LA VERNIA, Texas – A high-ranking administrator with the La Vernia Independent School District was paid tens of thousands of dollars while on leave from the district before his resignation went into effect, records obtained by KSAT Investigates show.
Dr. Michael Duffek, the district’s chief administrative officer, was placed on paid professional leave on Dec. 19 “in the best interest of the district,” internal La Vernia ISD records show.
The leave notice from La Vernia ISD Superintendent Dr. Hensley Cone ordered Duffek “to have no contact whatsoever with any of the students or employees who you supervised,” records show.
Although Duffek provided the district with his formal notice of resignation in early February, a signed resignation and release agreement allowed him to continue collecting his salary and benefits through the end of April.
Based on calculations from Duffek’s annual salary of $109,200, he collected around $40,950 in salary while on paid leave.
“It is a serious issue when the district is essentially giving away public monies and receiving nothing in return,” said Mark Anthony Sanchez, a San Antonio attorney not associated with this personnel matter.
Sanchez has represented at least a dozen school and college districts during his legal career.
Duffek’s exit from La Vernia ISD shrouded in secrecy
At La Vernia ISD’s board meeting in late March, a parent approached the podium during citizens to be heard and revealed that he had recently learned Duffek was on leave.
“I was wondering ‘what happened to him?’” the man asked the board while adding that he had attempted to report a safety concern involving his child to Duffek when he was informed that the administrator was no longer coming into work.
While the man speculated publicly on why Duffek was placed on leave, the district, to date, has not released any official records describing allegations against Duffek.
The parent concluded his remarks on Duffek by telling the board the district had swept the personnel matter under the rug.
A resignation and release agreement, signed by Duffek and Cone in early February, confirmed that Duffek would remain on paid leave through the end of April and that the administrator would not file legal action against the district, located southeast of San Antonio.
In exchange, the district agreed to move records pertaining to any allegations of misconduct and/or related to Duffek’s separation of employment to a “sealed file marked ‘Confidential,’” records show.
The contents of the sealed file were not included in a batch of records on Duffek released by La Vernia ISD to KSAT earlier this summer, after a ruling by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
An attorney representing the district informed KSAT that we would have to file yet another public records request for the sealed, confidential file, which KSAT subsequently did last month.
July 26, an attorney representing La Vernia ISD informed KSAT it was now seeking to withhold the contents of Duffek’s confidential file.
A letter to the AG’s office states that the documents include references to a second employee who still works for the district and contain “highly embarrassing facts.”
To date, the district has still not released this file, as KSAT awaits a second ruling from the AG’s office.
“It’s unusual to partition personnel files this way. Because at the end of the day, portions of those personnel files are public,” said Sanchez. “My customary approach to public sector clients is to treat requests transparently, to give them their plain meaning and if it is public, release it.”
Duffek, who previously served as the district’s director of safety and security, did not respond to a message from KSAT seeking comment left at his last known address.
La Vernia superintendent declines interview request, after previously espousing transparency
Cone, through a district spokeswoman, declined a request to be interviewed by KSAT about the paid leave arrangement between the district and Duffek.
The same day Cone signed Duffek’s resignation and release agreement, he also provided the departing administrator a two-page reference letter that highlighted Duffek’s accomplishments and stated that Duffek had played an essential role in the district’s latest bond package.
The letter, most likely, would be utilized by Duffek to help him gain employment somewhere else.
Although the agreement listed Duffek as eligible for rehire, it also stated he agreed not to reapply for employment with the district.
The personnel matter with Duffek played out years after Cone told KSAT in an unrelated interview that integrity, transparency and communication were the foundations to being successful at the district.
“Whether we like it or not we have to tell the story for what it is and be completely honest, whether it’s about finances or what a teacher did or what a superintendent did, it’s about communicating,” Cone told KSAT in the fall of 2020.
Duffek’s extended paid leave expired weeks before the district announced it would enter next school year with a budget shortfall of $559,245.
The deficit is due to increased healthcare costs and retention stipends, a district spokeswoman told KSAT this summer.
Read more reporting on the KSAT Investigates page.