Assistant Superintendent Richie Fretwell, who reportedly received a police escort off the campus is still officially employed by the Neosho R-5 School District.
Under a separation agreement reached between the district and Fretwell and obtained by the Turner Report as a result of a Sunshine Law request, Fretwell's last day of employment will be June 30, 2025.
"As of the effective date of this agreement through June 30, 2025, Mr. Fretwell will be a paid leave of absence from the District, will not be required to perform any additional responsibilities for the District and is not precluded from securing any form of other employment or independent contractor work, including any work for another school district, during his employment by the District."
According to the agreement, Fretwell will receive the remainder of his $150,483 annual salary (he had been paid $25,080.50 of that when the agreement was signed). The district will pay into his retirement account and he will continue to receive insurance benefits.
Mr. Fretwell will also be compensated for 85 sick leave days in the total amount of $12,299.07 in a lump sum payment to be made no later than July 31, 2025.
Other provisions of the agreement include:
-Fretwell waives the right to take any actions or file any lawsuits against the district.
-The district releases Fretwell from any claim damages, claims or losses stemming from his employment.
-Fretwell will refrain from officiating any district events and activities through June 20, 2030.
-Fretwell is prohibited from saying anything disparaging about current of former employees, administrators, board members or anyone else with the district. This also applies to former board members after they complete their terms.
Fretwell and district officials cannot discuss the terms of the agreement. If Fretwell violates that part of the agreement, he can be fired, with the violation of the agreement being the only reason.
According to the closed session minutes of the R-5 Board of Education's August 19 meeting, the agreement was approved by a 6-1 vote with Dan Haskins, Jonathan Russell, Stuart Puckett, Kyle Swagerty, James Keezer and Jenny Spiva voting yes and Cody Crocker voting no
Fretwell, who at one time was an assistant Neosho High School principal, returned to Neosho from Seneca when former Superintendent Jim Cummins brought him in as the assistant superintendent for operations in 2018. Fretwell, who served as high school principal under Cummins at Seneca, was one of Cummins' first hires.Fretwell was one of two finalists for R-5 superintendent following Cummins' retirement.
The board opted to hire Jim Davis.
Great use of our tax money!
ReplyDeleteCody Crocker gets it! The other clowns need to go. What a gross waste of hard earned tax dollars! NEVER VOTE AGAIN FOR A NEOSHO R5 BOND ISSUE!
ReplyDeleteThe money used for paying him doesn’t come from bond money. The district would happily tell you how funds work if you give them a call!
DeleteNever said it did. No trust that they can manage any funds responsibly. It's all tax money they are wasting. Federal, State and local bond monies.
DeleteThe Neosho Daily News isn’t much of a newspaper. It’s sad what has happened to it; it was a decent small-town paper until it was sold to a media group and then sold back to local owners.
ReplyDeleteWell, this article wasn't written by the Neosho Daily News so not sure what your point is?
DeleteNot sure what you expect in today's world. Newspapers made their money off of print subscribers. No one buys print newspapers anymore, and people refuse to pay for the digital versions of their local newspapers. There is no way for them to make money.
DeleteNeosho at it's best. Still ahead of the Carthage drama.
DeleteAll of these damn secret behind the door stipulations and agreements. The public has the right to know what the Hell is going on and why - it is the taxpayer's money - Not the School Boards - Why do all the schools end up paying out all these contracts - don't they know how to put in moral clauses and other legal and binding arguments to keep from paying out these high salaries after the administration screws up. Are any lawyers looking at these agreements / contracts - Joplin has had to pay out several times - why don't they have a smart law firms hired to save them from continual paying out all these overpriced administrators - WHY???
ReplyDeleteI remember a Teacher at Joplin High School (Former Parkwood) that got caught with drugs in her desk and purse, while she was at School. The Administration put her on leave and then tried to fire her, so her Union, sued the Administration in Joplin costing the Schools thousands to defend the lawsuit, eventually they settled out of Court. This is another sad case where Unions tried to circumvent bad behavior. In the world of private business, if someone is caught using, bringing drugs to work they can immediately be terminated for cause, and the employee can try to sue but if the policy manual lists drug use and bringing drugs to work in the employee manual there is really not anything an employee can do, but the Teachers Union is the largest Union in the United States with over 3-Million Members and a large Lobbying Groups. On top of that their is a Large Administration Group inside all of these different Teacher Unions - Costing Millions of Dollars to Feed from Teacher's Dues.
ReplyDeleteNo wonder our Kids aren't receiving the Education they should -
Do you think an Assistant Superintendent in Neosho is represented by a union of any sort?
Deletelol and keep union bashing !
So let me get this straight. They fire an employee and grant a 200k golden parachute. Getting nothing for the payment of pay and benefits. The same district had a valued employee pass away from covid in 2021. The employee's family had to fight for 2 years to get a life insurance payout due to the district botching paperwork. (finally settled through the courts in 2024)
ReplyDeleteShows their true colors when it comes to valuing certain employees.
So Cody Crocker is the ONLY board member who was willing to be transparent?about the shenanigans at NSD?
ReplyDeleteSo, so many things go on at NSD that are morally wrong and corrupt. Clearly NSD wants to be sure Jim Cummins’ actions are not brought into light. And while we’re at it let’s cover all of the past and current board members. Cody Crocker is the only board member I would trust!