25FC:0073 Justin Scott v. Denver Community School District Board of Directors - Informal Resolution Report

 The Iowa Public Information Board

On June 12, 2025, Justin Scott filed formal complaint 25FC:0073, alleging that the Denver Community School District Board of Directors (Board) violated Iowa Code Chapter 21.

The IPIB accepted this complaint at its meeting on July 17, 2025.

Background

The Denver Community School District is a rural public school district located in southern Bremer and northern Black Hawk County, which currently meets on a monthly basis. The District is represented by a five-person Board of Directors.

On June 12, 2025, the complainant, Justin Scott, filed formal complaint 25FC:0073, alleging that the Board had violated Iowa Code § 21.4(1)(a) by failing to provide proper agenda notice of personnel contract renewal decisions approved at the Board’s recent June meeting. Prior meeting agendas and minutes show that the Board’s common practice has been to act on contract renewals under a one-word “Personnel” agenda item, which appears under the “Reports” heading, alongside other non-action informational reports such as “Middle School Principal,” “Superintendent,” and “Board President.” These renewals are generally handled as consent approvals, meaning that the Board’s approval is intended to formally authorize decisions which had already been considered at a lower administrative level, without significant deliberation or individual consideration by the Board. Minutes published after these meetings consistently include a summary of names and positions covered each month.

After opening the case to both parties, the Board expressed its willingness to change the way it drafts its meeting agendas to better satisfy the notice requirements of Chapter 21.

Applicable Law

“Except as provided in [Iowa Code § 21.4(3)], a governmental body shall give notice of the time, date, and place of each meeting including a reconvened meeting of the governmental body, and the tentative agenda of the meeting, in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the public of that information.” Iowa Code § 21.4(1)(a).

Analysis

Iowa Code § 21.4(1)(a) states that a tentative agenda must be provided “in a manner reasonably calculated to apprise the public” of matters to be discussed at a meeting. The Iowa Supreme Court has interpreted this language to require advance notice to be provided on an agenda for any item to be discussed as a meeting, with an exception for “discussion and action on emergency items that are first ascertained at a meeting for which proper notice was given” which cannot “be reasonably deferred to a later meeting.” KCOB/KLVN, Inc. v. Jasper Cnty. Bd. of Sup’rs, 473 N.W.2d 171, 174 (1991).

The applicable standard is “whether the notice sufficiently apprised the public and gave full opportunity for public knowledge and participation,” when considering “the public’s knowledge of an issue and actual participation in events in light of the history and background of that issue.” Id. at 173 (affirming a trial court’s finding that “Industries Council—Mr. Jack Lipovac” was sufficient to notify the public that a body would discuss the firing of the named employee, as the termination had appeared on a previous agenda and evidence showed that it was well known and publicized in the community that the Industries Council had been hired to set up termination hearings, including for the particular employee under consideration). Subsequent case law has clarified, however, that the KCOB/KLVN decision “does not provide a basis for excusing an agenda item omission on the ground that the public and press were already familiar with the subject” and that “the adequacy of the notice must be determined on the basis of what the words in the agenda would mean to a typical citizen or member of the press who reads it.” Barrett v. Lode, 603 N.W.2d 766, 769 (Iowa 1999).

IPIB’s case law applying KCOB/KLVN and Barrett has identified certain categories of agenda items which may fail to provide sufficient notice, including single-word descriptors and “catch-all” umbrella phrases which fail to adequately describe actual matters deliberated. See 20FC:0128, Mark Kuhn/Floyd County Board of Supervisors (finding that “Review/Action coronavirus (COVID-19) issues as applicable” was insufficient when reused over a period of several months to cover all possible county actions related to COVID-19 protection); 18FC:0061, Lindsey Larrington/Lucas City Council (finding that agenda topics such as “Parks” or “Streets” were not descriptive enough on their own to apprise the public).

Informal Resolution

Pursuant to Iowa Code § 23.9, IPIB presents the following terms for an informal resolution of this matter:

1. This Informal Resolution will be formally approved at a meeting of the Denver Community School District Board of Directors. The Board will include a copy of this Informal Resolution in its meeting minutes and will provide IPIB staff with a copy of the minutes demonstrating approval.

2. In adopting this Informal Resolution, the Board agrees that items requiring deliberation or action by the Board, including consent agenda items, will be listed on the tentative agenda under a heading or subheading which sufficiently apprises the public that action may be taken, including but not limited to “Old Business” or “New Business.” For any agenda item, even one that can be voted on in a consolidated motion, the Board understands there must be sufficient information to reasonably inform the public of the general category of decisions to be approved (e.g. “Approval of June Bills” or “Certification of May 2025 Regular Board Minutes”).

3. With regards to routine contract renewal decisions, the Board specifically agrees to include language in its agendas which differentiates these types of decisions from other personnel matters and makes it clear that the Board may consider official action, rather than merely receiving a report (e.g. “Approve consent agenda personnel contracts.”).

The terms of the Informal Resolution will be completed within 60 days of the date of approval of

this Informal Resolution by all parties. Upon showing of proof of compliance, the IPIB will dismiss this complaint as successfully resolved.

Justin Scott approved the Informal Resolution on October 17, 2025.

The Denver Community School District approved the Informal Resolution on October 17, 2025.

The IPIB staff recommend the IPIB approve the Informal Resolution Report.

By the IPIB Agency Counsel,

_________________________

Alexander Lee, J.D.

CERTIFICATE OF MAILING

This document was sent on November 13, 2025, to:

Justin Scott, Complainant

Denver Community School District, Respondent