Columbia Public Schools to vote on contract for new superintendent Monday
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Columbia Board of Education is set to vote on a three-year contract for its new superintendent, Jeff Klein during Monday’s meeting. If approved, Klein will make $255,000 in his first year, with the potential for up to a 6% increase in his second and third years.
This 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-- about $667,000.
Now, the board is considering changes aimed at preventing similar costly departures in the future. Alongside Klein’s contract, the board will also consider whether to make shortening the length of superintendent contracts a legislative priority.
Board President Suzette Waters believes this proposed change would be 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.
When Yearwood was hired, the board approved a letter of intent to renew his contract just seven months into his tenure. Less than two years later, the district faced the costly decision to part ways. Since his contract had nearly three years remaining, the payout was substantial.
Waters says the board wants to take a more measured approach this time.
"So, when Dr. Yearwood came on, the board voted to approve a letter of intent to renew his contract after he'd been on the job for seven months," Waters said. "And this time around we decided we wanted two full years of observing Dr. Klein's work before we had any discussion about whether or not to extend or renew a contract."
Under the proposed structure, the board would retain the ability to fire a superintendent for cause without any payout. However, if a separation is deemed necessary for other reasons, the maximum payout would be capped at one year’s salary.
Monday’s board meeting will take place at 6:30 p.m. at the Aslin Administration Building.
