RUTHTON – There were numerous hot topics at the Russell-Tyler-Ruthton School Board meeting Monday night in Ruthton, including those related to Bruce Houck being on administrative leave from his superintendent position.

During the course of the meeting, Houck’s fate and concerns regarding paying two superintendents were dealt with.

“With the budget as is, we should only be paying for one superintendent, not two,” RTR School Board member Pat O’ Toole said, referring to Houck and interim Superintendent Richard Orcutt. “Since Superintendent Houck’s investigation is resolved without action, I move to bring him back immediately.”

Board member Terry Gordon seconded the motion.

“He (Houck) is a SWEC employee,” board chairman Jeff Hansen said. “Mr. Orcutt’s daily rate of pay is cheaper than Mr. Houck’s. The amount of services we have to purchase from the cooperative is not specified. Perhaps we don’t have to pay SWEC (for superintendent services) since we have a superintendent (Orcutt) in place. If you’re worried about our fund balance, Mr. Orcutt is cheaper.”

A member of the large gallery commented by saying, “You had a superintendent until someone stirred this up. I think they should pay for it.”

“Why would you want him back?” board member Tony Dybdahl asked. “The employees here are threatened by his presence.”

“Where did you hear that?” O’ Toole asked, with no response from Dybdahl.

An attempt Tuesday by the Independent to reach Dybdahl was unsuccessful.

The vote on the motion to immediately bring Houck back failed, 5-2.

In addition to the big question on everybody’s minds of “What did he do wrong?” residents and board members were wondering about improprieties in secret meetings and prematurely racking up lawyer bills.

During the public forum, John Warnhoff stood up to express concerns about the Code of Ethics. Warnhoff was of mixed feelings about the way the school board dealt with the Joint Powers Agreement through Southwest Education Cooperative (SWEC).

“I dislike the Joint Powers agreement, as it is not right for our school,” Warnhoff said. He had taken meetings with Jody Schemers and other experts regarding the agreement but still disapproved of the way the school board had approved it without the members having had time to read it.

“There were no published notices on it,” he said. “No open communications. There were questions, but no answers. Board members were seen leaving the public meeting together. Was there a closed meeting after that?” Hansen nodded in the affirmative.

“I was glad to see the decision to exit the agreement,” Warnhoff continued. “There were questions regarding staff licensures, hiring practices, etcetera. Questions about the hiring of big-city lawyers and then being told, ‘Don’t talk about it.’ I don’t know about you, but that’s not me. It’s just my opinion, but I don’t want the previous administration to control the future of RTR.”

Later in the meeting, the hiring of a “big-city lawyer” came up again.

O’ Toole pulled out a bill from Kristi Hastings of the Pemberton Law Firm in the Twin Cities.

“Since the board voted to spend not more than $480 to have a lawyer look over the Joint Powers contract, why do we have a bill here for over $6,000 spent with this lawyer?” O’ Toole asked. He went down the list of charges and read off dates that preceded the April 7 special meeting where the approval was given to hire this lawyer.

Hansen and vice chairman Craig Hess took turns attempting to qualify their calls to the lawyer that resulted in such a high total, but were hard-pressed to do so with data privacy issues. Even Orcutt had placed a couple of calls to the lawyer – one, he said was to ensure he would receive health insurance benefits with his position.

“But that was before you were even on the payroll,” O’Toole said.

“I like to know how deep the water is before I dive in,” Orcutt replied.

Turning back to Hansen, O’Toole asked, “Who is the client?”

“Board members,” Hansen said.

“I’d say the board doesn’t know any of this,” O’Toole said. “They should each have a copy of this (bill). She charged $41 for just a phone call.”

It was noted that Hess was the board-appointed member to research lawyers and had called more than one.

“Are we going to get bills from other attorneys he’s talked to?” Gordon asked.

“Maybe Steve Knutson,” Hess said.

O’ Toole made a motion not to approve the lawyer bill at this meeting. Gordon seconded it. The motion failed, 4-3.

Orcutt reported that the school’s gun control policy needed to be revisited because it is slanted toward only students but should include adults as well. He also said that district constituents should contact their legislators in regards to passing the Ag credit bill so that ag landowners could get a break if the RTR District would issue building bonds. Rebuilding may become a priority with a lot of buildings in the district needing new roofs, among other district maintenance expenditures.