After several years of legal battles over her job, Durant High School Principal Monica Rouse and the school district have settled the last details of their dispute.
Monica Rouse was fired in 2010 from her job as a principal after she was accused of allowing students to graduate without sufficient credits. She was reinstated after a judge ruled there was no evidence to support her firing, and an Iowa Supreme Court decision ended the appeals process and completed the case.
The Durant School Board then made Rouse a co-principal of Durant High School when she returned to work April 23, 2012. She was sent to a makeshift office and instructed not to interact with students.
A judge intervened in September 2012, ruling the school board members would each face 30 days in jail if they didn’t reinstate Rouse as sole principal of Durant High School. The board complied with the judge’s order and Rouse was reinstated.
A memo dated December 17, 2012 and signed by attorneys representing both sides states, “The Durant Community School District and Monica Rouse have successfully reached a settlement today regarding all contested issues in their ongoing dispute.”
The district will pay Rouse $400,000 in compensation for the remainder of this school year and for an additional 31 months for early retirement. The district will pay Rouse an additional $25,000 plus $425,000 from the district’s insurance company.
“The legal conflict over the past few years has been an unfortunate circumstance for Mrs. Rouse and the District. The Board acknowledges that a prior press release regarding this matter may have contained inaccurate information,” the memo said.
“The Board takes this opportunity to recognize Monica Rouse as a dedicated and qualified school administrator.”
