District, principal settle

Deer Park school board trustees have reached a tentative settlement agreement with the principal they suspended last month.

Dennis Haverlandt was suspended with pay Feb. 12 after 10 of 11 teachers in the district expressed doubt in Haverlandt’s ability to lead the school. He has been the principal there for about four years.

After unanimously voting to suspend him, the board made Haverlandt a settlement offer.

Trustees asked him to submit in writing his resignation, which would be irrevocable and accompanied by a release of all claims, board Chairwoman Chantal Yacavone said.

Haverlandt countered the board’s offer with his own requests, Yacavone said. Board members received an e-mail from Haverlandt’s attorney spelling out Haverlandt’s request.

Haverlandt requested the board keep him on paid administrative leave through the end of his contract, which expires June 30. He will not receive additional money, Yacavone said Wednesday; he will simply receive all of his $60,000 annual salary.

Haverlandt also requested Yacavone write him a recommendation letter.

“I said I would write a letter, but I would write it in my own words,” she said.

The board discussed Haverlandt’s counteroffer at its regular meeting Tuesday. Trustees haven’t yet voted to accept the offer; the appropriate paperwork hasn’t yet been drawn up, so the board has nothing to vote on or sign, Yacavone said Wednesday.

Haverlandt’s suspension occurred last month after all but one of Deer Park’s teachers signed a letter of no confidence in his leadership. Yacavone declined to identify the teacher who didn’t sign the letter.

Those who did sign it cited infractions supporting their lack of confidence in Haverlandt. Those infractions and the letter are being kept secret because this is a personnel matter; trustees discussed the complaint during a closed meeting Feb. 9.

Haverlandt has declined to comment on the specifics of the complaint or the settlement.

“They made me an offer that I couldn’t refuse, and I took it,” he said Wednesday. “I’m looking forward to other new opportunities.”

He doesn’t yet know what those opportunities are. Haverlandt, 57, went back to school for his teaching degree at the University of Great Falls when he was 33. Before that, he was in warehouse management.

He taught first and fourth grades and spent six years as president of the Great Falls Education Association, the district’s teachers union, before getting hired as principal of Deer Park School in 2006.

Trustees said Tuesday that Haverlandt was the third principal the school had hired in the past nine years.

“It’s telling that of the [recent] Deer Park School administrators, I’ve lasted the longest,” Haverlandt said Wednesday.

While he doesn’t know what his future holds, Haverlandt said he expects to stay in the Flathead Valley.

“I’m a resident of Whitefish. I’m not moving,” he said.

The board hasn’t yet decided whether it will hire an administrator to replace Haverlandt, Yacavone said. State law requires that schools with between nine and 17 full-time teachers have at least a half-time principal. Eight or fewer teachers only require a lead teacher to run the school.

Deer Park School has nine full-time teachers and two half-time teachers, Yacavone said. It’s possible the district may have fewer full-time teachers next year; Deer Park faces a $71,000 shortfall in next year’s budget and is considering reducing its staff to make up the difference.

“It’s a wide-open book right now. The board and teachers are working together,” Yacavone said Wednesday.

In the meantime, one of Deer Park’s half-time teachers, librarian Bobbie Vaden, has taken over the bulk of the school’s principal duties. She will handle paperwork, discipline issues and “overall organization,” Yacavone said Tuesday.

Vaden recently suffered an injury at school that requires surgery, Yacavone said, so another teacher, Cyndie Grace, will fill in as lead teacher until Vaden returns.

Other teachers at the school have divided some of the duties Haverlandt handled, including putting out a newsletter, Web site development and keeping the reader board up to date.

Reporter Kristi Albertson may be reached at 758-4438 or by e-mail at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.