Columbia Board of Education approves new superintendent’s contract

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Editor's Note: the date of a previous Muleskinners meeting has been corrected.

The Columbia Board of Education unanimously approved a three-year contract for its new superintendent, Jeff Klein, during Monday night's board meeting. 

The contract sets Klein's salary at $255,000, which would be paid monthly. His salary can increase by as much as 6% each year during his second and third year, with the exact amount being determined by the school board. Board Vice President John Lyman said the school board will choose the exact amount based on MSBA's superintendent evaluation, which grades key indicators throughout the year.

"Kind of the best of all the worlds that we could get, an internal guy with lots of external experience," Lyman said when asked about Klein's contract. "He's funny, which you don't really get at board meetings and stuff. But he's a great guy. He's already been out in the community doing stuff and meeting folks and doing things. The process was long, but it was really thorough."

The decision comes as the district continues to evaluate its approach to leadership contracts following an expensive separation agreement with former Superintendent Brian Yearwood. CPS paid Yearwood the remainder of his contract year, which was about $667,000.

Board President Suzette Waters recently called the proposed change a historic move for the district.

"It limits the amount of money that we are obligated to pay in a separation, which we felt was really important based on our most recent history with the previous superintendent," Waters said on Sunday.

Under the proposed structure, the board would retain the ability to fire a superintendent for cause without any payout. If a separation is deemed necessary for other reasons, the maximum payout would be capped at one year’s salary.

Yearwood was hired in 2021 and was given contract extensions. With nearly three years remaining on his contract, the payout was substantial.

According to previous reporting, CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark wrote in response to emailed questions that the district previously used a contract template that included severance for the duration of the contract if the employee left. The district has now updated its contract to change the severance terms to one year of pay, she wrote.

During a March 7 meeting with the Muleskinners, Waters said the district had three options: terminate Yearwood, if they had sufficient documentation, buy out the remainder of his contract, or negotiate a settlement. 

Waters told the Muleskinners that while the district didn’t feel like they did anything wrong, their lawyers advised negotiating a settlement to avoid a potential lawsuit from Yearwood. According to Waters, because Yearwood was an older minority man with a health condition, lawyers advised the district that a lawsuit was likely without a release from future claims. The district feared any potential lawsuit would hamper their ability to hire a new superintendent.

However, school board candidate Ken Rice believes the proposed structure change may deter future candidates.

"We are now the least desirable district to come to because of that contract," Rice told the board during Monday's meeting. "I think what could possibly happen is now we may not maintain good superintendents and we may push away great people that would have looked at CPS."

Board approves changes to school calendar

The board unanimously approved revisions to the 2024-25 academic calendar after exhausting all allotted alternative methods of instruction days earlier this winter. As part of the changes, Friday, May 23 will now be a half-day, and the final day of school has been pushed to Tuesday, May 27, which will also be a half-day.

On Feb. 17, Columbia Public Schools used the last of its six allotted AMI days. The following day, the district had to declare a traditional snow day, requiring the addition of an extra school day to the calendar.

CPS announced the implementation of AMI days in December and adjusted its calendar earlier this school year to be in line with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s incentive program under Senate Bill 727, which defines a school term as 169 days and a minimum of 1,044 instructional hours.

State guidelines also require schools to include at least 36 make-up hours—equivalent to five days—which can be added to the end of the school year, if necessary. While CPS is on track to exceed the required instructional hours, it falls short on the total number of days.

The board stated that the newly approved calendar changes are contingent on no additional snow days or modifications to state law.

Check back for updates.