Superintendent resigns, board pays $120,000
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POLSON — The first the Polson community heard of School District Superintendent David Whitesell’s resignation was at the March 12 school board meeting.
When the trustees came back from executive session, Chair Caryl Cox said the board had reached a tentative agreement with Whitesell on his human rights complaint filed with the Montana Human Right Bureau and the Equal Opportunity Opportunity Commission.
As part of the voluntary resolution agreement, Whitesell agreed to resign, and the board agreed to pay him $120,000 for emotional distress. Another condition was that Trustee Bob Ricketts agreed to withdraw his request for investigation into a missing document with the Polson Police Department.
The agreement was ratified at a special board meeting held March 14, and curriculum director Bill Appleton was appointed interim superintendent.
Copies of the agreement were available at the school district administration office at 9 a.m. March 13.
In a statement, Whitesell said, “I think the document speaks for itself. I would just like to thank the great kids, parents and staff with whom I had the opportunity to work.”
He also wished the Polson district all the best moving forward.
Events like this controversy caused community members to follow Polson School Board Trustee Brian Havlovick’s advice and show up at the March 12 school board meeting to speak about the board and the school district.
Keith Edmondson read a letter from a group of concerned citizens. “Kids come first,” Edmondson read. “... It’s not about position or power or politics; it’s about our babies.”
Fifth-grade teacher Charles Bertsch added his voice.
“There have been things that have been said ... the worst teachers in the school district were from the middle school,” Bertsch said. “... The rift between different schools in this district has grown.”
He added that there’s a lot of anger out there and pointing fingers doesn’t help.
Former teacher Paul Torgison said the letter spoke about being proactive rather than reactive.
“Where’s our leadership in this?” Torgison asked.
Havlovick said one thing that really resonated with him during these comments was the word “teamwork.” The district as a team failed.
“Until we fix that, it’s all talk,” Havlovick stated.
Usually the high school and elementary personnel reports are passed as a matter of course. A motion to accept these failed, and another motion was made to remove all administrators from the personnel reports in both the high school and elementary districts. The motion passed 5-2, and administrative evaluations will be reviewed before a special meeting March 20 at 5:30 p.m.
