Waukee schools will pay nearly $1 million to former HR director

The Waukee Board of Education on Monday approved a $985,000 settlement agreement with its former human resources director.

Terry Welker claimed the district eliminated his position after he reported the conduct of the district's chief operating officer to investigators.

An internal district investigation found that Chief Operating Officer Eric Rose repeatedly violated district policies, mismanaged money and abused his authority.

"To pursue this further isn't good for our district. It's not good for our students or for our teachers," said Board President Susan Bunz. "While I feel very confident saying we don't agree with many of the accusations, we know that this is the best option under the circumstances."

The Board of Education approved the settlement unanimously.

Three former employees have filed lawsuits against the Waukee Community School District alleging they were wrongfully terminated after reporting Rose's conduct to administrators.

Welker's job as human resources director was eliminated by the school board in July amid budget cuts. He earned $119,380 per year.

The former human resources director was a key source for investigators, hired by the district in March 2016, to look into the allegations against Rose. Welker provided police and internal investigators with a "diary" detailing allegations of misconduct against Rose dating back to Sept. 21, 2015.

His diary was obtained by the Des Moines Register last year when the newspaper made public the results of the district's internal investigation.

The investigation found Rose fabricated employee time cards, used school property for personal use and solicited more than $3,000 in donations for his son’s hockey team from district vendors.

Rose heads the district's operations department, which maintains school facilities and oversees all new construction. He is the fourth highest-paid employee in the district.

He earns an annual salary of $140,000 after receiving a 6 percent raise last year — less than a month before Welker's position was eliminated.

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Welker's diary outlined personal interactions with Rose and other top administrators, as well as reports of employees who spoke with him in his role as the human resources director.

He wrote about employees being "summoned" to administrators' offices and later advising him they were "threatened" not to talk to human resources or the school board about Rose.

He wrote that Cindi McDonald, then associate superintendent of school improvement, used the term "tattling" when referring to employees raising issues with administrators. McDonald is now the superintendent of Waukee schools.

"How do I bring this forward when there is no one to hear the evidence? Should I seek the organization's legal counsel or my own attorney? Is my job in jeopardy? I worry about this every day," Welker wrote in October 2015.

Welker's attorney, Jill Zwagerman, said her client is pleased to have reached an agreement with the board after lengthy negotiations.

"Reaching settlements is never easy with school districts, and this one was no exception," she said. "Ultimately, I think this was the right decision as we avoided the long process of having a lawsuit weighing over everyone's heads."

The school board did not disclose how much money it agreed to pay Welker prior to Monday's vote. Bunz said that is normal practice for the district.

Iowa's open records law allows for settlement agreements to be made public after they're approved by a government body.

According to the agreement, given to the Register after the meeting, Welker will get:

$80,000 for payroll;

$125,073.19 for general compensatory damages, including emotional distress;

$329,926.81 for attorney fees and costs;

and $450,000 to purchase an annuity from National Indemnity Co.

Bunz said the money will come from the management budget, and will not be taken from teachers or students. The district's tax rate will not increase due to the settlement, she said.

The school district does not admit wrongdoing as part of the settlement.

There could be additional settlement agreements approved by the Waukee Board of Education as two lawsuits make their way through civil court.

Nicholas Bavas, the district's former operations manager, and Amy Patters, a former administrative assistant, have both filed wrongful termination lawsuits alleging they were forced to resign after blowing the whistle on Rose's conduct. A jury trial in Bavas' case is scheduled to begin Oct. 15.

Jay Oxenford, a former grounds supervisor, filed a wrongful termination lawsuit against the district in 2014. He claimed he was stripped of his work responsibilities after telling district officials that Rose was not accurately reporting how money was spent on maintenance work.

Oxenford's lawsuit was dismissed after a judge ruled that he failed to prove his employment was adversely affected by the disclosure.