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Keokuk Schools Seek Summary Judgment in Lawsuit

The Keokuk School District wants a judge to rule on a lawsuit filed by a former teacher before the lawsuit goes to trial next month. The district’s request for summary judgment is based on its belief that it has fully compensated Scott Schneider for his services.

Schneider submitted his resignation to the district on Sept. 12, 2014, after a nearly 20-year career as a vocational technology teacher in Keokuk. He said he left because of what he described as intolerable working conditions related to a new sharing agreement that required him to split his time between the Keokuk and Van Buren School Districts.

Court records show that Schneider said he split his time between the districts from Aug. 20, 2014 – Sept. 8, 2014 He said in his lawsuit, which was filed a couple days after his resignation, that he was not properly compensated for his time and that the sharing agreement was a breach of contract.

District Court Judge John Wright tossed two of Schneider’s three claims last July, stating that Schneider should have sought resolution outside of the legal system. But Wright did allow Schneider to consider seeking lost wages and other reimbursements.

It is that remaining claim that the Keokuk School District wants the court to act upon. In its request for summary judgment, it stated:

“Because the district fully paid plaintiff for all wages and expenses he was owed, including any wages due to plaintiff no receiving his full break time and any mileage reimbursement expenses for traveling between building assignments, plaintiff is not entitled to further recovery of the same wages and expenses.”

“Additionally, plaintiff is not entitled to recovery for wages and/or expenses as a matter of law because his claims must be litigate through the contractual grievance process prior to pursuing other remedies, his claims were litigated through the contractual grievance process and the district fully paid him pursuant to the contractual grievance process.”

The district said in court records that it paid Schneider more than $500 from Oct. 1, 2014-Dec. 22, 2015 to settle the grievances he filed prior to his resignation.

  • $274.80 – Cover 12 days of not receiving “uninterrupted, duty-free lunch of at least 30 minutes
  • $259.35 – Cover Mileage Reimbursement
  • $192.34 – Cover 21 minutes of paid leave Schneider did not receive.

“On Jan. 21, 2015, Myra Thomas, the grievance chair for the Keokuk Education Association, signed a dismissal withdrawing the grievances involving Mr. Schneider.”

Schneider has denied this settled the grievance process. A more formal response to the district’s request for summary judgment is due soon, per an order of the court.

The court is scheduled to hear arguments on Monday, March 21 regarding the motion for summary judgment and whether to continue the trial, which is scheduled to begin in mid-April.

Jason Parrott is a former reporter at Tri States Public Radio.