Des Moines School Board’s Illegal Superintendent Contract

When the Des Moines School Board began the search for a new superintendent last May, district spokesperson Phil Roeder advised the board it should present a united front to the public and applicants. Only the board president should speak to the media, he urged. He told them to keep things behind closed doors – all bold and robust board conversations should be held internally. They took that part of Roeder’s message to heart.

While the board was unable to present a united front about the person finally selected, they were and remain unified in their commitment to keeping their deliberations and the selection process a secret.

Board member Teree Caldwell-Johnson is so steadfast about keeping things from the public she refuses to explain her vote on new superintendent Tom Ahart’s contract. She didn’t speak during the public meeting at which the vote was taken and when asked afterward about why she voted “no” and her thoughts on the selection process, Caldwell-Johnson offered one of the strangest responses from a public official I have ever heard; “I’m not really at liberty to discuss (my vote) with you. I had my conversation with Mr. Ahart about why I voted the way I did. That’s who I needed to share that information with, not the media.”

No, Ms. Caldwell-Johnson, you represent the people of Des Moines. You owe them an explanation even more than the one you thought you owed Mr. Ahart.

The board’s shameful unwillingness to include the public in the selection of the highest paid superintendent Des Moines has ever had ($260,000 plus an impressive benefits package) should trouble Mr. Ahart’s supporters and detractors alike. The Des Moines School Board failed to meet even the bare minimum legal requirements in the selection of Ahart, the sole internal candidate.

Last week, board president Dick Murphy and three other board members held a news conference to announce the selection of Mr. Ahart and release final details about his contract including his salary. The board had never met in public to discuss, let alone vote on any of this. Since Mr. Ahart’s selection as superintendent and details about his contract weren’t discussed and decided in public, that leaves only one other option. His selection and the details of his contract were discussed and decided upon illegally.

The Des Moines School Board not only abused the intent of Iowa’s public meeting law, they flagrantly broke it.

When addressing the board last May, Mr. Roeder said, “There’s nobody going to tell you this time around that you’re doing it right or wrong. It’s self policing.”

It appears the school board believes self-policing and complete disregard of the public process are one and the same. Oh, and I’m here to tell you what the school board did was wrong.

The Des Moines School Board violated the law when they made a decision in private about who to hire as superintendent and what to pay him. Mr. Ahart should refuse to sign the contract. If the contract is executed, it should be struck down by the Court as illegal.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com 
This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register print edition essay.
It is similar to the Iowa Watchdog piece posted the same day.