Crystal City School District Superintendent Philip Harrison was placed on paid administrative leave last week for undisclosed reasons, Board of Education president Ken Holdinghausen said in a letter sent to parents on Aug. 31.
“Because this is a confidential personnel matter, we can’t share additional details regarding this matter at this time,” according to the letter, which was signed by Holdinghausen.
Harrison, 45, did not return a phone call seeking comment.
He was placed on paid administrative leave on Aug. 29, but Holdinghausen would not say how that action occurred, referring questions to the board’s attorney, Betsey Helfrich with the Mickes O’Toole law firm, which has offices in St. Louis, St. Louis County, Kansas City and Edwardsville, Ill.
Helfrich could not be reached for comment by the Leader’s deadline on Tuesday.
After Harrison was placed on leave on Aug. 29, the board voted unanimously during an Aug. 30 special closed meeting to extend Harrison’s “administrative leave,” according to minutes from the meeting.
Also during that meeting, the board voted unanimously “to hire Ms. Ann D. Shields as an external independent investigator at the rate of $200 per hour plus travel,” the minutes show.
Holdinghausen said the hiring of the investigator is related to Harrison’s leave.
During Harrison’s absence, Crystal City High School principal Matt Holdinghausen will fill in, handling the district’s “day-to-day matters and serving as the district’s designated spokesman,” Ken Holdinghausen said.
Harrison, who took over as the school district’s superintendent in July 2013 after Ron Swofford retired, is paid $128,403 per year.
Matt Holdinghausen is paid $86,549 a year. He said Tuesday that the board had not spoken to him about an increase in pay for his additional duties.