Board ratifies agreement, ends Whitesell's tenure

POLSON — The Polson school board voted unanimously to ratify the agreement between the district and superintendent David Whitesell on Wednesday, March 14, relieving Whitesell of his superintendent duties in the wake of his human rights claim against the district.

The agreement will pay Whitesell $120,000, about $25,000 of which is already budgeted for the rest of Whitesell’s current year. Of the remaining $95,000, the insurance company will cover $20,000, leaving the district’s $5,000 insurance deductible and $70,000 between sick/vacation time and Whitesell’s two-year contract to cover.

In explaining the numbers, trustee Kelly Bagnell said that financially, this was the right move to make, as lawsuits can be quite expensive.

“From a business standpoint, (the money) was reasonable to get this done,” Bagnell said. “People say ‘$120,000’ but you have to realize what goes into that. The insurance was willing to pay some of that… We felt that from a business standpoint, this was the best we could do.”

Vice Chairman John Laimbeer said that the agreement was reached to the satisfaction of all involved.

“The bottom line is as divided as you may be and we may be, at the end of the day, both parties thought this was fair,” Laimbeer told the audience.

At the meeting, it hadn’t been decided upon where the remaining $75,000 will come from. The district has until March 29 to make payment, according to business manager Pam Owen.

To replace Whitesell in the interim, the board voted 5-0 (Nancy Lindsey and Brian Havlovick were absent from the meeting) to appoint curriculum director Bill Appleton as acting superintendent, effective immediately.

Appleton has experience in the role, having stepped in for Whitesell when he was out of the district, and for Sue McCormick when she retired in 2009.

Appleton said that while it was difficult at times, with the support of the administrative team, he’s comfortable stepping up.

“The experience I had previously was successful because we had a great administrative team,” Appleton said. “It was a pretty good team effort.”

Lake County Superintendent of Schools Gale Decker raised concerns with the appointment of Appleton, not because of the person, but because of the job.

“Spring, as far as being a superintendent, is probably the busiest time of the year because you need time to build a budget for next year, you’re possibly going to have staff and administrative cuts and those are very difficult decisions to make,” Decker said. “I’ve known Bill, I don’t know him well and everything I’ve heard is good, but you’re asking him to take on a huge load. I’m sure he’ll do the best he can, but I still have some reservations.”

Appleton, however, noted that last time he did this was roughly the same time of year and he’s aware of the responsibility, but confident he can do the job with the support of the staff.

In the meantime, the board will search for a permanent replacement and while they hope to find that person as soon as possible, they admitted they will not hire someone until they’re confident it’s the right person.

“If we don’t find the appropriate person in the next five or six weeks, we should not feel obligated to select someone,” Chairwoman Caryl Cox said.