Wendt, Ankeny School Board Settle Lawsuit Over Severance Pay

Former Ankeny Schools Superintendent Matthew Wendt and the school district have settled their legal dispute over the amount of severance pay Wendt is entitled to, the board announced Monday night.

Following a closed session tonight, the Ankeny board voted 7-0 to approve the settlement with Wendt. It cuts the amount of his severance package in half, from a year's pay to six month's salary. The total is about $88,000 or $14,709 a month; down from the previous severance package of $176,000.

Wendt and the district will pay their own legal fees. The settlement also says that Wendt, along with the school board, must not publicly disparage the others. A breach of that agreement would pay $14,709 per comment.

The district's lawsuit had accused Wendt of fraud and deliberately misleading the school board when members voted in May to amend his contract prior to his resignation to take a position in the Oswego, IL, school system.

"It was important to resolve this matter with Dr. Wendt," said board president George Tracy in a statement. "This settlement saved the district a significant amount of money and allows the Ankeny school district to turn its attention to more pressing educational issues. Both parties have realized the value of putting this matter in the past and moving forward."

Wendt said in a statement: "I am pleased to have a settlement reached, I feel the final resolution represents a compromise that puts the matter in the past and is clearly in everyone's best interest. This agreement allows my family and me to move forward. I have many fond memories of the five years serving as the Ankeny superintendent and I have nothing but best wishes for the school district."

Earlier coverage:

The Ankeny school board filed a lawsuit against former district superintendent Matthew Wendt in Polk County District Court today, accusing him of fraud and saying he deliberately mislead the district.

According to the Des Moines Register, the lawsuit is requesting the court to make null and void a contract providing Wendt with a $176,000 transition allowance if he left the district.

In May, . Prior to the vote, the board offered Wendt a three-year contract including a 3.25 percent salary should he stay with the district.

During the special meeting, the board amended Wendt's current contract. A $176,000 transition allowance, equal to one year's pay without benefits, replaced a four-year payout with two years of benefits if Wendt elected to resign within a month.

Wendt chose to resign and take the transition allowance.

One day later,  in Oswego, Ill. The District 308 school board offered him a three-year contract with a $225,000 annual salary.

According to the Register's article, the district states in the lawsuit that “Dr. Wendt owed a duty to the school district to disclose to the school district, before it approved the amendment, the fact that he had the Oswego job.”

The district notes in the lawsuit further proof of fraud, the article said, because in a meeting with board president George Tracy, vice president Pat Cahill and then associate superintendent Bruce Kimpston the day following his resignation, Wendt did not mention his plan to drive “300 miles to Oswego, Illinois to sign his contract to become the new superintendent of (the) Oswego district.”

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