SIOUX CITY, Iowa — Superintendent Paul Gausman, who joined Lincoln Public Schools in July, is suing his former school district and several of its school board members who voted in November to submit an ethics complaint against him.Â
The lawsuit filed in Iowa's Woodbury County District Court on Wednesday claims Sioux City school board members Dan Greenwell, Jan George, Taylor Goodvin and Bob Michaelson violated the state's open meetings laws.
Board members, the suit alleges, held illegal meetings citing the wrong Iowa code sections in order to avoid notifying Gausman or the public of their discussion of him and the board decision to file a complaint against him with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.
Board members identified in the lawsuit declined to comment, although Greenwell, the board's president, said "the district was advised by counsel preceding all closed meetings."
Gausman led the Sioux City Community School District for 14 years and left the district in June for the job in Lincoln.Â
In a statement to the Journal Star on Saturday, Gausman said he is not able to comment on pending litigation. Don Mayhew, Lincoln Board of Education president, also declined to comment on the lawsuit but noted Gausman's work at LPS.
“The Lincoln Board of Education recently conducted the state-required mid-year evaluation of Dr. Gausman during his first year as superintendent," Mayhew said in a statement Saturday. "As we presented a summary of Dr. Gausman’s mid-year evaluation at the Jan. 10 regular meeting, we recognized and applauded his work in the first six months as the Superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools. Dr. Gausman continues to have my confidence and support.â€Â
In his lawsuit, Gausman is seeking the removal of the four Sioux City school board members, as well as monetary damages and attorney fees. He is also asking the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners to dismiss the complaints against him filed by both the district and Greenwell personally.
Gausman claims the four individuals “recklessly and knowingly participated in the violations of the Open Meetings Act,†according to the lawsuit.
School board members Perla Alarcon-Flory, Monique Scarlett and Bernie Scolaro, as well as former school board member Julie Albert, were in attendance at certain meetings but were not named in the lawsuit.
The suit claims Jan. 24, 2022, when Gausman was a candidate for the Lincoln job, and Nov. 30, 2022, months after he began work in Lincoln, the Sioux City board held special meetings and closed sessions to discuss Gausman and his professional qualifications.
“Both the open and closed session was designed to avoid giving Dr. Gausman, his supporters and the public, notice of the Board’s intentions to meet to discuss filing a complaint against Dr. Gausman with the (Iowa Board of Educational Examiners,)†according to the lawsuit.
On Jan. 24, 2022, 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,†according to the lawsuit.
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.
On Nov. 30, 2022, the board held another special meeting and closed session apparently to discuss Gausman, citing a different code section stating the meeting was to “review or discuss records which are required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential.â€
That code section specifically states the board is only allowed to discuss the confidential record, and Gausman claims it went beyond that.
He also alleges the board again discussed his professional competency, job performance and the possible filing of a complaint with the Iowa 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 complaint. Scarlett and Scolaro abstained from the vote, and Alarcon-Flory was not present.
The motion did not state who the complaint was being filed against.
The complaint claims Gausman attempted to bribe Michaelson and George on Nov. 17, 2021, before their official swearing-in on Nov. 22. Greenwell, in the letter sent to the Iowa Board of Education Examiners, claimed it was an attempt to solicit their support to reelect Alarcon-Flory to board president.
“Dr. Gausman directly offered to allow Mr. Michaelson (board member-elect) and Mr. George (board member-elect) to make any of their desired changes in school operations, programs, activities, and other matters in exchange for their vote for Ms. Alarcon-Flory as president of the board,†Greenwell said in the letter.
Greenwell claims the conversation took place at a public place in Des Moines, Iowa, with Gausman, Michaelson, George and Alarcon-Flory present. Greenwell states the pair objected to Gausman’s offer multiple times.
“Ms. Alarcon-Flory remained silent regarding the bribery offer during the discussions at the table,†he said in the letter.
Greenwell’s letter claims Gausman admitted to the bribery at a meeting Jan. 27, 2022, with Greenwell and Goodvin present, as well as in a separate discussion with Scarlett.
The letter to the examiner's office also claims Gausman disclosed confidential closed board meeting information to Sioux City staff members. It states Gausman acquired information from the closed session from Alarcon-Flory and shared it with members of the administrative team.
The complaint is pending and is “meritless and made false claims,†according to the lawsuit.
Asked if the Lincoln school board was aware of the allegations of bribery when interviewing Gausman, Connie Duncan, who was board president at the time, said she could not comment because it's a pending legal matter.
The lawsuit also states Greenwell himself filed a complaint against Gausman on Aug. 1, 2022, with the same claims in a similarly worded letter, without board support.
The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners requires complaints to be from a district.
Gausman, a Nebraska native and graduate of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, was named one of four finalists to be LPS superintendent in January of last year and interviewed in Lincoln on Feb. 4. He was hired later that month and began work in Lincoln last summer.
Greenwell, before being elected to the school board in 2019, had been vocal in his pushback on educational stands pushed by Gausman in Sioux City. After being elected to the board, he continued to be a critic.
Gausman is requesting the recording and minutes of the Nov. 30, 2022, meeting. The lawsuit claims he previously filed a Freedom of Information Act request to acquire the Nov. 30 recording but was denied by Greenwell in a Jan. 5 email.
Gausman claims the board must be in agreement to deny those records and no meeting was held.
Journal Star reporter Zach Hammack contributed to this story.
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Dr. Paul Gausman
2015 Tri-State Governors' Conference
2016 Weight Loss Challenge final
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Dr. Paul Gausman
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Branstad Bullying Panel
Bryant Elementary First Day
Bryant Elementary community meeting
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Dr. Paul Gausman
Dr. Paul Gausman
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