Ankeny school district sues former superintendent

DES MOINES (AP) ? The Ankeny school district has filed a lawsuit against its former superintendent, claiming he misled officials about whether he had a new job lined up when he negotiated a $176,000 exit agreement.

The lawsuit was filed this week in Polk County District Court against Matthew Wendt, The Des Moines Register said.

Wendt was offered a job in May as superintendent in the Oswego, Ill., school district. The lawsuit says that on the day after he got the offer, Wendt began to negotiate a severance package with the Ankeny district but didn?t tell Ankeny officials about the other job.

?Dr. Wendt owed a duty to the school district to disclose to the school district, before it approved the amendment, the fact that he had the Oswego job,? the lawsuit says.

Wendt said he became concerned about his job security after Ankeny voters replaced four school board incumbents in the November elections.

Wendt had two years left on his contract when he sought a severance worth 18 months of salary on May 24, the lawsuit says.

The board countered May 30 with a one-year contract extension, and a raise of 3.25 percent or an opportunity to resign June 30 and receive severance of $176,513. He took the severance.

The next day, Oswego district officials announced that Wendt would be its new superintendent with an annual salary of $225,000.

The lawsuit says that before the special board meeting on May 30, Ankeny school district attorney Jeff Krausman called Wendt and told him that if he had another job already, the board likely wouldn?t approve the severance agreement.

In his statement Wednesday, Wendt said the district?s lawsuit doesn?t allege that any district official specifically asked whether he had a job offer.

?I?m not an unethical, dishonest person,? Wendt said.