|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
News
'I'm not an unethical, dishonest person' : News : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, Illinois'I'm not an unethical, dishonest person'
| Oswego school chief reacts to Iowa school district lawsuit
| by Lyle R. Rolfe
| 7/26/2012
|
Oswego School District Superintendent Dr. Matthew Wendt is being sued by his former employer.
A lawsuit filed by Ankeny School District Board in Iowa this past week accuses Wendt of fraud and deliberately misleading Ankeny School District Board members.
Wendt however, has denied the charges and said he intends to make the district comply with his contract.
"I'm not an unethical, dishonest person," he said.
The lawsuit asks the court to make null and void a contract that provided Wendt with more than $176,000 if he left the district.
Wendt released a three-page statement on Wednesday, July 18, through his attorney, Thomas W. Foley, denying the board's allegations. In the statement, Wendt said he answered all questions asked of him prior to the approval of the amendments to his (Ankeny) employment contract."
"I appreciate this opportunity to provide the true facts of my resignation as superintendent of the Ankeny Community District to the public and the media," he said in the statement.
"During my negotiations that led to the buyout of my contract and the tendering of my resignation letter, which was written by the Ankeny board attorney, I provided all information they requested of me and truthfully answered any questions they asked of me. At no time during the process did I feel the need to even be represented by an attorney," he said.
Wendt noted in his statement that it had been previously reported on May 24 he was negotiating with the board for an amount equal to 18 months of his base salary in exchange for his resignation.
"What has not been reported," he went on to say, "is that negotiations regarding my potential departure started more than three weeks earlier when it became clear that George Tracy, president of the Ankeny school board, wanted a change in leadership and my continuing employment contract was an obstacle," he said in his statement.
Wendt went on to say that he was told at that time by the board's attorney that the board president had agreed to eight to 10 months of severance in exchange for his resignation. He said he was never asked if he had any other job offers and said the board wanted to buy out his contract, hire a new superintendent and move forward.
He said he told the board through its president and attorney that he was actively seeking other employment and specifically told them that he had "private and public employment opportunities available to me if I resigned my employment before my contract expired in two years."
Wendt said the board, after a closed session to discuss an amendment to his contract, offered him a one-year contract extension with a 3.25 percent raise or an opportunity to resign June 30 and receive severance of $176,513 per his request. He accepted the severance package.
The district alleges in the lawsuit that, "Dr. Wendt owed a duty to the school district to disclose to the school district, before it approved the amendment, the fact that he had the Oswego job."
The district cited what it said was further proof of fraud by noting that the following day in a meeting with the board president, vice president and then-associate superintendent, Wendt did not mention his plan to drive "300 miles to Oswego, Illinois, to sign his contract to become the new superintendent of (the) Oswego district."
Wendt said the district's lawsuit fails to note that no one specifically asked him if he had a job offer.
He also noted that after he signed the Oswego contract, he was not contacted by any of the board members expressing concern.
"If they really wanted to know and it really mattered about my future employment, there was a real easy way to learn of the answer," Wendt said.
He said he was optimistic last September when the newly elected board was seated, but since then had grown increasingly aware that he would always be aligned with the former board of education and that there would be nothing he could do or say that could separate him from the prior board.
Ankeny voters replaced four school board incumbents with new members during the 2011 election.
The previous board had been responsible for raising taxes to cover budget cuts and moving forward with two high schools.
Wendt said he stood by his decisions and had the backing of thousands of friends, former colleagues and church members.
"We've had an incredible amount of support demonstrated to us over the last month and a half," he said.
Wendt replaced Oswego Superintendent Dan O'Donnell who resigned effective June 30 because he said his philosophy was much different than the three new board members who were elected in April 2011.
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
