Next step taken in illegal meeting case against school board

 DES MOINES  — With little commentary, the Iowa Public Information Board unceremoniously accepted two complaints accusing the Red Oak School Board of violating the open meetings law Thursday in Des Moines.

The nine-member board, created by Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad and empowered with enforcing the state’s open government laws, unanimously accepted the complaints filed by Jedd Sherman and Don Rogerson.

As a result, a formal investigation into the alleged illegal April and May meetings will begin while the IPIB board staff attempts to reach an informal resolution with the school board, Rogerson and Sherman.

Should they fail to reach an informal resolution, the IPIB will decide at a future meeting whether or not to pursue formal charges against the individual members of the Red Oak School Board.

At that point, the IPIB would assign a prosecutor and possibly an administrative law judge to proceed over a formal hearing. The IPIB would have the option of allowing the judge to issue a verdict, which it would have to approve or reject, or essentially serve as a jury and render its own verdict.

Either the school board or the complaintants could appeal the verdict in district court.

Willful violation of the state’s open meetings law can result in up to a $1,500 fine per school board member, per meeting.

According to Rogerson and Sherman’s separate complaints, the school board illegally closed a portion of the April 14 and May 5 meetings to discuss whether to fire the principal, who has been with the district for six years.

After emerging from closed session May 5, the board voted 5-0 to terminate Sherman’s contract.

Iowa law does allow a board to close a meeting when evaluating personnel, however, the closed session has to be requested by the employee. Sherman has frequently requested a public meeting to discuss his evaluations with  the school board and never agreed to the closed sessions at the April and May meetings. 

Sherman had also requested and received an IPIB advisory opinion in February 2014 stating the board was required to meet with him in open session if they were going to discuss his job status and performance.

In a response to the IPIB regarding the recent complaints, school district attorneys claim the April and May meetings were closed due to reasons beyond discussion of Sherman’s performance and possible termination.

The attorneys also stated Sherman has been given numerous opportunities to discuss with the school board his past evaluations.

Joe Wearin, who previously represented Sherman, told the IPIB at its meeting last week that was not true, asserting the district’s attorney doesn’t know all the facts.

“I think he has been misinformed,” Wearin said. “I had never met with the school board regarding his 2013-14 evaluation.”

Wearin further reinforced that according to the district’s own attorneys, no discussion in either open or closed session predicated the board’s decision to terminate Sherman’s contract.

“I’m extremely disappointed by what the Red Oak School Board has done to this gentleman,” Wearin said.

IPIB Executive Director Keith Luchtel said while the investigation into the complaints will begin immediately, he does not anticipate the matter being resolved anytime soon.

“In this case, we have other issues that are developing as well,” Luchtel said, referencing a July 2-3 hearing in which an administrative law judge will determine if the school board was justified in terminating Sherman’s contract. “I imagine we will try and get with the attorneys and see how they want to proceed sometime after that.”