Erwin's Scottsdale personnel file also Missing

Scottsdale Schools General Counsel confirms:

Erwin file missing

Stop me if you've heard this one before...but Barbara Erwin's personnel file is missing.

Not the one in St Charles Illinois. We already knew it went bye bye. Now comes confirmation that Erwin's Scottsdale Arizona file also mysteriously disappeared.

Now who on Earth would have...?

Who had the means?

Who had the motive?

Who had the opportunity?

Some citizens in St Charles, Illinois are - shall we say ...disgruntled.

Burned by years of feeling marginalized...
...hacked off by revelations of illegal back room deals that violated the Open Meetings Act
...and the Gaffney/Erwin memo that asked for even more than the contract allowed for Erwin
...and what smells to them like attempted fraud
...or possibly conspiracy to commit fraud
...an extraordinary gift of sick days, the kind of gift that threatened to undermine the state's teacher retirement system sufficiently that the Illinois legislature outlawed the practice the board was engaged in
...one that stands to cost the St Charles school district thousands of dollars
...Feeling like the state's attorney's response to willful Open Meetings Act violations fell woefully short
...Feeling stonewalled by state's attorney inaction on the Gaffney/Erwin memo
...wondering if Knipp, Gaffney, and others may be contributors to Barsanti's reelection campaign
...wondering if he could recognize a wrongdoing if it was shown to him
...They feel confused by the inaction, but emboldened...and are pressing their case

So, some more digging has been going on.

It had been rumored at KSN&C...and the Kane County Chronicle...that Erwin's Arizona file was also gone. We haven't heard anything from Allen Texas yet, but I suspect somebody will check for her file there as well.

One St Charles citizen sent KSN&C evidence of an email correspondence with Scottsdale Arizona School's General Counsel, Kim C. Clark:

Responding to an Open Records request, Ms. Clark wrote,

"I apologize for the delayed response. We have been unable to locate Ms. Erwin's file. We are contacting our outside attorney's office to see if they might have retained the file for some reason. We will keep you posted. Thank you for your patience."

After further searching Ms. Clark wrote again,

"After a diligent search of our records, and those of our former outside counsel, the District does not have Ms. Erwin's file. We will be sure to notify you, however, if it turns up.

The St Charles citizen pressed the issue a bit with more questions related to whether the district knew if Erwin was aware her file was missing, if a police report had been filed in Arizona and alerting Clark to the investigation in Illinois. A couple of weeks later Clark responded,

"Sorry for the delay in responding. The District's personnel files are maintained in a secure location at the District office. The District is required to maintain personnel files for three years, so it is quite possible that Ms. Erwin's file has been destroyed in the normal course of events. ... Most of the District's current leadership joined the District well after Ms. Erwin resigned and would have no interest in, or knowledge of her file. We continue to investigate, but at this point have uncovered no evidence that any employee or former employee improperly removed the file. Our former outside counsel is Mary Ellen Simonson at Lewis & Roca. I checked with her office on the off chance that they might have a copy of the file, but they did not. I hope this helps.

Clark's explanation that the file might possibly have been destroyed in the normal course of events was not an explanation of what did happen, so much as it was an absolution of the district, should someone claim Scottsdale had done something wrong - which no one is alleging to my knowledge.

Scottsdale attorney Christine Schild picked up on the story and pressed Clark for clarification...in her own inimitable style. Clark made it clear...they just don't know anything.

"Of course I did not personally supervise the destruction of the file. As I said, that could be what happened, but at this point, we have no definitive proof of what may have happened.We are not withholding any information. We just don't have any information to disclose."

In Illinois

Who had the means?
Who had the motive?
Who had the opportunity?

In Arizona

Who had the means?
Who had the motive?
Who had the opportunity?

In a related matter, An appellate court in Springfield has ruled that contracts of public officials are public record, no matter where they are stored...

...In May, the St. Charles school district said it no longer considered contracts of employees, including then-Superintendent Barbara Erwin, to be public documents. Citing a DuPage County circuit court ruling and a 3rd District appellate court ruling, the school district’s attorney said that, because contracts were kept in personnel files, they were not public information. Last week’s ruling appears to directly contradict that reasoning...

This from the Kane County Chronicle.

Hansen's Bittersweet Departure

Barbara Erwin is no longer Kentucky's problem. So, I don't monitor the WestChiTown papers on a daily basis anymore. Since she's no longer a threat here, there's something a little improper about an abiding interest there. It's like getting into somebody else's business.

But I must confess an interest in how the St Charles authorities resolve two open issues: The Erwin/Gaffney memo and the lost personnel file. So, I still peek at the papers a couple of times a week - to see if anyone still cares.

I'm glad I saw yesterday's column from Kane County Chronicle Managing Editor Kristen Turner regarding Chris Hansen. Although I have never met Mr. Hansen, after covering D303 stories for the past few months I feel like I've come to know the players. So I was pleased to see that the Chronicle softened its position on Hansen a bit. He deserved it.

But isn't that the way it always seems to go. The guy who is in that thankless job for the kids, and feels genuine remorse for not being able to make things better, acts with integrity. While others look out for their own egoes - and hope public scrutiny simply goes away, as it seems to have done.

I will always be grateful to several folks in St Charles for helping us in Kentucky avoid the perils that come with Barbara Erwin. If I could grant a wish for you in return, it would be that Gaffney and Hewell would go away too.

This from the Kane County Chronicle:

In June, the Chronicle’s editorial board called for the resignation of St. Charles school board members Christopher Hansen, Kathleen Hewell and James Gaffney.Last week, Hansen resigned, saying that he thought it was a good first step toward helping the board move forward.

That very well might be true, but Hansen’s departure is bittersweet.

The editorial board (of which I am a member) asked for all three resignations because it thought that the board’s slate needed to be wiped clean. These are three people who voted “yes” in closed session, but never in public, for a lucrative contract extension for former Superintendent Barbara Erwin. Anyone involved in that vote, the editorial board reasoned, needed to cut ties with the school district.

Hansen was the least culpable among them.

On the recording of that meeting, which happened April 11, 2005, Hansen is heard a few times asking about the proper procedure for the vote, about the legality of the vote. He asks whether the group needs to open up the public meeting again and vote there.

Sadly, he is misinformed by a fellow board member.

“Mary Jo, are we going to go out and take a vote on this?” he asks.

“No, no. We do not have to vote. All I need to know is that the majority of the board is OK with this ...” then board President Mary Jo Knipp responds.

Hansen, just like every other member of the board, had a responsibility to know the law about voting for measures in open versus closed session.It’s simple: A public body cannot take official action in closed session. The business has to be completed in the public eye. But it didn’t help when he was given bad information.

Hansen’s institutional knowledge offered guidance to newer board members. His now-former colleagues praised him for that, and those who spoke publicly after his resignation spoke highly of him.

It remains to be seen whether Hewell and Gaffney will follow.

One more note about this: Attendance by the public at Tuesday night’s board meeting was a grand total of one person, at least for the first two hours, when reporter Amelia Flood was there.Only a few weeks ago, I took several calls from people asking what they could do to change things, how they could get involved.Going to school board meetings is a great place to start.

Kane County Chronicle tells Barbie bye bye, declares an Erwin-free zone

A reader alerted me to today's Kane County Chronicle for Dan Campana's goodbye column to Babs. He does his own recap leading to the conclusion ...good riddance.

But Campana declares his page an Erwin-free zone. Is this premature?

Maybe not. Maybe the folks in St Charles are so fatigued by the whole mess that they are content to let residual issues go unaddressed and quit looking for the missing file. So what if she tried to get even more sick days than her cronies were willing to take heat for? The effort failed; let it go.

But what if there are a few "law and order" or "good government" folks running around St Charles? Maybe some average taxpayers? Maybe some education advocates who saw Erwin's effort as taking money away from the children?

What if the system IS working, only it's behind the scenes?

If the file is found, or more news breaks, isn't the Chronicle going to cover it?

Of course they are. The Chronicle gets my vote for best on-going coverage of the whole affair. The Daily Herald was far more timid and joined the story late, after the Chronicle had built in into something.

So, maybe Campana's right and it's over. It is no longer my particular concern since Kentucky children will not suffer.

But if I were to advise a St Charles board that needs to ask citizens for more support in the near future - I'd tell them that they'd better show a renewed sense of stewardship for district funds first. A stewardship that is focused squarely on children - not adults.

Time will tell.

Campana: Chronicle says goodbye to Barb Erwin

After today, page 2A will forever be a Barbara Erwin-free zone.

Later than it should have been, Erwin no longer is employed by the St. Charles school district. Her three years and two weeks as superintendent provided a wide-range of memories, questions and excessive forehead scratching.

Now that the end is here, why not take a trip down memory lane in this Barb retrospective, as reported by the Chronicle.

Dim the lights and cue the sappy music.

• “I hope to accomplish what the community wants. It is not about what Dr. Erwin wants,” Erwin said in January 2004, after the school board hired her.

Hmmm …

• “Some people say that you get what you pay for. Actually, I think we got a bargain,” former school board president Mary Jo Knipp talking about the $14,000 price tag to select Erwin.

Where do we begin to dissect this comment from Knipp, who led the school board through an illegal closed-session vote to extend Erwin’s contract and now is employed by the district?

• “You need to begin with the end in mind,” Erwin in July 2004 on the eve
of taking over District 303.

Nostradamus might not have seen this type of ending in St. Charles – or the beginning and end in Kentucky – but maybe Erwin’s colleagues in Arizona, Texas and Indiana could.

• “Barbara Erwin said she had planned to retire from education before she interviewed to become the next St. Charles school superintendent,” the lead
paragraph to a July 2, 2004, story about Erwin’s first day.

What a minute, this sounds familiar?

• “Superintendent Barbara Erwin tendered her retirement Monday night, effective in August 2007;” “Erwin said she could enter higher education or the private sector during her retirement,” excerpts from an October 2006 story about Erwin’s surprise retirement announcement.

Getting warmer …

• “As you know, my original plan was to retire in August 2007. I believe it is in the best interests of all if I maintain those plans ... ,” Erwin’s letter last week to Kentucky officials.

Oh, that’s right.

• “I find it interesting because a contract’s a contract. … Now people are upset about it. I don’t understand, they weren’t upset about it three years ago,” Erwin to a Kentucky newspaper last week about the D-303 contract flap.

Uh, because no one knew about it three years ago. Your board made sure of
that.

• “Erwin could not be reached for comment;” “Erwin did not return phone calls seeking comment,” published on, well, heck, pick a story since October.

Tom Hernandez, former D-303 communications director, must have taken all her comments with him when he left for Plainfield in November.

• “She was a cancer for our district. … And now the cancer has shown up in another part of public education,” Eric Kurland, who worked with Erwin in Arizona, in October 2006.

Now St. Charles enters remission, to further Kurland’s analogy.

• “Whatever I’ll do, it’ll revolve around children,” Erwin in October, talking about her “retirement” plans.

When you think you’re the Sun, everything revolves around you.

Good riddance.

~

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.
~
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.

Chronicle says St Charles board needs to end the Erwin contract issue

I missed this yesterday. It's from the Kane County Chronicle.

The St. Charles school board should ratify embattled Superintendent Barbara Erwin’s contract extension because the board has operated for two years under the assumption that it is legal.

Not ratifying the extension could open a Pandora’s box of legal questions and create an even bigger mess than exists now.

...We still are curious about how not a single school board member noticed that the contract apparently never had been voted on in public.

Comments from school board member Karla Ray intensify our questions. Ray told a reporter Wednesday that the recording of the closed-door session reflects a “blatant intent to not be open with the public on what they’re paying their superintendent.”

The public needs to know what was said in that closed meeting. Barsanti this week should receive meeting minutes, closed-session recordings, and other information about the contract extension. Barsanti has offered no timeline on his investigation.

...The board should acknowledge that it made an error, ratify the contract and get on with the business of the district. The board’s sloppiness comes at a cost to taxpayers, but the board needs to accept this and move on.
~

But not every St Charles taxpayer is satisfied with the solution offered.

Grampywatches wrote:
" "The board’s sloppiness comes at a cost to taxpayers, but the board needs to accept this and move on." We do NOT let these people represent OUR best interests to be "sloppy". This is an illegal contract and should be labeled same. What is the thinking behind "it will cost the taxpayers.. but who cares..." attitude? Since when is 'the intention' the call of the local newspaper that never reported the problem to begin with?? "

AreYouKiddingMe:
" What about the "sloppiness" that this superintendent is leaving behind for a new superintendent to fix. Erwin chose to retire, chose to move on to Kentucky, chose not to divulge contract dates until it was confirmed through Kentucy and chose to misrepresent herself. I am one of those taxpayers and June 30 is time to say good-bye without her receiving one more dime from this district. We have paid enough for her travel expenses, working outside of the district at Aurora University for that higher learning teaching she was going to do when she retired. Well guess what, that had been going on while employed by CUSD 303 during a time when there were pressing issues that needed her attention while she prepped to teach graduate classes. This is not the board's fault...they are trying to now look out for the best interests of the students and taxpayers of this district and for anyone to say that Erwin deserves to be compensated at this point is an insult to this community. It's her own fault if she didn't get it in writing in the proper fashion - but then again we have seen the outcome of some of the other contracts she has been responsible for so it shouldn't come as a surprise. "

Erwin probe set to begin, Regional Superintendent says honor contract and move on

Kane County Regional Superintendent Clem Mejia told the Kane County Chronicle that the St. Charles school board should uphold the previous board’s intentions and move on.

“I say honor the contract. ... Dr. [Barbara] Erwin didn’t do anything wrong,” Mejia, whose tenure ends June 30, said Friday. “It’s on both sides; that’s why you have contracts. They’re there to be honored, whether it’s one day, one year or 10 years.”

But Erwin's contract amendment two is under investigation by Kane County state's attorney John Barsanti, and that outcome is uncertain.

Mejia says voiding the agreement would be an extreme measure on the part of Barsanti, since such drastic action is only taken after multiple Open Meeting Act violations.

Mejia apparently did not say how many violations of the Open Meeting Act should be tolerated before the law is enforced, but he offered a sense of what constitutes business-as-usual.

“I’m going to draw on the 20-years I’ve been in office: If there was a violation, the state’s attorney would send a very stern letter stating ‘Don’t do it again,’” Mejia said.

Sweet.

Barsanti allowed District 303 extra time to gather the necessary meeting agendas, minutes and recordings of the closed session conversations, and said he expects his office will begin their inquiry soon. He has declined to issue a timeline on how long the review will take.

Despite the impending investigation and the many hours she has spent with fellow board members trying to ratify Erwin’s contract, District 303's Board Chair Kathleen Hewell says the district has inherently approved the contract by granting Erwin 85 sick days credit since 2005.

If the investigation finds fault with district's processes, the district could be issued civil sanctions, including fines, or have the contract voided, Barsanti said.

Unless the contract is declared valid as of the date written, the board may still be subject to penalties for officially ratifying a contract, in 2007, that includes an excessive number of sick days in violation of PA 94-004.

Erwin’s original contract would have expired on June 30, but the amended contract (signed before June 1, 2005) extended the agreement until 2010. If she remains an employee of the district after July 1, she stands to have another 85 sick days credited to her account. Her last day in the district is now said to be July 13th.

The Illinois State Board of Education declined to comment citing a lack of information. An attorney with the Illinois Association of School Boards also was unavailable for comment on Friday.

This from the Kane County Chronicle.

Double dealing alleged: The continuing saga of Erwin's not-so "good faith"

Ethics and character questions continue to surround Kentucky's new Commissioner of Education, Barbara Erwin, and her peculiar way of conducting business "in good faith." And some folks in St Charles, Illinois have had enough.

On Monday, Kentucky School News and Commentary asked two questions:

Does Barbara Erwin know what it means to act in good faith?

How is it possible for Erwin, in good faith, to tell the Kentucky Board of Education that she will start her job as commissioner on July 16th, WHILE AT THE SAME TIME, telling the St Charles Board of Education that she will be their superintendent until August 4th?

But that's what she did.

Here's the history:

In October 2006, Erwin told the St Charles board that she would retire on August 4th 2007.

The Kentucky State Board of Education ratified - and Barbara Erwin signed - her contract on May 9 in Bowling Green, during a closed session.

A copy of the contract obtained last week by Kentucky School News and Commentary and independently verified by the Kane County Chronicle shows the signatures of Erwin and Kentucky Board of Education Chairman Keith Travis, and a notation of the date “5/9/07.”

“She had already received and signed that portion of the contract a week-and-a-half, two-weeks prior, and all that was left for the board was to ratify that contract,” Travis said. “She was present; she was in part of our closed session. After we finished that, we asked her to be excused, we deliberated, then signed it around 1:30 in the afternoon.”

As of the moment she signed, she had every reason to expect that her first day in Kentucky would be July 16th.

But that's not what she told the folks in St Charles.

As recently as May 23, Erwin gallantly reaffirmed that her last day in St Charles would be Aug. 4 and said, “I signed a contract in good faith with the board, that’s my comment.”

However, in a letter to St Charles board chair Kathy Hewell (received May 25), Erwin said she would leave on July 13th, three weeks earlier than previously planned.

Hewell said (what we suppose she was told), “The date changed based on the fact that [Erwin] received her signed contract shortly before she sent this letter.”

Shortly before? Erwin knew more than a week before her May 9th meeting in Kentucky! Hewell told the Kane County Chronicle she would release the letter with Erwin’s approval.

On Tuesday May 29, the St Charles District 303 Board of Education met in closed session where the other St Charles board members, first became aware of Erwin’s change in plans.

Due to the Kane County State's attorney's pending investigation into Erwin's contract irregularities, board members have remained tight-lipped on the issue.

But one board member did acknowledge his frustration. “This has been a difficult time for everyone, frustrating, this whole business,” board member Chris Hansen said.

Hansen has every right to be frustrated. And public reaction in St Charles is growing.

The Kane County Chronicle's news editor Dan Campana called for Erwin to pack up sooner rather than later. His article, "Barb: It’s time to pack your bags and go" calls for a clean break with the district so that the new superintendent - the one they hope will patch up what's presently borken - can make a clean start. As he sees it, the only person who benefits from Erwin sticking around past June 30th - is Erwin.

"Anyone who’s ever quit a job, or “retired” from one, knows the last week is all about cleaning up and getting out – with some work and a party likely mixed in.

So, what’s accomplished out of these two weeks? Another paycheck earned and 85 days in your pension, that’s what.

...Coming off a tenure in St. Charles where ill-will has blossomed like spring flowers, Erwin should take some time for herself."

Other citizens have also weighed in.

"myidea" wrote:
" See Ya! I hope the money from the 85 sick days stays with the state of Illinois for more than 5 teachers paid sick days for the year! "

"AreYouKiddingMe" wrote:
" We have a competent superintendent starting July 1, why do we need 2 on the payroll? Good luck Kentucky, seems the "oops I forgot to mention" has even begun before a job was started. Shame on the school board for not sharing the date change at the public school board meeting on Tuesday 5/29 if they knew 5/25 of a change. It's time to do the right thing by the taxpayers of this district and say goodbye before our new superintendent joins the team. "
~
Erwin is done in St Charles - whenever the date. But this is Kentucky's new commissioner. The real question is: What is the Kentucky Board of Education thinking?

Resume padding?
Character lapses?
Bad faith barganing?

They have "cause" if they want it.

They can dismiss with 90-days notice without cause, and perhaps that's the best route. No harm, no foul. Pay her something for her trouble and be done with it.

What's it going to take for our board to reassess this selection? Are any members concerned? Are members talking to each other even now?

And if the board fails to act - what then? They sure won't be able to claim they didn't see trouble coming.

Erwin in St Charles: As the district turns ...

The folks in WestChiTown are still chatting about Barbara Erwin's move to Kentucky and a pesky little problem with her contract in St Charles. Kane County Chronicle news editor Dan Campana wondered, "Did the St. Charles school board, circa April 2005, skip the legal formality of open session and approve a five-year contract for soon-to-be departing Superintendent Barbara Erwin?" There is no record of a public vote and one out-going board member claims the contract is therefore illegal.

Erwin's troubles in Kentucky have not escaped their attention, and neither have the comments made to Kentucky reporters by St Charles school leaders. Apparently, honest talk has been hard to come by for a school board and superintendent that has been deeply divided.

"Is it frustrating to anyone else that three leaders in a prominent school district only feel compelled to engage in seemingly honest conversation and in veiled trash-talk knowing it will appear across state lines?

Only in the St. Charles school district can a change of the guard – be it the board or the superintendent – bring with it a stranger level of dysfunction.

Going back to Erwin’s new, soon-to-be abandoned, contract, maybe it really is an odd string of coincidences, or maybe something illegal did happen. Chances are very
little will ever come of it.Don’t let that overshadow the greater issue.

If the people...in D-303 can’t trust your school board to tell you when and why your superintendent is being rewarded with a new contract, what does that mean for the more basic issues? You know, like educating the children.

And this from the St Charles Republican.