Corning and Villisca boards hold repeated closed sessions and agree to continue superintendent search

President Staci Venteicher called a special joint meeting of the Board of Education of the Corning Community School District and members of the Villisca board to order at 5:08 p.m. on April 16, 2026. Directors Adam Boswell, Stephanie Hodapp (by phone), Trent Roberts and Ryan Shuey were recorded as answering roll call for Corning; Villisca board members Taylor Gray, Richard Mullen, Jason Poston, Leland Shipley and Tom Williams were also listed as present. Board Secretaries Lyddon and Forsythe and EDWise consultants Paul Tedesco and Bob Olson attended.

Director Adam Boswell moved and Director Trent Roberts seconded approval of the agenda; the motion carried unanimously. Shortly afterward, Director Ryan Shuey moved and Director Trent Roberts seconded a motion “to enter closed session per Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(i) 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 and that individual requests a closed session.” By roll call, Boswell, Hodapp, Roberts, Shuey and Venteicher voted yes and the boards entered closed session at 5:10 p.m.; the minutes record a return to open session at 6:08 p.m.

At 6:12 p.m. the boards again voted—on a motion by Director Ryan Shuey, seconded by Director Trent Roberts—to enter closed session under the same Iowa Code provision; the roll-call votes listed Boswell, Hodapp, Roberts, Shuey and Venteicher as voting yes. The boards returned to open session at 7:16 p.m.

A third motion to enter closed session was moved by Director Ryan Shuey and seconded by Director Adam Boswell at 7:17 p.m., again citing Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(i). The boards returned to open session at 9:09 p.m.

Following the final return to open session, “it was the consensus of the boards to continue the superintendent search,” according to the minutes; the record does not show a formal hiring vote or a recorded motion adopting a candidate. Director Trent Roberts moved to adjourn, seconded by Director Stephanie Hodapp; the motion carried unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 9:10 p.m.

The meeting minutes show that the closed sessions were held under Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(i), the statute cited in each motion authorizing closed discussion to evaluate the professional competency of an individual when that person has requested a closed session. The minutes do not record any formal action on a candidate, financial terms, or a final hiring decision; they state only the boards’ consensus to continue the search and the procedural votes to enter and exit closed session.