The Burnsville school board shocked taxpayers across the metro area in February when it agreed to pay more than $250,000 to buy out the contract of its human resources chief.But that couldn't happen in Minneapolis. That's because all district administrators, aside from Superintendent Bernadeia Johnson, are at-will employees without contracts. That means they can be terminated at any time without the district being forced to buy out the remainder of their contracts.The 2010 switch to at-will status was something that former board member Tom Madden
pushed for as part of an effort to reduce the chances of unbudgeted back-end payouts to departing administrators. He called the change a "massive improvement."The change followed the well-publicized buyout of the contract of former superintendent Thandiwe Peebles. She was paid $179,500 to leave in mid-contract after 18 months of controversy. The district also spent $11,000 to buy out the lease she had on a Cadillac SUV. The district also paid onetime superintendent Robert Ferrera $187,000 to depart in 1993.Madden said the contract of Peebles' successor, Bill Green, was pared of some of the items that drove up the cost of her departure. Once the pattern was set at the top, the change was made to put other high administrators on an at-will basis. That means they can be fired at any time without the district having to pay them through the end of their contracts.
