Lee’s Summit school board puts superintendent on paid leave, chooses new president

The top official of the Lee’s Summit School District has been placed on administrative leave in the wake of controversy over his status as the highest-paid superintendent in Missouri and his relationship with an attorney at one of the district’s primary law firms.

Superintendent David McGehee will be on paid administrative leave until further notice, the Lee’s Summit school board said Thursday. He was replaced on an interim basis by Brent Blevins, the district’s deputy superintendent of operations.

That was not the only shakeup of district leadership. Earlier in the day, board president Terri Harmon announced she was stepping down from the leadership post but will remain a member of the board.

In addition, the Guin Mundorf law firm, where McGehee is dating a top attorney, announced it would halt future business with the district. That relationship has been at the center of complaints from residents and one board member about the appearance of a possible conflict of interest.

Both McGehee and the attorney, Shellie Guin, have defended their handling of the relationship, saying that they have taken steps to prevent a conflict of interest and that Guin was not directly involved in negotiating McGehee’s contract.

McGehee was not present at Thursday’s meeting and could not immediately be reached for comment. Guin did not return phone calls The Star placed to her office Thursday afternoon.

Dozens of citizens rallied at Thursday night’s school board meeting in protest of the board’s prior handling of McGehee’s contract. Some continued to call for Harmon to step down from the board completely.

The school board has been roiled in recent months by a public feud between McGehee and board member Bill Baird. In March, Baird accused McGehee and the board leadership of improperly handling contracts, including one involving Guin Mundorf.

After the board approved a new three-year contract and a raise for McGehee, a citizens group called for the resignations of McGehee and Harmon.

Harmon said in a statement that she believes stepping aside immediately was in the best interest of the district.

“I believe my decision to step aside and allow another board member to assume the president’s role is in the best interest of our students and staff as it will hopefully give our seven-member board the opportunity to heal and return to a professional and positive climate,” Harmon wrote.

Harmon declined further comment at Thursday’s meeting.

The Lee’s Summit school board announced the changes in leadership at the beginning of its regularly scheduled meeting Thursday night.

Blevins, the interim superintendent, is finishing his second year in the district. He previously spent seven years as superintendent at the Forsyth School District in southwest Missouri.

Blevins said he expected little to change during his time as acting superintendent. “I work real closely with the board as it is,” he said.

Board member Bob White was chosen as the new board president. White said he would like to see the board united again.

“We’re fractured right now,” White said. “The best thing to do for the district and for the kids is to unite.”

Dozens of members of Citizens for a Better LSR7, the group that called for the resignations, rallied at Thursday night’s meeting to press their demands for a change in leadership.

McGehee’s new contract calls for him to make a base salary of $304,300 for the 2016-2017 school year, plus an additional $60,857 in deferred compensation for forgoing other employment opportunities.

Lee’s Summit parent Danielle Rose handed out fliers outside the meeting Thursday calling for McGehee and Harmon to resign. Rose has two children in the school district and said she has become concerned about how the board is making decisions.

“Accountability is huge,” Rose said. “I think the budget needs to be looked at. Where the money’s going and where it’s not going.”

Baird has said he complained to the board for months about the possibility of a conflict of interest stemming from McGehee’s personal relationship with Shellie Guin, an attorney at Guin Mundorf, which handles much of the district’s legal business.

After Baird made his concerns public, he and the superintendent traded calls to resign, each accusing the other of interfering with the proper functioning of the district leadership.

McGehee has said he had informed the board of the relationship and no conflict of interest existed. Several board members backed him, saying the district had shifted administrative duties to insulate McGehee from legal work done by Guin.

But as the dispute unfolded in public view, some experts in legal ethics in Missouri questioned the wisdom of the district continuing to do business with the law firm while McGehee’s relationship with Guin continued.

A 2014 report from the Missouri auditor faulted the school district for not competitively bidding legal services and instead employing Guin’s law firm and others without a written agreement.

Documents obtained by The Star show the district paid Guin Mundorf more than $114,000 in 2013, more than $143,000 in 2014 and more than $168,000 in 2015.

Guin has said that to avoid violating Missouri Bar rules, she was having other attorneys at her firm do work that dealt with McGehee directly.

But on Thursday the law firm announced it would decline to accept further work from the district.

“We have determined that it is in the best interest of LSR7 and our firm to respectfully decline to accept further legal work from the district,” the law firm said in a letter Tuesday to Lee’s Summit school officials. The district shared the letter Thursday.

The letter also said it is the firm’s goal “to support our school district clients in accomplishing their educational mission. … External factors are impeding our ability to effectively assist LSR7 in accomplishing that mission.”

“Please know that this is not a decision we have taken lightly,” the letter said.

Guin Mundorf said it plans to continue handling any pending legal matters through completion unless otherwise instructed by the board.

The law firm is one of several that provide legal work for the Lee’s Summit district.

Board members said they brought in two independent law firms that confirmed the district and the firm had taken appropriate steps to avoid conflict of interest issues.

Baird, the board member whose public feud with McGehee helped fuel the controversy, said he thought it was possible McGehee might still lead the district, but he thought it would be best if McGehee and the district parted ways.

“We’re negotiating right now, and all options are on the table,” Baird said.

“We need new leadership,” Baird continued. “Tonight was the start of that. We are all ready to unite behind Bob White.”

This story was originally published May 19, 2016 at 2:17 PM with the headline "Lee’s Summit school board puts superintendent on paid leave, chooses new president."