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Editorials
'A breakdown of understanding' : Editorials : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, Illinois'A breakdown of understanding'
| 6/28/2012
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New Oswego School District superintendent Dr. Matthew Wendt isn't leaving his former employers on the best of terms.
Some members of the Ankeny School District Board are upset that their former superintendent didn't let them know he had a contract offer in hand from the Oswego School District when they voted May 30 to amend his contract, granting him a $176,000 transition allowance if he were to resign or a 3.25 salary increase and an additional year on his contract if he were to remain on the job in Iowa.
The very next night, May 31, the Oswego School District convened a special board meeting where they awarded a three-year contract with Wendt to serve as superintendent.
Though Wendt had notified Ankeny School District Board members in April he was exploring other employment opportunities, they evidently didn't expect him to sign a new contract within 24 hours after they approved his transition allowance. We suspect had they known how events would play out, they would not have approved the transition allowance.
In an interview with the Ledger-Sentinel last week, Wendt acknowledged there was a "breakdown of understanding" on his amended contract, but not on his part.
"In my decision to aggressively seek other employment-the timing of my resignation and the acceptance of another contract happened to be closer aligned in date than maybe what some thought. But the question of alignment of the date should not influence the intent that was a part of those contractual negotiations," he said, adding,
"I would do everything the way I did it, again. I've done nothing wrong. I've been upfront; I've been honest."
We're disappointed that Wendt did not notify the Ankeny School District Board May 29 there was a strong possibility the Oswego School District Board might approve a three year employment contract with him to serve as their superintendent the next evening. That would have been the forthright thing to do since Wendt's contract with the Ankeny School District does not expire until this Saturday, June 30. In order for the Ankeny School Board to make an informed decision on behalf of their taxpayers on Wendt's amended contract, they needed to have all the information. That didn't happen.
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