A superintendent under fire for his high-paying new contract resigned Monday night.
Last month, David McGehee was put on leave. Lee's Summit parents were furious over the contract and his relationship with an attorney who did legal work for the district.
The contract paid McGehee $304,000 per year, making him the highest paid superintendent in Missouri.
According to a news release from the Lee's Summit School District, under the agreement approved by the school board, McGehee will receive two payments of $225,000 over approximately the next year. Under his most recent contract renewal, McGehee would have been paid more than $1.1 million from the School District over the next three years.
“The board thanks Dr. McGehee for his service to the school district and wishes him well in his future endeavors,” said Board President Bob White in the news release.
McGehee's resignation takes effect June 30, 2016. Deputy Superintendent of Operations Brent Blevins will serve as interim superintendent after McGehee steps down.
Despite the months of protesting and the recent resignation, Lee's Summit School Board member Bill Baird said there is still lots of hard work remaining.
"The school board has a lot to do over the next few months, even year, as we transition," he explained.
Tuesday marked just 57 days until the start of the school year in Lee's Summit.
Moving forward, Baird said the biggest goal for the school board is to be more transparent with the community.
"[The school board is] collaborating," Baird said. "We've been through a lot over the last few months. We're going to communicate more with the public."
Many parents, including Claudia Lindner, helped lead the charge to get McGehee removed. Several meetings were marked by fiery speeches, audible groans and open protesting by parents and citizens fed up with Lee's Summit School District leadership.
"I'm actually very relieved he's resigning," said Lindner, who moved from Iowa so her children could attend school in Lee's Summit. "Relief that we can finally get started on finding the right person for the job."
During the madness over the last few months, Lindner said many parents felt shut out.
"[The school board was] not really giving it a thought as to what they're voting for and easily passing things," she explained. "We want to have better control over how taxpayers' dollars are being spent."
Moving forward, Lindner hopes Lee's Summit is on the right track.
"Change is good," she said. "It's going to happen. Hopefully we'll get changes for the better."
The Lee's Summit School Board hopes to start the search for a permanent replacement in the coming weeks.
The 2016-17 school season begins on Aug. 17.
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Tom Dempsey can be reached at Tom.Dempsey@KSHB.com.
