Month: December 2025

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.” 

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Euphenie Andre

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

Construction for Boone County Public Safety Childcare Center is on schedule to be completed in July 2026.

The center cost $5 million, with the county providing half and the state providing the other half.

The Boone County Commission held a meeting Tuesday afternoon to discuss the current status of the project. Officials said they hope the center will be fully operational by August or September, weather permitting.

“That would be our goal, is to have it fully outfitted by that point,” Boone County Commissioner Kip Kendrick. “But we’ve got to we have to have a cooperative weather winter weather this year,”

The 10,000-square-foot facility is designed to serve up to 96 children at a time. The building will have two levels, a main level and a lower level aligned with the basement. The lower level will not be fully outfitted initially, as construction will begin on the main level first. All rooms are being built for infant care. During the meeting, Director Amy Hayse said the upper level will be designated for children two years old and under.

Kendrick said the center will open with a smaller number of children and gradually expand.

“So we may start as small as anywhere from 15-to-20 kids,” Kendrick said. “But we’ve built the facility in such a way that we can grow into it over time.”

The daycare will be located on Boone County’s Public Safety Campus, within walking distance of the sheriff’s office and jail administration. Construction on the facility began approximately three weeks ago. Once open, the center will operate anywhere from 5 a.m.-9 p.m., seven days a week, serving children from 6 weeks old through school age.

According to Kendrick, the schedule is expected to provide sufficient childcare coverage for staff without requiring a full 24-hour operation. While 24-hour service could be considered in the long term if needed, similar facilities mostly hospitals offering comparable services, said it’s rarely necessary. Operating 16 to 18 hours a day usually meets the needs of teams that work around the clock, such as a Joint Communication Center or a Sheriff’s Office.

“So make sure we cover both first and second shift and then be open seven days a week. That’s our goal and so intention of being open, you know, pretty much 365 days a year, maybe a day or two that we have to close down for other purposes,” Kendrick said.

During the meeting, commissioners also discussed potential partnerships with local colleges to help provide volunteers. Officials could not provide an exact number of staff members they plan to hire but said the center will not need to hire its full staff right away, as the number of enrolled children is expected to remain below 40 in the early months.

However, they do anticipate it might be difficult to find staff for those hours that they have planned.

“Preparing for those extended hours and seven days a week, that’s going to create some staffing issues, staffing challenges,” Kendrick said. “So we’ll work work through those.”

Tuition fees have not yet been set, but officials plan to offer a subsidized rate to keep costs below the market. They said tuition rates will be finalized and available to the public by the second or third quarter of 2026.

Of the $5 million allocated for the project, officials said they don’t know exactly how much has been spent, but so far, expenditures have been minimal.

“I don’t want to throw out a number, but we have certainly paid some of the invoices on the engineering side. Some of those invoices are probably starting to come in for excavation,” he said.

Commissioners also noted that several safety details still need to be finalized, including utilities and the materials used on the playground.

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