Urbandale Superintendent Gets Raise, But No Golden Parachute

Urbandale School Superintendent Doug Stilwell will receive a 1.71 percent salary raise in the coming school year.

His total compensation package, including insurance and benefits increases 3 percent, compared with a 3.87 percent increase for Urbandale school administrators; and 3.71 percent increase for teachers in the coming year.

The Urbandale School Board voted to offer Stilwell a three-year contract after his mid-year review in February.

The terms of his contract did not change, Stilwell said. Only his compensation changed.

Stilwell said he does not have a clause in his contract for a monetary payout, should he be asked to resign before his contract expires.

In Ankeny, the school district is trying to nullify a payout to departing superintendent Matthew Wendt. The school district today filed a lawsuit asking the court to nullify a contract that provided Wendt $176,00 -- the equivalent of a year's salary -- in exchange for his resignation. 

The Ankeny board approved that payout in May, calling it a transition allowance, only to learn later that as Wendt was negotiating that, he already had a job offer from another school district.

The board approved the $176,000 payout to replace a severance payout in his contract that provided a four-year payout with two years benefits.