There is movement within the St Joseph School District on the touchy subject of stipends. On Monday, the district announced special meetings on the subject.
The Board of Education Ad Hoc Committee is meeting next week “to discuss stipends.” The announcement noted the agenda would be posted on the district Web site, but by Tuesday morning, it had not yet been posted.
The school district administration came under fire when about a quarter of a million dollars in stipends came to light. That was news to the school board which had not heard about them, no approved them. In the weeks that followed, more unapproved stipends came to light.
Eventually the administration brought those stipends to the board for approval, and the board approved them.
The controversy boiled over after Chief Financial Officer Beau Musser was placed on administrative leave. In his wrongful-termination lawsuit, Musser claimed he was let go because of his persistence in seeking to make the stipends public. Musser has returned to work, but his lawsuit is still pending.
The Missouri State Auditor’s Office is investigating the district. A U.S. grand jury is investigating as well, and has demanded district documents at least three times.