Feb. 5 document signed by Carol Olson will never have any legal effect on the contract the Eau Claire Area School District has with William Klaus, and that is what I meant by calling it meaningless. The fact that the document is there at all in Klaus' file is not meaningless to either the school board or myself. We will continue to inquire into the facts of this case. The way Emerson includes my comment makes it appear as if I feel the existence of the document is meaningless to this community. That couldn't be further from the truth.
The decision on whether Klaus' actions rise to the level of fraud is up to District Attorney Rich White. We on the board will need to decide the next appropriate action to take and whether Klaus can recover his credibility in order to be an effective administrator.
BRENT WOGAHN
Eau Claire school board member
Updated: 5/20/2008 7:32:01 AM
Klaus should go
We all should give a big "Thank You" to the Leader-Telegram reporter Julian Emerson for his fine work on exposing what a farce the Eau Claire school board has become.
Now the school board is in a dilemma of what to do about Bill Klaus. Let me help you out: "You are fired!" Eau Claire schools do not need a principal with no principles. The school has no money to keep schools open, yet they throw money at new Superintendant Ron Heilmann.
I will vote "yes" on any future school referendum right after the school board starts making cuts in administrators' pay and benefits.
GERALD N. OTTO
Saturday, May 17, 2008
LT May 17, 2008
Updated: 5/17/2008
Early stipend still debated
Minutes from closed sessions add to questions on contract
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Sometime last fall, when Eau Claire school board members first heard rumors about former Superintendant Bill Klaus receiving his retirement stipend earlier than called for in his contract, they were in disbelief.
Annual stipend payments to Klaus totaling $225,000 over five years couldn't start until Klaus retired, as outlined in his contract, which the board had approved the previous February. The board simply wouldn't have given Klaus the early payment benefit not available to any other district employee, a school board member told the Leader-Telegram in October.
But the rumors persisted, prompting an Oct. 22 closed session at which board members discovered a document signed and backdated by former board President Carol Olson during the summer authorizing that Klaus' early retirement payments begin Aug. 1, 2007.
The document was dated Feb. 5, 2007, the same date the board had approved changes to Klaus' contract allowing him to transition from his job as superintendent to become principal of Northstar Middle School the following July. Board members were surprised at the revelation and subsequently denied the early retirement payments while adding a contract provision that would allow Klaus' heirs to receive that money in case he died before retiring.
The contract alteration generated concern among board members, according to minutes of closed-session school board meetings obtained by the Leader-Telegram as part of an Open Records request filed with the school district. Board members discussed the contract at four closed-session meetings in October, November and December, and at times disagreed about the issue, minutes show.
But since learning of the problems surrounding the contract seven months ago, board members have said little about the issue publicly despite repeated attempts by the Leader-Telegram to obtain information.
Now, as the board conducts an investigation into Klaus' contract change and possible cover-up efforts on the part of district employees, its role in keeping the issue from the public is being questioned.
Eau Claire residents are asking why board members hadn't been more forthcoming. Board members have discussed the issue to a degree. Most have expressed surprise at learning Klaus' contract had been changed and frustration at having to conduct an investigation into the matter, a development they acknowledge has seriously hampered plans for a future school referendum.
However, those revelations didn't come until after an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing the signing and backdating of the memo by Olson. For months prior to that, board members refused comment on the matter, and former board President Mike O'Brien - who left the board last month after deciding not to seek re-election - told the Leader-Telegram the closed-session about the contract prevented its public discussion.
District employees say O'Brien advised them against releasing documents related to Klaus' contract because they were discussed in closed session, he said.
Kirk Strang, a lawyer with the Davis and Kuelthau law firm of Madison who is representing the district in the Klaus matter, has subsequently informed district officials that those records, including minutes of closed-session board meeting, are public and must be released.
Since the April 19 article, board members have revealed few details surrounding the issue, in part because of the ongoing board inquiry and a police investigation into the matter.
Board President Carol Craig conceded that questions about the topic "certainly are legitimate" and "no (board of education) member has been told to be silent on these matters." But discussion of those topics via the media "would be counterproductive" to the continued investigation of Klaus' contract changes, she said.
The investigation is scheduled to continue on Monday.
Like board members, district employees also have been reluctant to speak on the record about events surrounding Klaus' contract.
But school board closed-session meeting minutes indicate Deputy Superintendent Gregg Butler's involvement in the issue.
Butler's name had not previously surfaced as part of the board's investigation, which has included interviews with district employees, including Klaus.
Oct. 22 meeting minutes state that Butler discussed early retirement stipend payments with Klaus. In a May 9 letter to interim Superintendent James Leary, Klaus questioned why the board minutes didn't more accurately reflect Butler's role regarding the issue.
Missing from those minutes, Klaus writes, "is any indication as to who authorized Dr. Butler to discuss this matter with me. It appears that no minutes were provided for the closed session board meetings wherein Dr. Butler's involvement was discussed, or that the matter was addressed with Dr. Butler outside the confines of the board."
Butler said he met with Klaus to discuss the issue while visiting Northstar on Oct. 16. At that meeting, Klaus said he wanted the early stipend money to ensure it went to his family in the event of his death, Butler said.
"Literally, this was a five-minute-or-less meeting with (Klaus)," Butler said.
Butler subsequently told the board on Oct. 22 of Klaus' reason for seeking the early stipend. Butler said that was the extent of his involvement with the issue.
Craig did not comment on Butler's involvement in the Klaus contract situation but said the board could expand the scope of its investigation to interview other employees as new information comes to light.
"We want to leave that option open," she said.
Early stipend still debated
Minutes from closed sessions add to questions on contract
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Sometime last fall, when Eau Claire school board members first heard rumors about former Superintendant Bill Klaus receiving his retirement stipend earlier than called for in his contract, they were in disbelief.
Annual stipend payments to Klaus totaling $225,000 over five years couldn't start until Klaus retired, as outlined in his contract, which the board had approved the previous February. The board simply wouldn't have given Klaus the early payment benefit not available to any other district employee, a school board member told the Leader-Telegram in October.
But the rumors persisted, prompting an Oct. 22 closed session at which board members discovered a document signed and backdated by former board President Carol Olson during the summer authorizing that Klaus' early retirement payments begin Aug. 1, 2007.
The document was dated Feb. 5, 2007, the same date the board had approved changes to Klaus' contract allowing him to transition from his job as superintendent to become principal of Northstar Middle School the following July. Board members were surprised at the revelation and subsequently denied the early retirement payments while adding a contract provision that would allow Klaus' heirs to receive that money in case he died before retiring.
The contract alteration generated concern among board members, according to minutes of closed-session school board meetings obtained by the Leader-Telegram as part of an Open Records request filed with the school district. Board members discussed the contract at four closed-session meetings in October, November and December, and at times disagreed about the issue, minutes show.
But since learning of the problems surrounding the contract seven months ago, board members have said little about the issue publicly despite repeated attempts by the Leader-Telegram to obtain information.
Now, as the board conducts an investigation into Klaus' contract change and possible cover-up efforts on the part of district employees, its role in keeping the issue from the public is being questioned.
Eau Claire residents are asking why board members hadn't been more forthcoming. Board members have discussed the issue to a degree. Most have expressed surprise at learning Klaus' contract had been changed and frustration at having to conduct an investigation into the matter, a development they acknowledge has seriously hampered plans for a future school referendum.
However, those revelations didn't come until after an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing the signing and backdating of the memo by Olson. For months prior to that, board members refused comment on the matter, and former board President Mike O'Brien - who left the board last month after deciding not to seek re-election - told the Leader-Telegram the closed-session about the contract prevented its public discussion.
District employees say O'Brien advised them against releasing documents related to Klaus' contract because they were discussed in closed session, he said.
Kirk Strang, a lawyer with the Davis and Kuelthau law firm of Madison who is representing the district in the Klaus matter, has subsequently informed district officials that those records, including minutes of closed-session board meeting, are public and must be released.
Since the April 19 article, board members have revealed few details surrounding the issue, in part because of the ongoing board inquiry and a police investigation into the matter.
Board President Carol Craig conceded that questions about the topic "certainly are legitimate" and "no (board of education) member has been told to be silent on these matters." But discussion of those topics via the media "would be counterproductive" to the continued investigation of Klaus' contract changes, she said.
The investigation is scheduled to continue on Monday.
Like board members, district employees also have been reluctant to speak on the record about events surrounding Klaus' contract.
But school board closed-session meeting minutes indicate Deputy Superintendent Gregg Butler's involvement in the issue.
Butler's name had not previously surfaced as part of the board's investigation, which has included interviews with district employees, including Klaus.
Oct. 22 meeting minutes state that Butler discussed early retirement stipend payments with Klaus. In a May 9 letter to interim Superintendent James Leary, Klaus questioned why the board minutes didn't more accurately reflect Butler's role regarding the issue.
Missing from those minutes, Klaus writes, "is any indication as to who authorized Dr. Butler to discuss this matter with me. It appears that no minutes were provided for the closed session board meetings wherein Dr. Butler's involvement was discussed, or that the matter was addressed with Dr. Butler outside the confines of the board."
Butler said he met with Klaus to discuss the issue while visiting Northstar on Oct. 16. At that meeting, Klaus said he wanted the early stipend money to ensure it went to his family in the event of his death, Butler said.
"Literally, this was a five-minute-or-less meeting with (Klaus)," Butler said.
Butler subsequently told the board on Oct. 22 of Klaus' reason for seeking the early stipend. Butler said that was the extent of his involvement with the issue.
Craig did not comment on Butler's involvement in the Klaus contract situation but said the board could expand the scope of its investigation to interview other employees as new information comes to light.
"We want to leave that option open," she said.
LT May 16, 2008
More on the stipend issue from our investigative reporter, Julian Emerson, who has hung in there with this issue for MONTHS in spite of numerous refusals from former BOE Pres. Mike O'Brien that this issue should not be public. From all of this, it seems clear that this falsifying board action with backdated documents by Klaus and Olson occurred in July 2008 and came to the BOE's attention in October 2008 and their ONLY action at that time was to guarantee that Klaus'family would receive the stipend in the event of his death.
REMINDER: I wrote the ECASD Administration about these rumors in November 2008 and all I got in response was a phone call at my home from Bill Klaus threatening to SUE ME.
WHAT THE !@#$???? And even now Comm. Wogahn says that pursuing it further is "unproductive?" I would say that what the BOE hs done in the last several months is the "unproductive" part of this story. Carol Olson has committed a couple of felonies. Bill Klaus requested her actions and therefore is also guilty of aiding and abetting this kind of thing. The failure of the BOE to just approach this in a timely way is just the beginning of "unproductive".
Maria
Updated: 5/16/2008
On the Record
The Leader-Telegram filed an open records request in December with the Eau Claire school district seeking records related to changes to former Superintendent (and current Northstar Middle School Principal) Bill Klaus' contract. District officials initially released a copy of Klaus' contract but delayed the release of other related records before eventually granting the request. This story is based in part on closed-session minutes of school board meetings.
Stipend issue deepens
Meeting minutes clearing Klaus not discovered
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus contends that minutes from a Feb. 5, 2007, closed-session school board meeting would clear him of alleged wrongdoing regarding his attempt to receive stipend payments before he retired. But those discussions apparently never took place, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Leader-Telegram.
The school board approved changes to Klaus' contract on that date allowing him to switch from superintendent to Northstar Middle School principal later that year.
However, closed-session meeting minutes for that date show no discussion of early retirement stipend payments or other issues related to Klaus' contract. Instead, the board's closed-session discussion centered on procedures for advertising the interim superintendent position that would be vacant once Klaus moved to Northstar.
Changes to Klaus' contract were discussed in closed session at Jan. 8 and Jan. 22 meetings, records show, although discussion of early stipend payments isn't specified in minutes from those meetings.
In a May 9 letter to interim Superintendent James Leary regarding the release of school board meeting minutes to the Leader-Telegram, Klaus noted that he is troubled by the lack of detailed information spelling out board members' discussions of his contract.
The Jan. 22, 2007, closed-session minutes "do not reflect the issues raised regarding my contract," Klaus wrote, adding that "they are, at best, incomplete."
Klaus also objected to the lack of Feb. 5 closed-session minutes, saying proper description of those proceedings would allow board members to "review the notes and confirm the discussion and the board's approval" of his early stipend payments.
But school board President Carol Craig said Klaus' account of events doesn't reflect reality. She said the Feb. 5 closed-session meeting minutes are accurate and that no discussion of Klaus' early stipend payments occurred. That discussion wasn't needed, she said, because the board already had approved changes to Klaus' contract earlier that night in open session.
Craig said in addition to herself the other three board members who voted on Klaus' contract change - Brent Wogahn, Trish Cummins and Mary Kneer - have affirmed that the board didn't discuss Klaus' contact during the Feb. 5 closed session.
"There has never been any question among board members about whether we discussed (Klaus' contract) in closed session that night. We didn't," Craig said.
Other board members speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed that Klaus' contract was not part of Feb. 5 closed-session talks.
Three former board members also approved changes to Klaus' contract. Former board President Mike O'Brien left the board earlier this month, while past board President Carol Olson and board member JoAnne Evans exited last spring.
Olson, at Klaus' request, signed a memo last summer shortly before Klaus moved to Northstar directing that Klaus begin receiving stipend payments Aug. 1. Olson was no longer a board member when she signed the document, having left the board two months earlier.
In addition to signing the document, Olson dated her signature as Feb. 5, 2007, making it appear as if the document had been part of Klaus' contract changes the school board had approved on that date.
Olson said the memo she signed represented her best recollection of the board's intent regarding Klaus' retirement stipend payments. She conceded that signing the memo while no longer a board member wasn't in accordance with district policy but said her action was not an attempt to circumvent terms of Klaus' contract.
Other board members said the early retirement stipends were not part of Klaus' contract changes they approved Feb. 5. Several said they were stunned when they learned in an Oct. 22 closed-session meeting that Olson had signed the document without their knowledge or approval.
Klaus said he sought the early retirement stipend to ensure his heirs would receive that money if he died before retiring.
At the same Oct. 22 meeting, board members added a condition to Klaus' contract ensuring his relatives will receive his stipend payments if he dies before he retires. No other district employee receives that benefit.
The issue of Klaus' early retirement payments surfaced after an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailed Klaus' attempt to receive his retirement stipend payments early. The story sparked an ongoing school board inquiry into the issue as well as a police investigation. On April 30 the district placed Klaus on paid administrative leave while the investigations continue.
Growing concern
School district officials haven't been forthcoming about details surrounding Klaus' contract alteration, in part because of ongoing investigations. But closed-session board minutes reveal board members' and district officials' growing concern about the issue that forced four closed-session meetings between Oct. 22 and Dec. 17.
Prompted by questions from the Leader-Telegram and school district employees about Klaus' early stipend payments, the board met in closed session Oct. 22 and denied Klaus' retirement stipend payments until he retires.
During further discussion of Klaus' contract Nov. 5, meeting minutes indicate board members realized the serious implications of the contract confusion. At that point Craig and Cummins expressed concern "that the actions of Dr. Klaus and Carol Olson were deceitful."
Wogahn responded that the document signed by Olson was at that point "meaningless," and attempts to prove fraud on the board's part "would be counterproductive."
Leary, meanwhile, said Klaus and Olson may have backdated the document without the knowledge of other board members "out of fear" but noted he believed their actions did not represent a misappropriation of funds.
In a subsequent meeting about the topic Dec. 3, meeting minutes show Craig said the board should report its Oct. 22 clarification of Klaus' contract in open session "and squelch rumors that have been circulating."
Two weeks later, after discussing the issue once again in closed session, the board announced terms of Klaus' contract.
REMINDER: I wrote the ECASD Administration about these rumors in November 2008 and all I got in response was a phone call at my home from Bill Klaus threatening to SUE ME.
WHAT THE !@#$???? And even now Comm. Wogahn says that pursuing it further is "unproductive?" I would say that what the BOE hs done in the last several months is the "unproductive" part of this story. Carol Olson has committed a couple of felonies. Bill Klaus requested her actions and therefore is also guilty of aiding and abetting this kind of thing. The failure of the BOE to just approach this in a timely way is just the beginning of "unproductive".
Maria
Updated: 5/16/2008
On the Record
The Leader-Telegram filed an open records request in December with the Eau Claire school district seeking records related to changes to former Superintendent (and current Northstar Middle School Principal) Bill Klaus' contract. District officials initially released a copy of Klaus' contract but delayed the release of other related records before eventually granting the request. This story is based in part on closed-session minutes of school board meetings.
Stipend issue deepens
Meeting minutes clearing Klaus not discovered
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus contends that minutes from a Feb. 5, 2007, closed-session school board meeting would clear him of alleged wrongdoing regarding his attempt to receive stipend payments before he retired. But those discussions apparently never took place, according to interviews and documents obtained by the Leader-Telegram.
The school board approved changes to Klaus' contract on that date allowing him to switch from superintendent to Northstar Middle School principal later that year.
However, closed-session meeting minutes for that date show no discussion of early retirement stipend payments or other issues related to Klaus' contract. Instead, the board's closed-session discussion centered on procedures for advertising the interim superintendent position that would be vacant once Klaus moved to Northstar.
Changes to Klaus' contract were discussed in closed session at Jan. 8 and Jan. 22 meetings, records show, although discussion of early stipend payments isn't specified in minutes from those meetings.
In a May 9 letter to interim Superintendent James Leary regarding the release of school board meeting minutes to the Leader-Telegram, Klaus noted that he is troubled by the lack of detailed information spelling out board members' discussions of his contract.
The Jan. 22, 2007, closed-session minutes "do not reflect the issues raised regarding my contract," Klaus wrote, adding that "they are, at best, incomplete."
Klaus also objected to the lack of Feb. 5 closed-session minutes, saying proper description of those proceedings would allow board members to "review the notes and confirm the discussion and the board's approval" of his early stipend payments.
But school board President Carol Craig said Klaus' account of events doesn't reflect reality. She said the Feb. 5 closed-session meeting minutes are accurate and that no discussion of Klaus' early stipend payments occurred. That discussion wasn't needed, she said, because the board already had approved changes to Klaus' contract earlier that night in open session.
Craig said in addition to herself the other three board members who voted on Klaus' contract change - Brent Wogahn, Trish Cummins and Mary Kneer - have affirmed that the board didn't discuss Klaus' contact during the Feb. 5 closed session.
"There has never been any question among board members about whether we discussed (Klaus' contract) in closed session that night. We didn't," Craig said.
Other board members speaking on the condition of anonymity confirmed that Klaus' contract was not part of Feb. 5 closed-session talks.
Three former board members also approved changes to Klaus' contract. Former board President Mike O'Brien left the board earlier this month, while past board President Carol Olson and board member JoAnne Evans exited last spring.
Olson, at Klaus' request, signed a memo last summer shortly before Klaus moved to Northstar directing that Klaus begin receiving stipend payments Aug. 1. Olson was no longer a board member when she signed the document, having left the board two months earlier.
In addition to signing the document, Olson dated her signature as Feb. 5, 2007, making it appear as if the document had been part of Klaus' contract changes the school board had approved on that date.
Olson said the memo she signed represented her best recollection of the board's intent regarding Klaus' retirement stipend payments. She conceded that signing the memo while no longer a board member wasn't in accordance with district policy but said her action was not an attempt to circumvent terms of Klaus' contract.
Other board members said the early retirement stipends were not part of Klaus' contract changes they approved Feb. 5. Several said they were stunned when they learned in an Oct. 22 closed-session meeting that Olson had signed the document without their knowledge or approval.
Klaus said he sought the early retirement stipend to ensure his heirs would receive that money if he died before retiring.
At the same Oct. 22 meeting, board members added a condition to Klaus' contract ensuring his relatives will receive his stipend payments if he dies before he retires. No other district employee receives that benefit.
The issue of Klaus' early retirement payments surfaced after an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailed Klaus' attempt to receive his retirement stipend payments early. The story sparked an ongoing school board inquiry into the issue as well as a police investigation. On April 30 the district placed Klaus on paid administrative leave while the investigations continue.
Growing concern
School district officials haven't been forthcoming about details surrounding Klaus' contract alteration, in part because of ongoing investigations. But closed-session board minutes reveal board members' and district officials' growing concern about the issue that forced four closed-session meetings between Oct. 22 and Dec. 17.
Prompted by questions from the Leader-Telegram and school district employees about Klaus' early stipend payments, the board met in closed session Oct. 22 and denied Klaus' retirement stipend payments until he retires.
During further discussion of Klaus' contract Nov. 5, meeting minutes indicate board members realized the serious implications of the contract confusion. At that point Craig and Cummins expressed concern "that the actions of Dr. Klaus and Carol Olson were deceitful."
Wogahn responded that the document signed by Olson was at that point "meaningless," and attempts to prove fraud on the board's part "would be counterproductive."
Leary, meanwhile, said Klaus and Olson may have backdated the document without the knowledge of other board members "out of fear" but noted he believed their actions did not represent a misappropriation of funds.
In a subsequent meeting about the topic Dec. 3, meeting minutes show Craig said the board should report its Oct. 22 clarification of Klaus' contract in open session "and squelch rumors that have been circulating."
Two weeks later, after discussing the issue once again in closed session, the board announced terms of Klaus' contract.
Thursday, May 8, 2008
LT Editorial May 8, 2008
An editorial from Tom Giffey about the discredited rumors regarding Dr. Ron Heilmann. I agree that Dr. Heilmann should have been more up-front even about these meritless rumors. In a hiring decision at his level that is requiring investigations and closed session a potential new employer deserves to know.
My only other comment is the final sentence in Giffey's editoiral when he writes that the the ECASD has had a lot of bad "luck". Luck has nothing to do with it. The Klaus/Olson debacle is directly attributable (although extreme even beyond my criticism) to a decade of failed leadership of the BOE and Administration. More recently, Mike O'Brien's glaring conflict of interest with his employer, Weld, Riley, legal counsel for the ECASD, multiplied the effect of the actions of Klaus and Olson by attempting to hide them from the public. Plus, the misguided loyalties and friendships among administrators and BOE members over many years appears to have caused a failure in judgment of at least a majority of current BOE members who did not object to the secrecy.
It has nothing to do with luck, only bad leaders.
Maria
New school leader should have been open about inquiry
Undoubtedly, Ron Heilmann didn't want his new career in Eau Claire to start like this.
Heilmann won't officially become Eau Claire school superintendant until July 1, yet he became the subject of scrutiny here in recent days as allegations surfaced about his conduct as Oshkosh school superintendant.
Anonymous claims were made that Heilmann had stayed with an Oshkosh student during an out-of-town trip. However, an independent investigation by an Oshkosh law firm found the allegations were without merit, a determination the Oshkosh and Eau Claire school boards concur with.
This situation is unfortunate for several reasons. First, it's unfortunate for Heilmann that his reputation was called into question by apparently baseless backyard gossip.
More importantly, it's unfortunate that Heilmann didn't let the Eau Claire school board know his conduct was under scrutiny before they hired him. Even if later proven spurious - as seems to be the case here - claims about an improper relationship between a school official and a student are highly serious and should be treated as such. It's understandable if Heilmann was upset and embarrassed by the allegations. Nonetheless, Heilmann should have let the Eau Claire school board know about the situation sometime between Feb. 14 (when he became a finalist for the Eau Claire job) and March 26 (when he was hired).
At a press conference Tuesday, Heilmann said he initially didn't know about the inquiry in Oshkosh. However, he obviously knew about it by March 5, when he sat in on a closed meeting of the Oshkosh school board at which the allegations were addressed. Just two days later, he visited Eau Claire to discuss his qualifications at a community forum. Heilmann attended a second closed-session Oshkosh school board meeting March 19, just a day after members of the Eau Claire school board visited Oshkosh. Such visits gave Heilmann ample opportunity to discuss his predicament with his potential employers.
According to Wednesday's Leader-Telegram, Heilmann noted at Tuesday's press conference that he "didn't alert Eau Claire board members based on legal advice given to the Oshkosh board to not discuss the matter." Such legal advice should carry weight, but it shouldn't outweigh the need to let one's future bosses know about potential pitfalls. Considering the ongoing hubbub over the backdating of a provision in former Superintendant Bill Klaus' contract, the last thing the Eau Claire school district needs is another "scandal." Heilmann's failure to level with the Eau Claire school board has led some to call his judgment into question before he even takes the district's helm - and that's the most unfortunate thing of all.
On Tuesday, Heilmann apologized for the situation and acknowledged the inquiry was proper. Eau Claire school board President Carol Craig and other board members expressed confidence in his ability to lead the district.
We hope this incident doesn't cause further harm to Eau Claire's schools or to Heilmann. However, considering the school district's recent luck, that may only be a dream.
- Tom Giffey, editorial page editor
My only other comment is the final sentence in Giffey's editoiral when he writes that the the ECASD has had a lot of bad "luck". Luck has nothing to do with it. The Klaus/Olson debacle is directly attributable (although extreme even beyond my criticism) to a decade of failed leadership of the BOE and Administration. More recently, Mike O'Brien's glaring conflict of interest with his employer, Weld, Riley, legal counsel for the ECASD, multiplied the effect of the actions of Klaus and Olson by attempting to hide them from the public. Plus, the misguided loyalties and friendships among administrators and BOE members over many years appears to have caused a failure in judgment of at least a majority of current BOE members who did not object to the secrecy.
It has nothing to do with luck, only bad leaders.
Maria
New school leader should have been open about inquiry
Undoubtedly, Ron Heilmann didn't want his new career in Eau Claire to start like this.
Heilmann won't officially become Eau Claire school superintendant until July 1, yet he became the subject of scrutiny here in recent days as allegations surfaced about his conduct as Oshkosh school superintendant.
Anonymous claims were made that Heilmann had stayed with an Oshkosh student during an out-of-town trip. However, an independent investigation by an Oshkosh law firm found the allegations were without merit, a determination the Oshkosh and Eau Claire school boards concur with.
This situation is unfortunate for several reasons. First, it's unfortunate for Heilmann that his reputation was called into question by apparently baseless backyard gossip.
More importantly, it's unfortunate that Heilmann didn't let the Eau Claire school board know his conduct was under scrutiny before they hired him. Even if later proven spurious - as seems to be the case here - claims about an improper relationship between a school official and a student are highly serious and should be treated as such. It's understandable if Heilmann was upset and embarrassed by the allegations. Nonetheless, Heilmann should have let the Eau Claire school board know about the situation sometime between Feb. 14 (when he became a finalist for the Eau Claire job) and March 26 (when he was hired).
At a press conference Tuesday, Heilmann said he initially didn't know about the inquiry in Oshkosh. However, he obviously knew about it by March 5, when he sat in on a closed meeting of the Oshkosh school board at which the allegations were addressed. Just two days later, he visited Eau Claire to discuss his qualifications at a community forum. Heilmann attended a second closed-session Oshkosh school board meeting March 19, just a day after members of the Eau Claire school board visited Oshkosh. Such visits gave Heilmann ample opportunity to discuss his predicament with his potential employers.
According to Wednesday's Leader-Telegram, Heilmann noted at Tuesday's press conference that he "didn't alert Eau Claire board members based on legal advice given to the Oshkosh board to not discuss the matter." Such legal advice should carry weight, but it shouldn't outweigh the need to let one's future bosses know about potential pitfalls. Considering the ongoing hubbub over the backdating of a provision in former Superintendant Bill Klaus' contract, the last thing the Eau Claire school district needs is another "scandal." Heilmann's failure to level with the Eau Claire school board has led some to call his judgment into question before he even takes the district's helm - and that's the most unfortunate thing of all.
On Tuesday, Heilmann apologized for the situation and acknowledged the inquiry was proper. Eau Claire school board President Carol Craig and other board members expressed confidence in his ability to lead the district.
We hope this incident doesn't cause further harm to Eau Claire's schools or to Heilmann. However, considering the school district's recent luck, that may only be a dream.
- Tom Giffey, editorial page editor
LT May 7, 2008
Updated: 5/7/2008
Board stands behind Heilmann
Members satisfied district's new superintendent did no wrong
Christena T. O'Brien
Leader-Telegram staff
Satisfied that there is no merit to an allegation that Ron Heilmann, the Eau Claire school district's incoming superintendent, stayed with a student during an out-of-town trip, school board members are looking forward to his arrival July 1.
"Having spent time with Dr. Heilmann ... taking a look at ... all sides, I think there's not a doubt in our minds Dr. Heilmann will come and do a great job and be an active member of our community," said Carol Craig, the board's new president.
During a news conference in Eau Claire Tuesday, Heilmann, flanked by Craig and school board members Trish Cummins, Ken Faanes and Mary Kneer, apologized to school board members, professional and paraprofessional staff, and community members in the Eau Claire and Oshkosh school districts for the situation - even though an inquiry by independent legal counsel determined the anonymous allegation lacked any merit.
"I'm deeply saddened that both school communities have been disrupted, and public confidence in our schools might have been compromised," he said.
While he never took a student on a trip, the 52-year-old administrator said he has been asked several times since the allegation came to light why he didn't tell Eau Claire school members about the inquiry.
Oshkosh school board minutes show the board discussed the issue with an attorney March 5 and again March 19, when the body decided there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Craig, Cummins and fellow board member Mike Bollinger traveled to Oshkosh March 18 to interview school and community members about Heilmann, one of two finalists for the superintendent's job. Six days later, the Eau Claire school board - having never heard about the allegation or inquiry in any part of the process - voted unanimously to hire him.
At the news conference Tuesday, Heilmann said he initially didn't know about the independent legal counsel's inquiry, and he said he later didn't alert Eau Claire board members based on legal advice given to the Oshkosh board to not discuss the matter.
"I'm satisfied with the rationale he used," Craig said during the news conference. "Do I think that there could have been revelations earlier on in the process? I think I do, but I also understand the rationale that he used."
That said, "it looks like the Oshkosh (board) did exactly what (it) needed to do ... to make sure that any allegation that was put forward was found to be either valid or not valid," she said. "In this case, it was found to be not valid."
Even though his name has been cleared, Heilmann said the inquiry was the right thing to do.
"Taking precautions to protect school children ... should always be paramount, so what has occurred is certainly not the wrong thing at all," he said.
Realizing the allegation and his failure to alert the Eau Claire school board to it might have resulted in some mistrust among the public, Heilmann said he'll be able to rebuild their trust once people get to know him and see him in and out of the school district.
Board stands behind Heilmann
Members satisfied district's new superintendent did no wrong
Christena T. O'Brien
Leader-Telegram staff
Satisfied that there is no merit to an allegation that Ron Heilmann, the Eau Claire school district's incoming superintendent, stayed with a student during an out-of-town trip, school board members are looking forward to his arrival July 1.
"Having spent time with Dr. Heilmann ... taking a look at ... all sides, I think there's not a doubt in our minds Dr. Heilmann will come and do a great job and be an active member of our community," said Carol Craig, the board's new president.
During a news conference in Eau Claire Tuesday, Heilmann, flanked by Craig and school board members Trish Cummins, Ken Faanes and Mary Kneer, apologized to school board members, professional and paraprofessional staff, and community members in the Eau Claire and Oshkosh school districts for the situation - even though an inquiry by independent legal counsel determined the anonymous allegation lacked any merit.
"I'm deeply saddened that both school communities have been disrupted, and public confidence in our schools might have been compromised," he said.
While he never took a student on a trip, the 52-year-old administrator said he has been asked several times since the allegation came to light why he didn't tell Eau Claire school members about the inquiry.
Oshkosh school board minutes show the board discussed the issue with an attorney March 5 and again March 19, when the body decided there was no evidence of wrongdoing.
Craig, Cummins and fellow board member Mike Bollinger traveled to Oshkosh March 18 to interview school and community members about Heilmann, one of two finalists for the superintendent's job. Six days later, the Eau Claire school board - having never heard about the allegation or inquiry in any part of the process - voted unanimously to hire him.
At the news conference Tuesday, Heilmann said he initially didn't know about the independent legal counsel's inquiry, and he said he later didn't alert Eau Claire board members based on legal advice given to the Oshkosh board to not discuss the matter.
"I'm satisfied with the rationale he used," Craig said during the news conference. "Do I think that there could have been revelations earlier on in the process? I think I do, but I also understand the rationale that he used."
That said, "it looks like the Oshkosh (board) did exactly what (it) needed to do ... to make sure that any allegation that was put forward was found to be either valid or not valid," she said. "In this case, it was found to be not valid."
Even though his name has been cleared, Heilmann said the inquiry was the right thing to do.
"Taking precautions to protect school children ... should always be paramount, so what has occurred is certainly not the wrong thing at all," he said.
Realizing the allegation and his failure to alert the Eau Claire school board to it might have resulted in some mistrust among the public, Heilmann said he'll be able to rebuild their trust once people get to know him and see him in and out of the school district.
Monday, May 5, 2008
WQOW May 5, 2008
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.
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.
Huebscher editorial about how the Klaus/Olson Story became public
From Don Huebscher at the LT regarding the process of the story about Klaus and Olson. For what it's worth, Huebscher definitely indicates that Julian Emerson had the lead on the story several weeks before the rumor slid across my radar as I have indicated in the past. I was a latecomer to news of all the shenanigans. Kudos to Julian Emreson for hanging in there on this story in spite of months of delays and denials for the information he was legally entitled to receive.
Maria
As of this writing, nine of the 10 most-commented on stories on leadertelegram.com are articles we've published related to early stipend payments to former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus that later were rescinded after some board members said they never approved them. More than 100 comments have been posted on these stories as of the middle of last week.
As long as so many people are weighing in on the issue, I thought I'd take my turn.
First, I want to address claims that the Leader-Telegram was spoon-fed the tip by former school board candidate Maria Henly and then pressured to put it in the paper. In fact, reporter Julian Emerson first got wind of this story way back in September while coaching his daughter's soccer team. Two people asked him if he knew anything about early retirement payments approved for Klaus, who was moving from superintendent to principal of Northstar Middle School.
In the next few weeks, Emerson continued to be asked about it, so he contacted a school board member who told him the board did not approve early payments, and that it probably was just a rumor. But the rumblings persisted, so Emerson called a board member and another district official and again was told the board did not approve allowing Klaus to start receiving his $45,000 annual stipends (paid over five years) before he reached at least age 55 and retired.
Then, on Oct. 22, the board met in closed session to discuss the issue and apparently were told about the memo signed by former school board president Carol Olson — she was board president when Klaus' contract to move to principal was negotiated — approving the early stipend payments and backdated to February 2007. Olson reportedly signed the memo in June or July after discussing the matter with Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Patti Iverson and believing that the memo accurately reflected what the board had approved in its earlier negotiations with Klaus.
In December, the board announced in open session the terms of Klaus' contract. Emerson requested school district records related to this issue and received a copy of Klaus' contract but not of the memo signed by Olson.
Emerson filed several follow-up open records requests for information about the contract change and was essentially put off. Finally, early last month he was granted access to Klaus' personnel file, where he saw the memo signed by Olson. He then spent the next several weeks trying to convince school officials to go on the record to confirm that the memo was backdated and other details, and eventually Personnel Director Jim Kling, Klaus and Olson spoke on the record for the story, which appeared April 19.
Emerson had the essential details nailed down months earlier, but if at all possible we didn't want to base our coverage on "anonymous sources," no matter how reliable. We prefer not to operate that way, and we know readers feel the same. We were getting close to going that route, however, because we felt the information was of significant news value.
Comments posted on our Web site range from opinions that this is much ado about very little to demands that heads should roll. The fact-finding by the school board and police continues, and on Wednesday Klaus was placed on administrative leave. Eventually, District Attorney Rich White will study the evidence and decide what to do.
I am proud of Emerson's doggedness and take seriously the Leader-Telegram's responsibility to pursue such stories. But personally I get no joy out of reading the sharp criticisms of Olson in particular. I don't know her all that well, but in the times I dealt with her during her 15 years on the school board I found her to be intelligent, friendly and committed to making the school district the best it could be. Unless the investigation produces a worst-case scenario, I think it's sad that this episode overshadows her previous 15 years of service. Likewise for Klaus, who I've always found to be professional yet down to earth.
However, I also have heard rumblings that this episode is a manifestation of a culture of arrogance and greed among those who have managed our schools. Until this episode, I had no reason to believe that; now, I'm not so sure.
I think those in authority who knew about this early on made a big mistake by not reporting it. They could have openly acknowledged the error in judgment and explained to all what was done to correct it. Waiting all these months only added "cover-up" to the buzzwords surrounding this story.
Huebscher, editor of the Leader-Telegram, can be reached at 833-9216, 800-236-7077, ext. 3216 or don.huebscher@ecpc.com.
Maria
As of this writing, nine of the 10 most-commented on stories on leadertelegram.com are articles we've published related to early stipend payments to former Eau Claire school district Superintendent Bill Klaus that later were rescinded after some board members said they never approved them. More than 100 comments have been posted on these stories as of the middle of last week.
As long as so many people are weighing in on the issue, I thought I'd take my turn.
First, I want to address claims that the Leader-Telegram was spoon-fed the tip by former school board candidate Maria Henly and then pressured to put it in the paper. In fact, reporter Julian Emerson first got wind of this story way back in September while coaching his daughter's soccer team. Two people asked him if he knew anything about early retirement payments approved for Klaus, who was moving from superintendent to principal of Northstar Middle School.
In the next few weeks, Emerson continued to be asked about it, so he contacted a school board member who told him the board did not approve early payments, and that it probably was just a rumor. But the rumblings persisted, so Emerson called a board member and another district official and again was told the board did not approve allowing Klaus to start receiving his $45,000 annual stipends (paid over five years) before he reached at least age 55 and retired.
Then, on Oct. 22, the board met in closed session to discuss the issue and apparently were told about the memo signed by former school board president Carol Olson — she was board president when Klaus' contract to move to principal was negotiated — approving the early stipend payments and backdated to February 2007. Olson reportedly signed the memo in June or July after discussing the matter with Executive Assistant to the Superintendent Patti Iverson and believing that the memo accurately reflected what the board had approved in its earlier negotiations with Klaus.
In December, the board announced in open session the terms of Klaus' contract. Emerson requested school district records related to this issue and received a copy of Klaus' contract but not of the memo signed by Olson.
Emerson filed several follow-up open records requests for information about the contract change and was essentially put off. Finally, early last month he was granted access to Klaus' personnel file, where he saw the memo signed by Olson. He then spent the next several weeks trying to convince school officials to go on the record to confirm that the memo was backdated and other details, and eventually Personnel Director Jim Kling, Klaus and Olson spoke on the record for the story, which appeared April 19.
Emerson had the essential details nailed down months earlier, but if at all possible we didn't want to base our coverage on "anonymous sources," no matter how reliable. We prefer not to operate that way, and we know readers feel the same. We were getting close to going that route, however, because we felt the information was of significant news value.
Comments posted on our Web site range from opinions that this is much ado about very little to demands that heads should roll. The fact-finding by the school board and police continues, and on Wednesday Klaus was placed on administrative leave. Eventually, District Attorney Rich White will study the evidence and decide what to do.
I am proud of Emerson's doggedness and take seriously the Leader-Telegram's responsibility to pursue such stories. But personally I get no joy out of reading the sharp criticisms of Olson in particular. I don't know her all that well, but in the times I dealt with her during her 15 years on the school board I found her to be intelligent, friendly and committed to making the school district the best it could be. Unless the investigation produces a worst-case scenario, I think it's sad that this episode overshadows her previous 15 years of service. Likewise for Klaus, who I've always found to be professional yet down to earth.
However, I also have heard rumblings that this episode is a manifestation of a culture of arrogance and greed among those who have managed our schools. Until this episode, I had no reason to believe that; now, I'm not so sure.
I think those in authority who knew about this early on made a big mistake by not reporting it. They could have openly acknowledged the error in judgment and explained to all what was done to correct it. Waiting all these months only added "cover-up" to the buzzwords surrounding this story.
Huebscher, editor of the Leader-Telegram, can be reached at 833-9216, 800-236-7077, ext. 3216 or don.huebscher@ecpc.com.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Early Retirement Stipends
The link to the list of this year stipend payments is at the bottom of this article.
Maria
Stuck with stipends
Early retirement payouts may reach $100 million
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Eau Claire school district taxpayers could fork out as much as $100 million in early retirement stipends by the time those payments to district employees end in about 30 years.
The payments to qualifying district employees - started during the 1976-77 school year as a way to induce teachers age 55 and older to retire - have escalated in recent years as health care costs have skyrocketed.
This school year the district will pay $2.38 million in early retirement stipends, which are disbursed to qualified district employees in monthly installments for five consecutive years once they retire. Payments to 179 ex-teachers receiving the stipends total $1.9 million while 20 former administrators are being paid $479,000.
The escalating stipend payments are occurring as the district battles an increasingly difficult budget situation. Last year the board cut teacher positions and programs for students. Classes have grown as student programs have begun to dwindle.
District Executive Business Services Director Dan Van De Water acknowledged total stipend payments "are a huge dollar amount" and said they imperil the district's financial future.
"I would say it very well could be an unsustainable situation," Van De Water said of the district continuing to pay stipends in the future amid other budget concerns. "I don't know that we would have the dollars to continue this."
Total stipend payments vary depending on an employee's salary. Teachers' total stipends typically range from $40,000 to $60,000, while stipends for administrators retiring in recent years are mostly close to or more than $100,000. Those payments are in addition to Wisconsin Retirement System payments those employees and other public sector workers in the state receive.
Stipends to retired teachers and administrators this school year include:
-$44,217 ($221,085 total for five years) to interim Deputy Superintendent Gregg Butler, who also is making $132,000 this year. Butler retired last year and was rehired for the interim job in July.
-$38,179 ($190,895 for five years) to former Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Laurie Hittman.
-$36,661 ($183,305 for five years) to former district Charter School Administrator Holly Hart.
-$34,135 ($170,675 for five years) to former administrator Tom Fiedler, who is making $55,000 this school year working as New Auburn school district interim superintendent.
Other administrators will be paid less during the year. Teacher stipends this year generally were between $10,000 and $12,000.
Those figures angered a district resident asked about them Thursday. "I can't believe this," Terri Slattery said. "The crazy thing is none of this money even went to classrooms."
Stipends are attracting scrutiny in the wake of an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing the alteration of former superintendent and current Northstar Principal Bill Klaus' contract so he could obtain his early retirement payments before they were allowed.
District officials said Klaus didn't ultimately receive any of his $225,000 stipend early after the school board voted in October to deny those payments. The school board and police are investigating the matter, and on Wednesday Klaus was placed on paid administrative leave.
District officials said the stipend is in place in some of Wisconsin's other large school districts and is a helpful incentive in recruiting quality teachers and administrators. But they acknowledge the early retirement payments have outgrown their intended purpose, and now pose financial risks.
Jo Burke, president of the Eau Claire Association of Educators, said teachers realize the financial pinch the district is in. That's why four years ago they gave up the stipend - meaning teachers hired after July 1, 2004, don't receive it - in exchange for a higher starting salary. Teachers hired prior to that date qualify for future stipend payments when they retire.
"We recognized that times have changed," Burke said. "We just couldn't keep that in place any longer."
Likewise, last month administrators decided to forgo stipend payments, Van De Water said. Administrators working for the district before that are eligible for stipends if they work here for at least 10 years and reach retirement age.
"The administrative group said they have to step up to the plate and be part of the solution," he said.
Burke commended that action but noted the stark difference between teacher and administrator stipends. Teacher stipends include various factors but generally are based on 25 percent of starting teacher pay. Administrator pay is based on a percentage of an employee's final salary. An analysis of stipends this year shows teachers generally received about one-half to one-third of what administrator's receive in stipends.
Top administrator salaries continue to outpace teacher salaries and "the gap has gotten outrageous," Burke said.
Stipend savings
Like many U.S. school districts, Eau Claire began stipends to teachers age 55 or older with at least 15 years in the district three decades ago as a means of reducing district expenses.
The stipend plan went something like this: Schools would provide a monetary incentive to convince older teachers to retire and replace them with younger teachers making less money. Administrators were brought into the fold as stipends were added to their contracts.
For a while the plan worked. But with health care costs rising significantly, stipends pose a risk to the school district's financial future.
For instance, in 1976-77, Eau Claire teacher retirement stipends were based on an $8,100 starting pay, and a health insurance family plan cost $450. Today stipends are based on a $36,050 starting salary, and a family plan costs about $1,500.
"When stipend payments were started, they made sense financially," Executive Personnel Director Jim Kling said. "But that's certainly not the case anymore."
Changing times
District officials have decided to act in the face of high stipend and health insurance payments. Administrators have adopted a health savings account plan to reduce those costs, and teachers are considering that option as part of a contract union members could approve next week.
That option seems to make sense, given a projected health insurance increase of about 30 percent, Burke said.
The district also is conducting a study to determine its unfunded liability - future costs such as stipends and health insurance.
The hope is the health insurance change will reduce costs and stave off budget reductions, Van De Water said.
Revenue limits cap spending increases at about 3 percent annually, so increases above that figure will prompt further budget cuts.
http://www.leadertelegram.com/NewsLinks/PDFs/Early%20Retirement%20stipend_07_08.pdf
Maria
Stuck with stipends
Early retirement payouts may reach $100 million
By Julian Emerson
Leader-Telegram staff
Eau Claire school district taxpayers could fork out as much as $100 million in early retirement stipends by the time those payments to district employees end in about 30 years.
The payments to qualifying district employees - started during the 1976-77 school year as a way to induce teachers age 55 and older to retire - have escalated in recent years as health care costs have skyrocketed.
This school year the district will pay $2.38 million in early retirement stipends, which are disbursed to qualified district employees in monthly installments for five consecutive years once they retire. Payments to 179 ex-teachers receiving the stipends total $1.9 million while 20 former administrators are being paid $479,000.
The escalating stipend payments are occurring as the district battles an increasingly difficult budget situation. Last year the board cut teacher positions and programs for students. Classes have grown as student programs have begun to dwindle.
District Executive Business Services Director Dan Van De Water acknowledged total stipend payments "are a huge dollar amount" and said they imperil the district's financial future.
"I would say it very well could be an unsustainable situation," Van De Water said of the district continuing to pay stipends in the future amid other budget concerns. "I don't know that we would have the dollars to continue this."
Total stipend payments vary depending on an employee's salary. Teachers' total stipends typically range from $40,000 to $60,000, while stipends for administrators retiring in recent years are mostly close to or more than $100,000. Those payments are in addition to Wisconsin Retirement System payments those employees and other public sector workers in the state receive.
Stipends to retired teachers and administrators this school year include:
-$44,217 ($221,085 total for five years) to interim Deputy Superintendent Gregg Butler, who also is making $132,000 this year. Butler retired last year and was rehired for the interim job in July.
-$38,179 ($190,895 for five years) to former Executive Director of Curriculum and Instruction Laurie Hittman.
-$36,661 ($183,305 for five years) to former district Charter School Administrator Holly Hart.
-$34,135 ($170,675 for five years) to former administrator Tom Fiedler, who is making $55,000 this school year working as New Auburn school district interim superintendent.
Other administrators will be paid less during the year. Teacher stipends this year generally were between $10,000 and $12,000.
Those figures angered a district resident asked about them Thursday. "I can't believe this," Terri Slattery said. "The crazy thing is none of this money even went to classrooms."
Stipends are attracting scrutiny in the wake of an April 19 Leader-Telegram story detailing the alteration of former superintendent and current Northstar Principal Bill Klaus' contract so he could obtain his early retirement payments before they were allowed.
District officials said Klaus didn't ultimately receive any of his $225,000 stipend early after the school board voted in October to deny those payments. The school board and police are investigating the matter, and on Wednesday Klaus was placed on paid administrative leave.
District officials said the stipend is in place in some of Wisconsin's other large school districts and is a helpful incentive in recruiting quality teachers and administrators. But they acknowledge the early retirement payments have outgrown their intended purpose, and now pose financial risks.
Jo Burke, president of the Eau Claire Association of Educators, said teachers realize the financial pinch the district is in. That's why four years ago they gave up the stipend - meaning teachers hired after July 1, 2004, don't receive it - in exchange for a higher starting salary. Teachers hired prior to that date qualify for future stipend payments when they retire.
"We recognized that times have changed," Burke said. "We just couldn't keep that in place any longer."
Likewise, last month administrators decided to forgo stipend payments, Van De Water said. Administrators working for the district before that are eligible for stipends if they work here for at least 10 years and reach retirement age.
"The administrative group said they have to step up to the plate and be part of the solution," he said.
Burke commended that action but noted the stark difference between teacher and administrator stipends. Teacher stipends include various factors but generally are based on 25 percent of starting teacher pay. Administrator pay is based on a percentage of an employee's final salary. An analysis of stipends this year shows teachers generally received about one-half to one-third of what administrator's receive in stipends.
Top administrator salaries continue to outpace teacher salaries and "the gap has gotten outrageous," Burke said.
Stipend savings
Like many U.S. school districts, Eau Claire began stipends to teachers age 55 or older with at least 15 years in the district three decades ago as a means of reducing district expenses.
The stipend plan went something like this: Schools would provide a monetary incentive to convince older teachers to retire and replace them with younger teachers making less money. Administrators were brought into the fold as stipends were added to their contracts.
For a while the plan worked. But with health care costs rising significantly, stipends pose a risk to the school district's financial future.
For instance, in 1976-77, Eau Claire teacher retirement stipends were based on an $8,100 starting pay, and a health insurance family plan cost $450. Today stipends are based on a $36,050 starting salary, and a family plan costs about $1,500.
"When stipend payments were started, they made sense financially," Executive Personnel Director Jim Kling said. "But that's certainly not the case anymore."
Changing times
District officials have decided to act in the face of high stipend and health insurance payments. Administrators have adopted a health savings account plan to reduce those costs, and teachers are considering that option as part of a contract union members could approve next week.
That option seems to make sense, given a projected health insurance increase of about 30 percent, Burke said.
The district also is conducting a study to determine its unfunded liability - future costs such as stipends and health insurance.
The hope is the health insurance change will reduce costs and stave off budget reductions, Van De Water said.
Revenue limits cap spending increases at about 3 percent annually, so increases above that figure will prompt further budget cuts.
http://www.leadertelegram.com/NewsLinks/PDFs/Early%20Retirement%20stipend_07_08.pdf
Thursday, May 1, 2008
WQOW Early Stipends at ECASD
Here is a brief report about Early Stipends in the ECASD in 07-08. There is a very comprehensive table with all the details that I will try to get posted to the blog by a more tech-savvy person than I am.
Maria
Documents Released: District Paying Out Millions in Stipends
An Eau Claire School District official says the district cannot afford to continue paying out millions of dollars every year in early retirement stipends.
According to documents News 18 requested, the district will pay more than 200 former teachers and administrators over $2.3 million in early retirement stipends this year alone. A complete list of those payments can be found by clicking on "Links" on this page and then “Early Retirement Stipends.”
Eau Claire School District Business Director Dan Van De Water says money paid out for stipends comes straight out of the budget every year. He says that cost is unsustainable.
Van De Water says the district is putting an end to the practice. Teachers hired after July 2004 and administrators hired after July 2008 will no longer receive the stipends in their contracts.
However, the district is contractually obligated to pay out tens of millions of dollars to current employees, who do have the stipends in their contracts. Van De Water says the district could still be paying out the stipends for years to come.
Updated: April 30, 2008, 8:55 pm
Maria
Documents Released: District Paying Out Millions in Stipends
An Eau Claire School District official says the district cannot afford to continue paying out millions of dollars every year in early retirement stipends.
According to documents News 18 requested, the district will pay more than 200 former teachers and administrators over $2.3 million in early retirement stipends this year alone. A complete list of those payments can be found by clicking on "Links" on this page and then “Early Retirement Stipends.”
Eau Claire School District Business Director Dan Van De Water says money paid out for stipends comes straight out of the budget every year. He says that cost is unsustainable.
Van De Water says the district is putting an end to the practice. Teachers hired after July 2004 and administrators hired after July 2008 will no longer receive the stipends in their contracts.
However, the district is contractually obligated to pay out tens of millions of dollars to current employees, who do have the stipends in their contracts. Van De Water says the district could still be paying out the stipends for years to come.
Updated: April 30, 2008, 8:55 pm
April 30, 2008 WEAU
Klaus Placed on Paid Leave
Posted: 4:43 PM Apr 30, 2008
Klaus Placed on Paid Leave (4/30/08)
The Superintendent's Office for the Eau Claire Area School District says Middle School Principal Bill Klaus has been placed on paid administrative leave.
The school board had a closed-session meeting yesterday that lasted more than nine hours to discuss former superintendent, Klaus's contract.
The board says Klaus, along with former board president, Carol Olson, created a document that may have allowed Klaus to get his retirement stipends earlier than the board planned.
Members say Olson signed the document after she had left the school board.
Klaus' attorney, Tom Guelzow, said it is not disciplinary action and the motivation is to bring a sense of common responsibility to the city and the district. He says Klaus is prepared to continue to do his job and is dedicated to serve the district and will return as soon as he is able.
Tuesday's story:
Their meeting began at one in the afternoon and the Eau Claire School Board was still in the closed door session until after ten Tuesday night.
The board is looking into former superintendent, William Klaus's contract.
Members say they'll need to meet again.
The board says Klaus, along with former board president, Carol Olson, created a document that may have allowed Klaus to get his retirement stipends earlier than the board planned.
Members say Olson signed the document after she had left the school board
Vice President of the School Board, Mary Kneer says, “We felt the day was productive in terms of gaining a more complete understanding of facts and time lines. However, there may be additional individuals the board would like to speak with so at least one more meeting is planned."
Klaus is currently the North Star Middle School principal.
Olson is no longer on the school board.
Eau Claire Police continue to investigate the Klaus contract issue.
Deputy Chief Eric Larsen says he can't discuss details, but says investigators are gathering documents.
Larson says the district attorney's office asked police to look into the matter to determine if anything illegal happened.
The department will look those papers over and decide what other information it needs from there
Larson says, "We don't communicate with each other about what they're finding in their internal investigation on because whatever their employees tell them in their internal investigation can't be used for criminal investigation anyways."
Once the police investigation is complete, officers will forward their findings to the district attorney.
Original News Release from the Superintendent’s Office, Eau Claire Area School District:
MEDIA RELEASE
The Superintendent's Office for the Eau Claire Area School District has announced that Middle School Principal Bill Klaus has been placed on paid administrative leave. Interim Superintendent, James Leary, noted that “This in no way reflects on Dr. Klaus or on his performance as principal.” “However,” Dr. Leary continued, “we are committed to providing an educational environment that is as free of disruption as possible, and feel this decision will best serve that goal.”
Posted: 4:43 PM Apr 30, 2008
Klaus Placed on Paid Leave (4/30/08)
The Superintendent's Office for the Eau Claire Area School District says Middle School Principal Bill Klaus has been placed on paid administrative leave.
The school board had a closed-session meeting yesterday that lasted more than nine hours to discuss former superintendent, Klaus's contract.
The board says Klaus, along with former board president, Carol Olson, created a document that may have allowed Klaus to get his retirement stipends earlier than the board planned.
Members say Olson signed the document after she had left the school board.
Klaus' attorney, Tom Guelzow, said it is not disciplinary action and the motivation is to bring a sense of common responsibility to the city and the district. He says Klaus is prepared to continue to do his job and is dedicated to serve the district and will return as soon as he is able.
Tuesday's story:
Their meeting began at one in the afternoon and the Eau Claire School Board was still in the closed door session until after ten Tuesday night.
The board is looking into former superintendent, William Klaus's contract.
Members say they'll need to meet again.
The board says Klaus, along with former board president, Carol Olson, created a document that may have allowed Klaus to get his retirement stipends earlier than the board planned.
Members say Olson signed the document after she had left the school board
Vice President of the School Board, Mary Kneer says, “We felt the day was productive in terms of gaining a more complete understanding of facts and time lines. However, there may be additional individuals the board would like to speak with so at least one more meeting is planned."
Klaus is currently the North Star Middle School principal.
Olson is no longer on the school board.
Eau Claire Police continue to investigate the Klaus contract issue.
Deputy Chief Eric Larsen says he can't discuss details, but says investigators are gathering documents.
Larson says the district attorney's office asked police to look into the matter to determine if anything illegal happened.
The department will look those papers over and decide what other information it needs from there
Larson says, "We don't communicate with each other about what they're finding in their internal investigation on because whatever their employees tell them in their internal investigation can't be used for criminal investigation anyways."
Once the police investigation is complete, officers will forward their findings to the district attorney.
Original News Release from the Superintendent’s Office, Eau Claire Area School District:
MEDIA RELEASE
The Superintendent's Office for the Eau Claire Area School District has announced that Middle School Principal Bill Klaus has been placed on paid administrative leave. Interim Superintendent, James Leary, noted that “This in no way reflects on Dr. Klaus or on his performance as principal.” “However,” Dr. Leary continued, “we are committed to providing an educational environment that is as free of disruption as possible, and feel this decision will best serve that goal.”
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