White's separation agreement

Bolingbrook principal's departure deal released March 11, 2014|By Geoff Ziezulewicz, Tribune reporter 5 Former Bolingbrook High School principal Michael White received the rest of his yearly salary and approximately $40,000 in additional compensation as part of an employment separation agreement between White and Valley View School District 365U. (Valley View School District 365U) The abrupt departure of Bolingbrook High School principal Michael D. White last month has caused contentiousness to bubble up among the Valley View School District 365U community. Now, a copy of the employment separation agreement between White and the school district, obtained by the Tribune, shows what White received after he was abruptly placed on paid administrative leave on Feb. 12. White resigned in January and had said he would stay until the end of the school year. In the agreement, signed by White on Feb. 18, the district agrees to pay White the remainder of his approximately $150,000 salary from the time he was placed on leave through June 30. District officials also agreed to pay White an additional $28,000 "as payment to resolve the disagreement between the parties as to the Employee's salary," the agreement states. White also received a payout of $13,422 for 20 vacation days, according to the agreement, obtained by the Tribune through a Freedom of Information request. "Employee agrees to accept said salary as full and complete compensation and satisfaction of any present and prospective claims," the agreement states. "The parties agree that the entire amount described in this paragraph is to settle any and all pending or potential claims for damages." District representatives confirmed Monday that the agreement constitutes the entirety of what White was paid after leaving the district. It also states that White "explicitly agrees to decline to pursue any charges currently being contemplated for submission to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and/or the Illinois Department of Human Rights." White could not be reached for comment Monday. The agreement also stipulates that White will not sue the district and that the agreement is not an admission of liability by either White or the district. "This Agreement is a compromise of disputed claims, in order to avoid the cost of litigation," the agreement states. Since arriving at Bolingbrook High in the summer of 2012, the school's third principal in four years, White was praised by some teachers, students and staff for his disciplinarian approach that supporters said reigned in the bad behavior of some students. At a marathon three-hour school board meeting in January, where board members voted to accept White's resignation, detractors countered the praise for White, saying that his style was giving up on the kids who needed the most help. White said he was resigning in part due to a top-heavy district administration that didn't give him the latitude he deserved as building principal. That Jan. 27 meeting was followed by a Jan. 30 incident in which a student brought a BB handgun to school that he thought was real. The freshman pointed it at a teacher and later held it to his head in a bathroom as White talked him down, according to Bolingbrook police, White and staff members. Students and teachers have described panic in the halls during the incident, in which everyone believed the student had a real gun. Student Tiffany Prouty told the school board at a meeting last month that she heard people screaming about someone having a gun, and that students were being pulled into classrooms from the hallway. "You're not told what's going on; you're just told to run," the 15-year-old said. District officials have announced beefed-up security measures in the wake of that incident. White and the district's agreement requires both sides to keep the facts and terms of the agreement confidential. "The Employee and Employer will limit any discussion of the Employee's departure from the employment with the Employer to some comment along the lines of: 'We have come to an amicable manner in which to part ways,'" the agreement states. geoffz@tribune.com | Twitter: @JournoGeoffZ