A controversy over a former superintendent's contract is over.
The Eau Claire School Board has made a final decision.

The board decided to suspend Bill Klaus without salary, beginning Monday, August 11th, until June 15th of next year.

That decision came after more than four hours in closed session.

Klaus will not get paid during that time, and will not have get vacation, sick leave, or holiday pay.

He will, however, receive insurance benefits according to his contract.

After the suspension, the board says Klaus will be transferred into an administrative position.

The current superintendent Dr. Ron Heilmann will decide what he does.

And Heilmann says he doesn't think that will be as the principal of Northstar Middle School, which was Klaus' current position.

The school board has met 13 times over the last three months on this issue.

It was trying to figure out if there was any wrongdoing with how Klaus' contract was written and backdated.

It would have allowed him to receive retirement money earlier than expected.

Heilmann says the board feels strongly it reached a fair decision

Ron Heilmann says, "The Board was extremely thorough in its process. The Board wanted to ensure it had a full set of facts before they made a decision."

During its investigation the board says it also learned that Klaus currently has multiple contracts.

The board says it's reviewing that issue and has questions about whether or not it's appropriate or lawful to have multiple contracts at the same time.

We also found out today that the Eau Claire School Board is reviewing some of its protocols and policies for meetings, and administrator contracts.

It'll look at how those are handled in the future.

Klaus' attorney Tom Guelzow of Eau Claire expressed dismay over the board's conclusions, but did not say whether he and his client would appeal.