WENTZVILLE — The second-year superintendent who resigned Friday from the Wentzville School District will receive more than $1 million in a buyout of the remaining three years of her contract.
Danielle Tormala will receive $492,500 by May 3 and another $492,500 by June 30 plus $42,558.25 for unused vacation days, according to the April 11 separation agreement.
In return, Tormala agreed to drop any current or future claims against the district and the school board for “compensatory damages, emotional distress, loss of reputation, humiliation, embarrassment, costs, expenses and attorneys’ fees.†The agreement also states that the district and board will not pursue any legal action against Tormala.
State records list Tormala’s salary as $235,000 for 2022-23, and the board approved a raise earlier this year.
Tormala, 47, became Wentzville’s superintendent in July 2022 as the district grappled with political conflicts and national media attention for its response to the pandemic and debates over race and gender in curriculum and library books.
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Three school board members, Renee Henke, David Lewis and Jen Olson, were elected in April 2023 in a post-pandemic wave of conservative momentum. The board members notified state Attorney General Andrew Bailey’s office last year that the board had discussed a bathroom policy for transgender students in closed session. Bailey’s office then sued the board in September, alleging officials excluded parents from policy conversations.
In October, the St. Charles County NAACP called for an investigation of racism following complaints from parents and students. Tormala apologized for the incidents and said students and staff deserve schools “free from discrimination and harassment.â€
“The terms diversity, equity and inclusion cannot be dirty words in this district,†she said during a board meeting.
Around the same time, an online petition called for Tormala’s departure, claiming the superintendent intimidated and harassed the new school board members.
“Dr. Tormala has created a hostile environment for the Board and parents within the district. Her behavior is an example of what we do not want for this district or for our students,†reads the petition that received close to 1,400 signatures.
Most recently, the school board approved a policy requiring students and staff to use restrooms and locker rooms of the “individual’s reproductive biology at birth,†starting this month. District administrators supported allowing transgender students to request the use of bathrooms and locker rooms of their preferred gender. Republican congressional candidate Bob Onder, a former state senator, called Tormala a “wokester†regarding the issue in a social media post.
The superintendent turnover comes during a tumultuous time for Wentzville, which made national news in January 2022 for banning and then reinstating “The Bluest Eye†by Toni Morrison in school libraries. Then-superintendent Curtis Cain resigned soon after to take the same role in Rockwood School District.
Tormala took over that summer as the first woman and 19th superintendent to lead Wentzville, the fifth-largest district in the state with 17,600 students.
The group WSD Community Allies for Public Education Success released a statement after Tormala’s departure saying she was “set up to fail.â€
“We only wish the district could have seen everything Dr. Tormala did behind the scenes with administration, students, and the community to bring us back up to speed and moving in a positive direction as a district,†reads the statement. “We do not feel as if we ever got the chance to really see what Dr. Tormala was capable of as a superintendent. Her entire time with Wentzville was spent with members of our school board and community working against her.â€
Earlier this month, two conservative candidates were defeated in Wentzville as part of a backlash to school board politics across the region. The new board members, David Biesenthal and Brad Welsh, were sworn in on Tuesday.
Reactions to Wentzville superintendent’s $1 million buyout were mixed on Thursday, including at least one board member expressing frustration with the amount.Â