MINOCQUA -- Rob Way, the former administrator at Lakeland Union High School District, received $50,000 as part of his resignation agreement with the school board, WXPR has learned.
The agreement document was released after an Open Record demand. Its release had been delayed for some time, in part, because Way had not picked up the Open Record notification by registered mail in a timely manner from the district, this writer was told. Way had five days after the notification to add to the record. He did not do so.
The school board accepted Way’s resignation as district administrator and curriculum director on Aug. 5. The agreement called for paying Way a lump sum of $50,000 two months into his one-year contract (2021-22). In addition, if the former employee had chosen to remain in the district’s health insurance plan, the district would have covered three months of premiums.
The district said it would not challenge any future unemployment claims, as the “…(P)ayment shall be considered wages for the purposes of unemployment compensation for the calendar week in which the payment was made.”
Most telling, it adds: “Solely for the purposes of unemployment, the District agrees that it solicited the resignation from Employee in lieu of termination and that his resignation was not voluntary…”
The school board had ongoing discussions with Way in the past year about performance expectations. It offered only a one-year employment contract through June 30, 2022 rather than the customary two-year contract when it came up for renewal last July.
His latest contract called for Way to spend 40 percent of his time on administrator duties with the remainder as director of curriculum. His salary was frozen at $138,768, the same as in his initial contract.
