Another Closed Door Session

Day 3 of the 8-day countdown to our next public school board meeting on April 14th at 7:00 pm. Each day I am simply posting facts. Today’s Fact: The Board of Education approved a new contract for Dr. McGehee last night in closed session in a 5-2 vote. I may not discuss the terms of the contract until they are available to the public (72 hours after the execution of the contract).
Board President Terri Harmon called for a closed session on short notice to approve this contract despite the circumstances of recent events. Twice before in the last month, Ms. Harmon and Dr. McGehee have tried to get the board to approve an illegal contract that not only violated board policy but also took great advantage of the Public Schools Retirement System. The board has now condoned the behavior by altering the numbers to make it legal and granting him 3 more years. Dr. McGehee’s previous compensation package was close to $100,000 higher than the next highest paid superintendent in Missouri and Kansas. I wish our teachers and staff could rate this kind of compensation compared to their market, but our teacher mid salaries are ranked 39th for bachelors, 49th for masters, and 22nd for non-doctorate. See the attached chart.
I am listening to the taxpayers and school district employees and cannot speak for the other board members. I can say that if you want a voice on matters like these in life it won’t necessarily be heard by the decisions makers on one person’s Facebook page alone. “The power of the people is greater than the people in power.” Wael Ghonim
The Board President Terri Harmon is holding a press conference at 11:30 am today to answer questions from the media.

-Bill Baird

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