Ex-Sioux City school chief Gausman asked for one closed meeting, board members say in new court filing

SIOUX CITY – Former Sioux City schools superintendent Paul Gausman knew of and asked for one of the closed school board meetings he claims violated Iowa’s open meetings law, according to documents filed by the district and the four board members named in Gausman’s lawsuit.

The defendants, in the documents filed Friday afternoon in Woodbury County District Court, offer various pieces of evidence that Gausman was aware of a Jan. 24, 2022, closed session and the reason for the meeting. The documents also give the legal reasoning for a Nov. 30, 2022, closed meeting.

Gausman, who is now the superintendent of the Lincoln (Neb.) School District, filed a lawsuit in January claiming Sioux City school board members Dan Greenwell, Jan George, Taylor Goodvin and Bob Michaelson violated the state’s open meetings law.

The suit alleges that at special meetings on Jan. 24, 2022, and Nov. 30, 2022, the board met privately behind closed doors to discuss Gausman and his professional qualifications.

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It also claims the board members cited incorrect state code sections to avoid notifying Gausman or the public of their discussions about him and a subsequent decision by the board to file a professional ethics complaint against him with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

Friday’s filing was in response to a request by Gausman for a “partial summary judgment” in the case and an order to require the district to turn over the minutes and recordings of the two closed sessions, as requested by the former superintendent. The response was in resistance to Gausman’s request for a partial summary, stating he did not provide “undisputed evidence to support his claim.”

On Jan. 24, 2022, Gausman states the board met in a closed session to discuss him and his professional qualifications and proposed to file a complaint against him with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

To go into the closed session, the board cited the Iowa Code stating the closed session was to “evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation.”

The code section specifically states that the individual being reviewed must request the closed session, as well as meet other requirements Gausman claims did not occur.

Gausman claims he was not notified and the board did not notify the public that they intended to file a complaint against him with the state Board of Educational Examiners, which the lawsuit claims was required. He contends items other than his appointment, hiring, performance or discharge were discussed.

The school board members have denied Gausman’s claims, saying the closed sessions were legal.

Friday’s court filings show the Jan. 24 meeting was a quarterly review of Gausman’s performance while he was still the superintendent. In the filings, the board said the conversation was limited to Gausman’s appointment, hiring, performance or discharge.

Documents included in the filings detailed Gausman’s knowledge of the meeting, including an emailed meeting invite to all of the board members from Board Secretary Seaniece Heilman “on behalf of Gausman, Paul,” and a screenshot of Gausman’s Microsoft Outlook calendar, showing the closed session scheduled on Jan. 24 titled “Closed Session re: Superintendent Quarterly Evaluation.”

The filing also included a district document titled ”2021-2022 superintendent evaluation,” which was dated July 14, 2021. The document outlined the district’s goals for the superintendent, as well as a timeline for quarterly superintendent evaluations.

The evaluations were scheduled for Sept. 27, 2021, Jan. 24, 2022, March 28, 2022, May 9, 2022 and June 13, 2022.

“Dr. Gausman was notified of and requested a closed session on January 24, 2022,” Greenwell, the board president, said in an affidavit filed Friday.

Greenwell also outlined two separate times Gausman was emailed a draft copy of the closed session agenda, the minutes of an administrative cabinet meeting where the quarterly review was discussed with Gausman in attendance, and an email directly from Gausman to the board mentioning his work preparing for the meeting.

The documents mentioned in Gausman’s email were then mailed to each board member on Jan. 21, 2022, Greenwell said.

“When the board went into closed session … the board had good reason to believe and in good faith believed the closed session was being held in compliance,” Greenwell said.

These statements were also repeated in an affidavit by Heilman.

Greenwell said the board’s discussion was limited to the reasons it gave for the closed session.

On Nov. 30, 2022, the board held another special meeting and closed session to discuss Gausman, he claims.

The board cited a different section of the state code, saying the meeting was to “review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential.” That code section specifically says public bodies are only allowed to discuss confidential records and Gausman claims the school board went beyond that. He also alleges the board again discussed his professional competency, job performance and the possible filing of a complaint with the Board of Educational Examiners.

After the closed session ended and the board went into open session, Goodvin made a motion to direct Greenwell to file the BOEE complaint. Board members Monique Scarlett and Bernie Scolaro abstained from the vote. Perla Alarcon-Flory was not present. The motion did not publicly identify who the complaint was being filed against.

Greenwell, a frequent critic of Gausman’s both before and after he won election to the school board, said in his affidavit the board received a legal opinion for the November meeting that stated the board was allowed to cite that specific code section for a conversation regarding a Board of Education Examiners complaint.

“The law states information reported to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners is privileged and confidential,” Greenwell said.

He further explained the process and reasons for going into closed session were consistent with past practices.

A bench trial is scheduled for Nov. 28 in the case.

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