Iowa school board’s complaint accuses Gausman of trying to bribe board members

By Aaron Sanderford, Nebraska Examiner – for KOLN/KGIN

Published: Sep. 11, 2023 at 3:55 PM CDT|Updated: Sep. 11, 2023 at 5:39 PM CDT

LINCOLN, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – Lincoln’s new superintendent filed a lawsuit against his former employer that made an allegation that has since proven false, he acknowledged in a court filing last week.

Paul Gausman, whom Lincoln Public Schools hired from Iowa’s Sioux City Community Schools in 2022, sued the Iowa district this January, alleging violations of open meetings laws.

In his lawsuit, Gausman called for the judge to remove from office four school board members with whom he had clashed: Dan Greenwell, Jan George, Taylor Goodvin and Bob Michaelson. That’s more than half of the seven-member board.

Gausman sued after the board filed a complaint with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners alleging he had tried to bribe or induce two incoming school board members in November 2021 to back his pick for board president.

“I appreciate the question,” Gausman said through a spokeswoman. “I have no comments on matters involving litigation at the advice of counsel.”

The Lincoln school board has publicly supported Gausman and his job performance, applauding his work. This weekend, they declined to comment on the litigation.

Allegations disputed

Part of Gausman’s lawsuit alleged that the Sioux City school board had failed to properly notify him of a January 2022 meeting or its purpose, which was to discuss the superintendent’s job performance.

His lawsuit said the board “did not notify either Dr. Gausman or the public that Defendants intended to go into closed session to discuss him or a complaint….”

But his new court filing acknowledges what a Nebraska Examiner public records request had already shown, that Gausman not only knew about the meeting and its purpose but that he had requested it.

Documents obtained as part of that request, including emails and calendar invites, were included in the district’s legal response after Gausman pushed for a summary judgment.

Gausman shifted positions on the meeting in a Sept. 5 affidavit, saying, “It is true that I requested and was notified that there would be a closed session on that date.”

More than just one issue

He argues that the board discussed more than was allowed under the Iowa law the board cited to close the meeting, particularly a potential complaint against his Iowa administrator’s license.

Greenwell, the board president, said in an affidavit that the board did not discuss anything beyond the scope of the law.

Two attorneys familiar with Iowa public meetings law told the Examiner the district could have discussed the complaint under the law. Statute 21.5 (1)(i) lets the board close meetings “to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered.”

Court documents show the board filed the license complaint months later, in December 2022.

Gausman’s lawsuit also targets a November 2022 board meeting where he alleges the board did not make clear it was discussing the potential complaint against him. Gausman, who was by then working in Lincoln, said the public deserved notice.

The district has argued that Gausman was no longer its employee and so the agenda and public notice requirements were not the same. The board also contended that Iowa law prohibits the board from publicly discussing complaints to the state board of examiners.

Sioux City schools complaint

The Sioux City complaint alleges Gausman approached two board members-elect at a public place in Des Moines and offered to make changes they wanted to school operations, activities or programs if they backed his favored candidate for board president over a critic.

Iowa state law defines bribery of public officials as offering promises of action, benefits or something of value to someone serving, elected or selected to serve, according to the letter from the school district to the board of examiners.

The complaint also alleges that Gausman obtained confidential information about a March 2022 closed board session from a board member and shared some of the information with staff. Sharing certain information from a closed session, including information about personnel issues, is against Iowa law.

Gausman had been announced as Lincoln’s next superintendent in February 2022.

The Iowa disciplinary board found the allegations against Gausman credible enough to refer them for a hearing with an administrative judge.

In previous filings and comments, Gausman has argued that he is the target of members of an activist board that is trying to tarnish his professional reputation.

Greenwell has called the allegations “substantive and serious.”

No date has yet been scheduled for the hearing, which will be handled by the Iowa Attorney General’s Office. Gausman could negotiate a settlement. If he agreed to give up his administrator’s license in Iowa, it would not necessarily affect his Nebraska license.

Ethics complaint against Lincoln superintendent moves forward in Iowa

• Caitlin Yamada Sioux City Journal – Lincoln Journal Star
• Aug 3, 2023

DES MOINES — The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners on Wednesday found probable cause to proceed with an ethics complaint the Sioux City School Board filed against former superintendent Paul Gausman. 

During its monthly meeting, the board met in closed session to review an investigative report into the complaint, which alleges Gausman attempted to bribe two newly elected school board members to pick a board president the then-superintendent preferred.

The board then reconvened in open session and voted to set a hearing in the case. The panel had the option of moving forward with a hearing or dismissing the complaint.

At this point, the case will either go before an administrative law judge for a hearing, or a settlement could be reached, according to a flowchart on the board’s website. 

Sioux City school board president Dan Greenwell filed the complaint in December 2022, with backing from the majority of the seven-member board. The filing came nearly six months after Gausman left the Sioux City district to become superintendent of Lincoln Public Schools.

The complaint claims that Gausman approached newly elected board members Bob Michaelson and Jan George on Nov. 17, 2021, five days before they took office, and asked what it would take for them to support Perla Alarcon-Flory’s bid for reelection as board president.

“Dr. Gausman directly offered to allow Mr. Michaelson and Mr. George 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 to the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

Greenwell’s letter claims the conversation took place at a public place in Des Moines with Alarcon-Flory present. Michaelson and George objected to Gausman’s offer multiple times, according to the complaint.

“Ms. Alarcon-Flory remained silent regarding the bribery offer during the discussions at the table,” Greenwell said in the letter.

The complaint alleges Gausman admitted to the post-election conversation at a meeting on Jan. 27, 2022, with Greenwell and school board member Taylor Goodvin present, as well as in a separate discussion with then-board vice president Monique Scarlett. 

In the complaint, Greenwell also contends Gausman disclosed information from a confidential closed-door board meeting to some district staff. Greenwell alleges Alarcon-Flory passed on the information to Gausman, who then shared it with cabinet members. Gausman allegedly admitted to Greenwell and Goodvin that he shared the information and the cabinet members also confirmed they received the information from the superintendent, according to the complaint.

Alarcon-Flory recently resigned from the board to relocate to Arkansas with her family.

The Iowa Board of Educational Examiners is a professional practices panel that establishes and oversees the licensing process for educators at the state’s accredited schools. Sergeant Bluff-Luton schools superintendent Chad Janzen chairs the eight-member board, which is appointed by the governor and subject to Iowa Senate confirmation.

At an April 21 meeting, the board of examiners denied Gausman’s motion to dismiss the complaint, sending the report instead to a state investigator. The board also directed the investigator to gather more information and return the case to the board before Wednesday’s meeting.

In his lawsuit against the school district and four board members personally — Greenwell, George, Goodvin and Michaelson — Gausman alleges the board held illegal closed-door meetings citing the wrong Iowa code sections in order to avoid notifying Gausman or the public of their discussion of him and the following board decision to file a complaint against him with the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners.

The suit claims on Jan. 24, 2022, March 28, 2022 and Nov. 30, 2022, the board held special meetings and closed sessions to discuss Gausman and his professional qualifications. 

The school district has countered that it followed proper procedures in conducting the meetings, citing a section of the state code that allows closed sessions 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.”

Gausman led the Sioux City school district for 14 years before starting his current job at Lincoln Public Schools on July 1, 2022.

A district spokesperson said Gausman nor the Lincoln Board of Education had comment about Wednesday’s action.