Goodrich – Superintendent Kim Hart is officially terminated’sort of.
The school board voted unanimously Monday night to end the contract of the former district superintendent who was placed on an administrative leave July 26 at a special meeting. That decision came on the heels of a lukewarm review from the board, along with tensions with the teachers? union and their sympathizers concerning contract issues.
On Sept. 4, Hart entered into a written employment contract with the Whitmore Lake Pubic Schools to serve as superintendent through June 30, 2010. School officials said when Hart officially accepted employment with Whitmore Lake Schools her contract remained in place, however, she went from being on a paid administrative leave to an unpaid status. He said Hart’s contract doesn’t officially expire until June 30, 2008.
Hart did not return phone calls for comment.
‘We have been working with ongoing legal counsel and have been unable to mutually agree on the termination of her contract,? said Michael Tripp, board of trustees president. ‘We wanted to make every effort to make sure Kim’s refusal to resign from her employment was without public scrutiny. However, her refusal to work through this process, left us no choice.?
District officials advised Hart by letter on Nov. 28, to resign her post, or they would consider her acceptance of employment with the Whitmore Lake Public Schools to constitute a violation of her employment contract.
Hart’s failure to provide a formal resignation to the board of trustees prompted the district’s legal counsel to advise them to officially terminate her contract. Their failure to do so, would have meant Hart’s contract would be automatically renewed on April 30.
‘Kim’s refusal to provide a written resignation after she signed the contract with Whitmore, is a breach of her contract,? said Tripp.
He said her resistance to the formal process has prevented the district from legally negotiating a new contract for their interim superintendent, Larry Allen, who the board voted unanimously to be the permanent superintendent for the district.
‘This has been a difficult situation for us,? said Tripp. ‘We went through all of the steps to hire a new superintendent knowing we couldn’t officially negotiate a contract with whomever we chose, unless we had the cooperation and formal resignation we needed from Kim Hart. At this point, our legal counsel said we can finally go ahead and negotiate a contract for Larry Allen.?