Missouri lawmaker seeks legislation to cap superintendent buyouts following CPS proposal
Mitchell Kaminski
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
A Missouri state lawmaker is pursuing legislation aimed at limiting superintendent payouts and protecting taxpayers, building on a proposal originally put forward by Columbia Public Schools.
State Rep. John Martin (R-Boone County) was in attendance for a November Columbia Board of Education meeting when he first heard that it was a legislative priority for CPS.
“That was something that interested me. I thought it’s a good concept, especially on saving as far as taxpayer dollars and a good use of taxpayer dollars,” Martin said.
Martin is now working on legislation that would limit superintendent buyouts to no more than one year’s salary statewide.
This comes after the Francis Howell School District made a costly private deal to pay former superintendent Mike Dominguez, $229,166.67 to step away. The only problem, Dominguez didn’t work a day for the district and took a job as Oklahoma’s Shawnee Public Schools assistant superintendent.
“I think there will be some pushback because that’s not the norm right now. Most districts, the norm is a three-year contract, or even in the City of St. Louis, there’s actually a five-year contract,” Martin said. “[Columbia Public Schools] they’re looking for a uniformity to help them in future negotiations as well.”
In October, CPS submitted a proposal at the Missouri School Boards’ Association Fall Delegation Assembly asking to support legislation to limit superintendent payouts upon separation to no more than one year’s salary to protect taxpayers.
The district said in its proposal that using “taxpayer dollars to give six-figure payouts is not fiscally responsible” and that “boards across the state are faced with difficult decisions every year when negotiating with superintendents who are missing the mark.” The district went on to say that because most superintendent contracts are three-year rolling deals, any attempts to terminate or reach a settlement come with a price tag.
CPS spokeswoman Michelle Baumstark told ABC 17 News that MSBA passed their proposal as one of its legislative priorities.
“I think the board really felt strongly about what that means for school districts across the state. So you might look at Columbia Public Schools, obviously, with superintendent contracts,” Baumstark said. “When we separated from our previous superintendent, there were some financial obligations related to that contract. The contract is written according to state law. So there are some requirements. And so this would be changing what current state law requires school districts to do. There were several school districts in the last two years that have been caught in that requirement under state law for payouts to superintendents that they have separated with.”
The proposal comes after a dispute with former Superintendent Brian Yearwood in November 2024. Initially, Yearwood announced in August that he had been diagnosed with cancer. However, months later, the district announced that he was retiring and paid him $667,268.90 in public dollars in a separation agreement. His cancer diagnosis was not mentioned in his resignation letter.
Yearwood then began applying for other jobs and ended up being named the superintendent of a school district in Louisville, Kentucky.
When CPS hired Jeff Klein as its superintendent, it included language in his contract to limit any payouts to twelve months of salary, something it would like to make uniform across the state.
“I am grateful their current superintendent, Dr. Klein, he’s agreed to, you a one-year buyout if that would happen. So I think that’s good. They already have that in place and wanting to see that statewide so I’m willing to support that and at least float that legislation out there and debate it down in Jefferson City,” Martin said.
CPS is now pushing for a change in legislation to that it feels will benefit smaller districts who may not have the resources to limit the financial risk of buying out a superintendent contract. In its proposal to MSBA, the district wrote:
“Our board discussed that although we are typically in favor of local control in most situations, we could not think of a time that a local board would prefer to pay more money than less to a superintendent upon separation or termination.”
Martin said his legislation would not cap a superintendent’s salary, but would limit the number of years a buyout can cover. He said he is currently researching what other states have done and began talking to officials across the state to see if the proposed legislation would be doable.
“I have talked to some lawmakers. I’ve gotten some pros and cons. And so I I’m not saying it is a done deal, but I think it’s something that’s noteworthy to look into, especially again, from that standpoint of wise use of money,” Martin said. “Columbia Schools was in a bad spot. There were a lot of obviously taxpayers that were very upset about that type of a buyout from their previous superintendent. So if I can protect those taxpayer dollars and assist schools in that, I think that’s a positive.”