Scott Taveau resigns as Cooperating School Districts head

By Natalie Shelton

Retired Liberty superintendent Scott Taveau resigned last week from his current position as executive director of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City, a post he’d held for almost a year.

An interim board of directors for the Cooperating School Districts — a nonprofit agency that represents 22 area school districts, including North Kansas City and Park Hill — unanimously accepted Taveau’s resignation at an interim board meeting May 7.

A news release from the Cooperating School Districts said Taveau wanted to work half-time, while the organization was considering whether it needed to move its executive director and staff to full time.

“Dr. Taveau’s organizational and leadership skills helped launch CSDGKC as a start-up business, but he made it clear from the beginning he wanted to work part time,” interim board President Larry Ewing said in a news release.

Taveau referred to the news release when asked about his resignation.

Taveau has been under scrutiny since a Liberty parent, through Missouri Sunshine Law requests to the Liberty school district, uncovered documents that indicated Taveau and three other top-level administrators had made purchases on school district credit cards without submitting receipts for the entire calendar year of 2007.

The documents also showed he folded over Sam’s Club receipts on at least two occasions, photocopied them and submitted them for reimbursement after paying for the items with personal funds. The Liberty Tribune later asked for the itemized receipts from Sam’s Club and learned they contained beer, wine, liquor, food and paper products.

In addition, documents revealed Taveau retired from the school district Dec. 31, 2005, but the school district and Board of Education led the public to believe he retired June 30, 2007. He continued working 18 months after the retirement date he reported to the Missouri Public School Retirement System, receiving $177,000 in salary, $200,000 in retirement and $90,000 for consulting his successor, Phil Wright. He earned $60,000 annually for his half-time Cooperating School Districts position.

In March, Steve Yoakum, executive director of PSRS, said his organization would move to recover any payments to Taveau if PSRS found the retired superintendent had violated the terms of his retirement.

Last week, Yoakum said PSRS had sent a second letter to the Liberty school district asking for verification for the hours Taveau worked during the last year or so of his tenure.

“We can’t determine from what they sent us the first time when he was working,” he said. “Right now we don’t have enough information to make a determination.”

He said a private audit was in process and an anticipated state audit would also help PSRS make a determination.

When asked if the uncovered credit card documents and the retirement issues raised were related to Taveau’s resignation, Ewing said, “I think our press release says it all.

Under Taveau’s leadership, the organization earned 501(c)3 status, drafted a strategic plan, begun organizing professional development opportunities for employees, continued with lobbying efforts, organized cooperating purchasing opportunities and studied the feasibility of a health insurance consortium, Ewing said.

The Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City had been in existence for about 20 years but had paid staff for the first time last June when Taveau was hired.

Jim Dunn, the Liberty school district’s former communications director, serves as the Cooperating School District’s communications director. Liz Sedlock, wife of Liberty school district Board of Education president John Sedlock, is the organization’s executive assistant.

Ewing said Cooperating School Districts plans to have Dunn and Sedlock continue working for the organization.

Taveau’s resignation comes about a few weeks before the board’s next interim meeting on June 4 and the organization’s annual membership meeting on June 11.

Speculation had arisen about whether member districts of the Cooperating School Districts of Greater Kansas City would renew their memberships if Taveau had remained at its helm.

Paul Harrell, chief financial officer of the North Kansas City school district, did not say whether his district would or would not have renewed its membership had Taveau remained but confirmed such discussions had taken place.

When asked if he had heard of any school districts planned not to participate if Taveau was in charge, Ewing said, “Once again, our press release speaks to that,” though the news release does not make mention of that specific issue.

Staff writer Natalie Shelton can be reached at 781-4941 or nshelton@npgco.com.