DEWITT, Iowa — A Clinton County judge has ruled the Central DeWitt school board violated Iowa's open meetings law by conducting a closed-door meeting in February 2022 to discuss several important, controversial topics pertaining to the district.
The ruling ends a nearly 15-month lawsuit brought by The DeWitt Observer newspaper's parent company, Sycamore Media.
As a result, the judge has ordered the district to pay the media company more than $18,500 in legal fees, as well as provide The Observer with a recording of the meeting in question. An injunction was also put in place, ordering the district to refrain from future infringements of Iowa's transparency laws.
In his decision, Iowa District Court Judge Mark R. Lawson noted the infraction was not a minor violation, writing, "The scope of the meeting was breathtaking in contrast to its slated purpose."
This comes just days after a judge sided with Quad Cities media, after the Bettendorf School District kept parents and journalists out of a May 2022 meeting.
On February 7, 2022, the school board voted to enter a closed session, meaning no members of the press or public could see or hear what was being discussed.
Superintendent Dan Peterson and the board said it was discussing Peterson's performance. But Judge Lawson ruled the real purpose was to talk about sensitive, controversial topics that had nothing to do with the superintendent's abilities or performance.
Ahead of handing the recording over to The Observer, the school board posted a lengthy statement on its social media accounts on Thursday, June 29, as well as the full audio recording and minutes of the February 7 meeting.
In it, Peterson is heard opening the meeting by telling board members he had three things he wanted to discuss in that moment: gender and sexuality issues, an instructional materials review and an administrative realignment.
Throughout the two-hour recording, Peterson and members Bob Gannon, Angela Rheingans, Cory Huff, Geoff Blandin, Hannah Perrone, Jen Vance, George Pickup, Bill Petsche and Mike Miller are heard debating a range of issues.
The group discussed two books focused on the topics of race and inequality that were to be pulled from required reading, with Huff arguing it wouldn't look good for a majority white school to ban two award-winning Black books, especially considering it was only a week into Black History Month.
Issues of parent communication when it comes to reading materials was also discussed, along with the need to put out a statement and get ahead of the narrative on the banned books.
Eventually, the group moved on to discuss gender-neutral bathrooms in the middle and high schools, as well as a growing number of transgender students within the district.
In a Facebook post, the district defended its actions, saying:
"The Board maintains that the individual Board members acted appropriately leading up to and during the closed session. The Board entered into the closed session with the correct intentions – to evaluate the Superintendent. During the closed session, the conversation flowed into current issues with the intention of providing the Superintendent feedback on how he was handling these issues. As a Board, we recognize that during the course of the closed session, the conversation inadvertently strayed from the intended purpose. While the conversation was relevant and thoughtful, it should have occurred in an open meeting."
After the board returned to open session, staff members with The Observer became suspicious the district wasn't being honest with the public.
"We didn't want to have to file a lawsuit. We would have preferred if the school district would have been transparent on its own," said Trevis Mayfield, president of Sycamore Media. "We publicly pleaded with the school district to reconsider its position and they wouldn't budge."
Mayfield said The Observer's mission is to advocate for honesty, meaning they couldn't budge either.
"Those kinds of discussions are not personnel matters," said Randy Evans, executive director of the Iowa Freedom of Information Council. "Those kinds of discussions need to occur in an open board meeting where citizens can hear what's being said and can offer their input. This is not some matter that should be taken up in secrecy."
In his ruling, Judge Lawson also raised concerns this wasn't the first time the school board had illegally discussed public matters behind closed doors.
"The practice of calling a closed session for one purpose and then broadly discussing other topics may have been used before," Lawson noted. "The district needs to carefully review its processes and procedures for entering a closed session."
Speaking to News 8, Evans pointed out that all taxpayers within the district deserve to know what's being discussed that would impact all students.
"The Central DeWitt School District belongs to the people who live there," Evans said. He added that issues relating to reading materials, restrooms and students are all of public importance. "Those are issues that taxpayers care about, regardless of which side of an issue the particular taxpayer may be on. That kind of discussion needs to be occurring in public, not in private."
Peterson and the school district did not respond to multiple requests for comment.
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