Teacher suspended as dues probe continues

Lawrence school officials on Tuesday suspended Wayne Kruse, a sixth-grade teacher who was president of the teachers’ union when $97,000 in union dues went missing.

Police suspect the money was stolen and that it was an inside job.

“In the interest of maintaining a proper educational environment for students at Quail Run (elementary school), I have suspended Mr. Kruse from his teaching duties, with continuing pay, pending investigation of this matter,” said Lawrence public schools Supt. Randy Weseman.

In keeping with the district’s contract with teachers, Weseman has the authority to suspend — and eventually fire, if warranted — any teacher for incompetence, neglect of duty, insubordination, immorality, physical or mental incapacity, unprofessional conduct, or other conduct likely to disrupt the workplace.

“Of the provisions listed, the latter two appear to be the most applicable in this case,” Weseman said.

Lawrence Police last week confirmed reports that $97,000 in union dues deducted from teachers’ paychecks between Nov. 4, 2003, and Aug. 3, 2004, had not been forwarded to the Kansas-National Teachers Assn. by the Lawrence Education Assn., its local affiliate.

President at time

Kruse was LEA president when the local teachers union fell behind in its payments to K-NEA.

“All I can tell you is that while Mr. Kruse was president, certain funds were unaccounted for,” said David Schauner, K-NEA general counsel and a member of the Lawrence City Commission. Kruse was LEA president from 1999 to 2004.

Wayne Kruse addresses his class of sixth-graders at Quail Run School in this file photo. Kruse was suspended by Supt. Randy Weseman on Monday during an investigation into missing funds from the Lawrence Education Assn.

“As to what happened to those funds, we are uncertain, but it is accurate to say that during Mr. Kruse’s tenure the local fell behind in its dues,” Schauner said.

As a courtesy, the district deducts union dues from LEA members paychecks and cuts checks to both LEA and K-NEA. Both checks are sent to LEA, which is then responsible for making sure K-NEA receives its share.

Currently, member teachers have $42.18 withheld from their paychecks for K-NEA dues; $2.73 is for LEA dues. About two-thirds of the district’s 900 teachers belong to LEA. The K-NEA dues support the organization’s lobbying efforts. The local dues, in part, reimburse the school district for time the affiliate president spends dealing with union affairs.

No response from Kruse

Schauner said K-NEA efforts to communicate with Kruse by registered mail had been unsuccessful.

“Those letters have been returned (unopened) — that’s my understanding,” Schauner said.

Schauner said both K-NEA’s and LEA’s losses were insured.

Kruse taught at Centennial School from 1992 to 1994. He moved to Quail Run School in 1994.

Kruse has not been in the classroom since the LEA notified its members of the suspected theft last week.

Kruse has not returned phone messages from The Journal-World requesting an interview.

Parents are upset

News of Kruse’s suspension upset some parents of students at Quail Run School.

“This is not something most parents are comfortable with,” said Holli Joyce, a parent volunteer at the school. “The explanation up to now has been vague, almost clinical. A lot of us are questioning why he’s out of the classroom at this point in the process. It’s seems awful early to us.”

Several parents, Joyce said, have sent e-mails in support of Kruse to Weseman and to school board members.

“I’m speaking as a parent of a student at Quail Run — my son is in fifth grade, he is not in Mr. Kruse’s class,” Joyce said. “But it’s my understanding that a consensus of parents whose kids are in Mr. Kruse’s class is coming together and, I hope, will be made public.”

Joyce, who’s also PTO president at Central Junior High School, said parents of Kruse’s students are upset by the likelihood of having to deal with substitute teachers for the rest of spring semester.

“Mr. Kruse is one of the most admired teachers in the district,” she said. “He’s held in very high regard by Quail Run parents.”

Weseman confirmed receiving several e-mails in support of Kruse, and he did not dispute Kruse’s popularity.

But it’s incorrect, he said, to assume that Kruse’s students will be taught by multiple substitutes.

“We’ll have a full-time, veteran teacher in there in very short order,” Weseman said. “I would remind people that we’re dealing with a situation that we, as a district, didn’t create, and that our students’ well-being remains our highest priority.”

Judy Grant taught Kruse’s class Tuesday. Plans call for her being there the rest of the week with a full-time replacement taking over Jan. 18.

Grant has more than 30 years of teaching experience. She is married to Craig Grant, a longtime K-NEA lobbyist who has said he intends to run for a position on the Lawrence school board.