Sioux City Community School District board holds closed session to evaluate candidate

The Sioux City Community School District Board of Directors met in a special session on Jan. 30, 2025, at approximately 10:30 a.m. and voted unanimously to enter a closed session to evaluate the professional competency of an individual and to review records required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential. The board later reconvened in open session and adjourned.

Board members said the closed session was held under exemptions to Iowa’s open meetings law after a candidate for an unspecified position submitted a written request for a closed session. Board policy 204.15, the board noted at the start of the meeting, states that public comment is not a regular part of special meetings.

The meeting record shows the board first approved the meeting agenda, then approved a motion to move into closed session citing Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(i) (to evaluate the professional competency of an individual when that individual requests a closed session) and Iowa Code section 21.5(1)(a) (to review or discuss records required or authorized by state or federal law to be kept confidential). The roll-call vote was recorded as unanimous: Emke, George, Greenwell, Lee, Myers, Michaelson and Miller all voting in favor.

Following the closed session, the board voted to adjourn the closed session and return to open session, and then voted to adjourn the special meeting. No further action or decisions were announced in open session. No public comment was taken during the meeting, consistent with the board’s cited policy.

The board identified the closed-session exemptions and the candidate’s written request on the record but did not disclose the candidate’s name, the position under consideration, or the contents of the confidential records during open session. The special meeting lasted only a short time and focused solely on the closed-session motion and subsequent adjournment.