BOARD VOTES TO BUY OUT CLARK, NIGGLE

Superintendent of Schools Neyland Clark must go if the Cape Girardeau School District is to progress, the Board of Education said Tuesday in announcing that Clark and his assistant are out Jan. 2.

The board announced the dismissals of Clark and the assistant, Dr. Tim Niggle, director of human resources, during a special meeting Tuesday. The decisions to buy out their contracts were made at a closed-door meeting Monday night.

Dr. Richard Bollwerk, assistant superintendent, was named interim superintendent.

Dr. Bob Fox, board president, said: "I feel we've got the board back on the right track and we're building public confidence again. Each board member was hearing the same thing over and over again: Dr. Clark had to go."

The board hopes to have a permanent superintendent on the job by July 1. A national search is planned. Bollwerk said he will be a candidate for the job.

Announcement of the administrative changes was delayed until Tuesday so those involved could notify family and friends, said Fox.

Clark's 4 1/2 years with Cape Girardeau schools have been tumultuous. Under his leadership, the district has been unsuccessful in three ballot efforts and has faced a number of controversies while community confidence in the superintendent has eroded.

Board member Harry Rediger said: "No matter what side of the fence you are on -- how good the superintendent was, how bad he was, how much of a leader he was -- it became very obvious in the last couple of months, particularly in the last week, that he was no longer effective in leading the Cape Girardeau public schools into the future."

Fox agreed: "We could see that a change had to be made. This was the proper time to do it."

Clark said: "I feel like the board has the right to select the superintendent, and they have made their decision. The board has made a decision to make a transition in administration."

Clark said he isn't angry; just tired. He plans to spend time with his family first and then begin looking for a job.

At 45, Clark thinks he is young enough to become superintendent of another school district. Clark said he got three phone calls Monday morning about possible jobs.

Niggle refused to comment about his dismissal.

Clark triggered the board's action with his announcement last week that he planned to remain on the job until the end of his contract with the district June 30, 1998. Rediger said after the announcement that he was bombarded with comments and phone calls from people who urged that Clark be dismissed. Other board members said they got similar calls.

The school board has started a long-range planning process that includes a Vision Planning Committee. The process, Rediger said, will require confidence in the district's leadership.

"Frankly, our leader did not have a lot of community trust or support, right or wrong," Rediger said. "That became very obvious to me during the planning process."

Attending Tuesday's meeting were Clark's wife, Diane, and his son, Joe. Also showing support for Clark were Pat Ruopp, a former board member; Reg Swan, whose wife, Kathy, resigned from the board with Ruopp; and a friend of Clark's, Brett Final.

Last spring, after Ruopp, Kathy Swan and board member John Campbell resigned in the wake of a controversy about questionable use of a district credit card, the Cape Girardeau County Commission appointed three new members to the school board.

At a summer retreat, board members agreed that a priority for the year is long-range planning. In October, the Vision Planning Committee conducted a series of public meetings. Comments collected at the meetings pointed to a lack of confidence in Clark.

The planning process has lost momentum over the past month because members of the committee weren't sure how to proceed in light of personnel issues the board needed to deal with.

The board exercised an option in Clark's contract to remove him from the job by paying him a year's salary and benefits, which total $112,495.

Clark's annual salary is $78,997. His benefits include $8,089 retirement, a $9,262 annuity, $11,124 for a $300,000 variable life insurance policy, $4,902 for health insurance for himself and his family, and $120 for vacation days.

Niggle also will be paid to leave. Fox said the amount of his severance pay hasn't been finalized. Niggle's annual salary is $59,592. Niggle, like all administrators but the superintendent, has a one-year contract.

Board member, Dr. R. Ferrell Ervin said: "It became clear the board and superintendent were incompatible. Dr. Niggle came to the district because of Dr. Clark. In many ways they were an administrative team. It's probably appropriate that they leave at the same time."

School superintendents typically have a three-year contract. Each year, if the superintendent's performance is OK, the school board extends the contract for another year.

In 1994, Clark's contract was extended to 1997 despite more than 1,000 signatures having been collected by Terry Ashby and Amy Randol asking that the board not extend his contract.

Four days before the April 1995 board member election, and in the wake of the credit card controversy, the board extended Clark's contract another year, to 1998.

"The community has to essentially eat this $112,000 all because four board members put their feelings for him as a person or a superintendent ahead of what the community was saying they want, which was him out of here," Ashby said Tuesday. "It's a shame we can't send them a bill each for $28,000, but that's not the way it works."

Randol, a parent and school volunteer who launched a personal investigation into Cape Girardeau school finances, thinks the Board of Education made the right decision to fire Clark.

"I think we're going in the right direction, and I think our district can now move forward," Randol said.

She has received countless phone calls and notes from people wondering what is happening in the school district. People had lost confidence in Clark's ability to lead the district.

"It has been a never-ending thing," she said. "There are a lot of concerned people out there. We've got a great school district and a great community. They are willing to support the schools if they think the right things are being done."

Charlene Peyton, president of the Cape Girardeau Community Teachers Association and a music teacher at Charles Clippard Elementary, said teachers weren't surprised by the board's decision.

"We are pleased we're not going to continue to be in suspended animation," she said. "We knew that nothing would go forward if the board didn't do something. In the interest of community spirit, Dr. Clark probably had to go."

Peyton said teachers weren't happy with the buyout of Clark's contract; the money could have been spent in other ways.

"The community will not do anything for schools until Dr. Clark is gone," said Peyton. "We hope this is the beginning of something new and something positive."

Jo Peukert, past CTA president and a social studies teacher at L.J. Schultz, said that after Clark announced his plan to leave in 1998, she doubted strong leadership from him was possible.

"I'm thrilled that the board unanimously made the decision it made," she said. "The board had to do what they had to do."

She said Tuesday's announcement bolstered her confidence in the board. "For a while it didn't seem like we were headed anywhere. Maybe now we're on a more positive track."

Brenda Woemmel, president of the Cape Girardeau National Education Association and a social studies teacher at Central High School, said, the money to buy out Clark's contract was well spent.

"The money, in the long run, was better spent this way than having a lame duck administrator and being adrift.

"We're finally doing something," said Woemmel.