Arbitrator tells St. Francis schools to reinstate embattled superintendent, lawyer says

An arbitrator has ruled that the St. Francis school board must reinstate embattled Superintendent Edward Saxton, his attorneys said this week.

Saxton, who's been on paid leave since January, remains the target of a criminal investigation amid allegations he inflated enrollment numbers to pull more state funding to the north metro district. The board tried to fire him in March, court records show.

"[The arbitrator] ordered his reinstatement," Saxton's attorney Roger Aronson said. "He has a three-year contract that expires in 20 months. He had every intention of working out his 20 months. But he is now on paid administrative leave."

Citing data practices laws, school officials declined to comment or release the arbitrator's decision, which came out Monday.

The board will meet behind closed doors Friday and hold its regularly scheduled meeting Monday.

The Anoka County Sheriff's Office continues to investigate allegations that Saxton misrepresented enrollment to obtain more per-pupil funding for the district. Sheriff's Cmdr. Paul Sommer said authorities are awaiting information from the Minnesota Department of Education, expected in a couple of weeks.

Detectives and prosecutors then will determine whether Saxton should face charges. No one has alleged that Saxton gained personally, Sommer said.

Saxton, 61, of Corcoran, declined through his lawyer to comment.

Documents filed in District Court reveal more about what led to Saxton's leave, alleging that he misled the board and ultimately Minnesota Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius. The board placed Saxton on paid leave Jan. 21 and ordered an outside investigation.

In March, it voted behind closed doors to fire Saxton. Chairman David Roberts signed a notice of proposed termination accusing Saxton of an "ongoing pattern of misconduct" while managing a now-defunct online program called 21st Century Learning.

Saxton set up the program, which was aimed at home-schooled kids, court documents say. The district provided the students with laptops and technology, according to court files, then claimed the home-school students for full-time reimbursement from the state, according to Saxton's termination letter.

"In practice, the 21st Century Program provided minimal support and services to students and their families, despite the fact that the District collected full-time reimbursement for students in the program," the letter says. The program did not require students to complete curriculum requirements and did not provide learning plans or consistently monitor students' progress, according to documents filed by the district.

The board also says it was misled by Saxton. "Your willingness to provide misleading information with respect to the 21st Century Program demonstrates you simply cannot be trusted to exercise sound professional judgment in the management of the district's schools," the letter said.

Aronson said the district's characterizations of Saxton's actions and 21st Century Learning are wrong.

"There is no misleading. There may be performance issues, but there is no evidence in the record to support misleading," he said. "This doesn't have the kind of blackheart immoral-conduct component to it."

Aronson said the online learning program was innovative, "a clever idea of building relationships between home school kids and school districts."

He said the Department of Education audits and adjusts enrollment figures for about 40 districts and charter schools each year. If it finds inaccurate numbers, the state recoups its money by lowering aid in future years.

Other districts operate online learning programs with approval from the Department of Education. Department representatives informed Saxton that 21st Century could continue to operate if the district applied for approval, but that did not happen.

Interim Superintendent Troy Ferguson said via e-mail Thursday that the district discontinued the program in March 2014. The department "has not requested that the school district repay the state for inaccurate enrollment figures. The District cannot comment further," Ferguson wrote.

Enrollment in the district, which covers 165 square miles in northern Anoka and southern Isanti counties, has declined in the past few years, from 5,332 students in 2010-11 to 4,806 this year. Districts receive about $5,800 per student from the state.

Saxton came to the district in 1995 as an administrative assistant. He served as the high school's assistant principal, then principal. He was promoted to superintendent in 2003 at a salary of $145,000.