School superintendent gets contract extension

Darlene Schottle will be the superintendent of Kalispell Public Schools for at least three more years, after a school board vote last week.

The board of trustees voted to extend Schottle’s contract through June 30, 2013. Her contract was set to expire June 30, 2011.

The vote extends Schottle’s contract to the full extent allowed by state law. State law limits a superintendent’s contract to a maximum of three years.

“If  you find someone that is a good leader for your district, then I think you say to that superintendent, ‘We will make to you the greatest commitment that we can possibly make under the law,’” Trustee Don Murray said at the board’s last regular meeting.

He and six other trustees voted in favor of extending Schottle’s contract. Trustee Bette Albright was not at the meeting.

Three trustees — Tom Clark, Alice Ritzman and John Osweiler — voted against the extension.

Osweiler wanted trustees to include a liquidated damage protection clause in Schottle’s contract. The clause would impose a financial penalty on Schottle if she should breach her contract.

“We’re talking substantial money here,” Osweiler said. “I’m not saying Darlene would [break her contract], but what if Darlene got a better offer in this economy?”

Adding the clause would require the district to negotiate a new contract with Schottle.

Trustee Eve Dixon said the personnel committee had decided adding a liquidated damage protection clause “wasn’t in the best interest of the district, because we felt it would be a deterrent to any future superintendents looking at this district to put it in there.”

Ritzman said her lack of support had nothing to do with Schottle or her leadership.

“If you continue to work with the board, I think you could be here as long as you want,” Ritzman told her. “But I don’t like to make the decision for a new board.”

Four trustees’ positions are up for election in May. Four more seats expire next year. A little more than a year from now, the board could be dramatically different, Ritzman said, and she was uncomfortable making a decision with such long-lasting implications.

Many new trustees have a steep learning curve during their first year on the board. But trustees elected in May would be more ready to make an educated decision about the superintendent’s contract after several months on the board, Ritzman said.

Ritzman said she would support adding one year to Schottle’s contract, but not two.

“I would rather not make that decision for that extended year,” she said.

Trustee Ivan Lorentzen cited novice trustees’ initial inexperience as the reason why he supported extending Schottle’s contract now.

“This is a decision that experienced board members should be making, not new board members,” he said.

Clark took issue with that comment. He is in his second year on the Kalispell board but was a trustee in the West Valley School District for seven years before that.

By the time Clark was elected a Kalispell trustee in May 2008, Schottle had a contract that would outlast his term on the board, he said.

“That didn’t sit well with me,” Clark said.

He echoed Ritzman’s assurance that his displeasure had nothing to do with Schottle.

“I don’t have any problem at all with Darlene being the superintendent of this district for this year and next year and the year after that,” he said.

Schottle is in her seventh year as superintendent of Kalispell Public Schools. Her salary this year is about $116,000.

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