ST. CHARLES COUNTY — Francis Howell School District appears to have forced its new superintendent to leave the district before he actually began working there.
The district has indicated it will not reveal the reason for Superintendent Mike Dominguez’s departure, described in a separation agreement as a mutually agreed-upon decision between him and the board of education.
The agreement states that if asked about any employment dispute involving Dominguez, district employees and board members “agree they will respond, ‘Dr. Dominguez resigned from the Francis Howell School District effective on July 31, 2025. I cannot comment further on a confidential personnel matter.’â€
Board of Education President Steven Blair strayed slightly from that message in announcing Dominguez’s departure Friday afternoon. In an email to staff and district families, Blair said Dominguez had resigned Thursday to “pursue opportunities that better align with the current needs of his family.â€
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The district’s current interim superintendent, Mark Delaney, will continue in the role.
In exchange for his agreement to resign, the district will pay Dominguez a lump sum of $229,166.67, which represents 11 months of his $250,000 annual salary.
Meeting minutes from a closed session board meeting on Thursday shows the board agreed to the separation agreement with a unanimous vote.
Blair declined to discuss the agreement in a phone call Friday, but said the district is in “very good hands†with Delaney.
“The board hasn’t decided about the next step regarding the superintendent position, but we are confident about Mark Delaney in the interim role,†he said.
Dominguez was hired to replace Kenneth Roumpos, who left for the Kirkwood School District, but he never started the job.
Four days before he was slated to begin work on July 1, district officials announced his arrival would be delayed due to “unforeseen circumstances.â€
The announcement of Dominguez’s departure followed four weeks of questions from parents, residents and employees, who have wondered where the new superintendent was.
Dominguez
Dominguez has been in town and met with the school board.
Attempts to reach Dominguez Friday were unsuccessful.
His resignation came after three closed board of education meetings over the last month. The last meeting was held Thursday night.
Dominguez was hired from Garden City Public Schools in Kansas, which he led from June 2022 to May 31.
He resigned from the Kansas district in July 2024, citing “the need to be closer to home and support my aging in-laws,†according to a copy of his resignation letter received through a records request.
Francis Howell parents and employees on Friday said they were confused.
“I really do hope his family is OK, but it’s odd that the situation is somehow different than when he left Garden City,†said Raquel Babb, a middle school teacher.
Francis Howell has undergone widespread leadership change in the past several months. An election in April switched up its school board, with conservative-backed candidates no longer holding a majority.
Members of the district’s community said they hoped calmer times were ahead after years of political turmoil and headline-catching actions by the board.
Parent Michelle Walker said the news about Dominguez was “unsettling.â€
“I thought things were going to get better,†Walker said. “Now, I don’t know.â€
Dominguez was selected after a nationwide search for Roumpos’ replacement. The district’s school board, with the help of search firm School Exec Connect, completed the search within three months of Roumpos’ announcement of his resignation. The board selected Dominguez with a 6-1 vote in late March.
Randy Cook, the board’s former vice president who lost his reelection bid in April, said in a phone call Friday that the search was thorough, despite a time constraint caused by Roumpos’ December announcement that he would leave in July.
“We did, to the best of my knowledge, everything every other district does,†Cook said. “Had we taken longer, I don’t know if we would have had a different batch of candidates.â€
Francis Howell hired Dominguez at a $250,000 salary, with the potential for up to 10% raises each school year, according to his former contract.
He was one of three candidates interviewed, district spokeswoman Jennifer Jolls told the Post-Dispatch in an email Thursday.
Dominguez’s previous district, Garden City, had 7,100 students last school year and a budget of $132 million. Francis Howell had 16,500 students and a $246 million budget.
Post-Dispatch photographers capture tens of thousands of images every year. See some of their best work that was either taken in June 2025 in this video. Edited by Jenna Jones.
