Erwin gets paid

This from the Daily Herald

St. Charles school chief's contract OK'd, with sick time

The St. Charles school board today ratified a two-year-old agreement with departing Superintendent Barbara Erwin.

The 5-2 decision came after more than 90 minutes of closed-door discussion.

It marks the end of a weeks-long debate over whether an amendment to Erwin's contract should be honored because it was made in 2005 without a public vote, as required by law.

"I think the board decided it was time to vote and, whichever way the vote came out, move forward," board President Kathy Hewell said.

The ratification means Erwin will be credited for more than 180 sick days when she leaves District 303 in July.

Board members Chris Hansen and Karla Ray cast the dissenting votes and sought to postpone a decision until the Kane County state's attorney can complete an investigation into whether the 2005 agreement violated the Open Meetings Act.

"By ratifying this agreement at this time, we are muddying the waters," Ray said.

This from the Kane County Chronicle:

ST. CHARLES - After another closed session, the St. Charles school board this afternoon ratified an amended contract for departing Superintendent Barbara Erwin.

The contract has come under fire because of concerns it was never voted on in open session, a possible violation of the state's Open Meetings Act.

Former board President Bobbie Raehl asked the Kane County State's Attorney's Office to investigate that possibility. The probe has stalled as investigators await materials from District 303 relating to the April 11, 2005 meeting in which the contract was apparently approved in a closed session.

The amended agreement extended Erwin's deal in St. Charles until 2010 and gave her a credit of 85 sick days toward her pension on July 1 of each contract year.

Erwin announced her retirement from the district in October and plans to leave on July 13, three days before she takes over as education commissioner for the state of Kentucky.

The school board has met in closed session at least three times since May 29 to discuss the contract before finally ratifying it today.
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Something to think about:

What's the right equation?

Cost to St Charles children = Sick Days + (possible) penalty for approving a contract contrary to the law (PA 04-004) + Barbara "the savior" Erwin's Integrity + a chance to put the Erwin administration in the rear-view mirror?

For some reason, I don't feel Lucky, in Kentucky.

Daily Herald Op-Ed says End the Erwin soap opera. Pay her off to get rid of her now.

She’s “retiring.” But not really. Her name comes up for another Illinois job, but her new destination is Kentucky. She was supposed to leave the district at the end of the month. But now she’s leaving in the middle of the month.

And then there’s the question about her current contract and whether the school board could, or should, honor it.

This is the soap opera that has become the departure of St. Charles schools Superintendent Barbara Erwin, as the school board contemplates whether to ratify a two-year-old agreement that would credit Erwin with a mind-boggling 36 weeks of unused sick time.

The current board is grappling with the decision made by a former board that OK’d the contract, but did not do so with a public vote. In a debatable conclusion, former board President Mary Jo Knipp felt the decision didn’t require a public vote because it was employee-related.
Unanswered legal questions might make it difficult for the board to shelve the 2005 agreement, and it is getting more apparent with each passing day that the school district should sever ties with Erwin as soon as possible.

We find no value or need in keeping Erwin on board for two more weeks in July. Those two weeks are not going to serve as a significant transition period for new superintendent Donald Schlomann, who will have school principals and administrative support to make his first month on the job run more smoothly.

For her part, Erwin is saying this is a matter of integrity, challenging the board to stick by its word. The board, for its part, would be justified in questioning Erwin’s integrity for leaving the district before her contract was up in 2010.

Erwin may have opted for the sick day provision as a way to earn credit toward eventually qualifying for a pension in Illinois. The contract outlines 85 sick days credited to her each July 1 for up to four years. This stipulation has those who generally get only five “use them or lose them” sick days a year in the regular working world scratching their heads about why the school board would agree to such a measure.

This is Creative Contract Crafting 101, and it has created a mess. In a way, it would be refreshing to see the new board say that the contract is invalid because the original vote skirted Illinois’ Open Meetings Act law, and that because of the changes in the superintendent’s status in the district, the sick-days stipulation is unnecessary. Unfortunately, there’s no guarantee that such a move would not put the district into a protracted legal tussle with Erwin.

As troubling as the excessive number of sick days and the board’s 2005 closed-door action are, the current board’s best course of action now may be to ratify the contract as the surest means of severing ties with Erwin now and sending her on her way as soon as possible.

Erwin, who will soon be the state superintendent of schools in Kentucky, does not now have enough time in Illinois to qualify for the pension. But the days earned by the St. Charles contract would go a long way toward securing that pension if Erwin did return to an Illinois job. She claims that will not happen. But she also claimed she was “retiring.”

The sooner this soap opera can end, the better for St. Charles schools.

OpEd urges St Charles schools to leave turmoil behind

This from the Daily Herald:

More flagrant and obvious violations of the Open Meetings Act have occurred throughout the state in closed meetings than the St. Charles school board’s extension of departing Superintendent Barbara Erwin’s contract in the spring of 2005.

But while the board’s approval of Erwin’s contract extension, without letting the public know its details, may not be a serious violation, it certainly ignored the spirit of the law and open communication with taxpayers by overlooking the fact that a board decision should not be made in secret...

...The extension granted Erwin more sick days and gave her more time earned toward her Illinois pension. All of this became a moot point when she announced she was leaving the district this summer, thus not qualifying for that pension.

The fact that this vote is just now getting public attention alerts us that some messages regarding this incident shouldn’t be overlooked. ...[I]t reminds us once again of the immediate challenge for new board president Kathy Hewell and incoming superintendent Donald Schlomann.

Animosity and back-room school board politics, the kind that send a terrible message to the public, have to stop...

The Erwin years, as they were, are over. School board members, administrators and teachers who did not care for her leadership style, or lack thereof, should put the slings and arrows away...

She who lives by the sword... Erwin contract trouble in Illinois

A reader of Kentucky School News and Commentary passed along some breaking news from the Daily Herald in Chicagoland.

The St. Charles school board might have broken the law two years ago when it silently extended Superintendent Barbara Erwin's contract without a public vote.

A board consensus approved the five-year extension behind closed doors in the spring of 2005, current and former board members said.

While the decision didn't equate to a salary raise for Erwin, it did clear the way for additional sick days and time served toward her pension in Illinois, records show.

The revelation came about recently when outgoing school board President Bobbie Raehl sent a Freedom of Information Act request to the district asking for documentation of a public vote on the matter and no such document could be found.