New Prague schools in uproar

With the third superintendent in five years on the way out, some residents calling for the school board to resign en masse and accusations flying, the New Prague school district is in major upheaval.

Tension had been building for months between departing Superintendent Craig Menozzi and the board over issues including his contract, expense reports, staffing decisions, attendance boundary changes and whether to hold a levy referendum this year.

A vocal group of residents faults the board, arguing that dysfunctional leadership has helped drive away a competent leader.

"We determined that the school board was absolutely out of control," said Lorie Geiger, one of several residents who began asking questions and requesting public documents from the district a few months ago.

An attorney for the board says data practices law bars the board from correcting some misinformation spread by residents. "Individuals in the community are getting only part of the story -- a very skewed part of the story" with many inaccuracies, Stephen Knutson said.

The board is investigating complaints about the superintendent, Knutson has said, adding that the law prevents him from detailing their nature. Menozzi has said he's unaware of any investigation.

At a board meeting last month, a group of residents accused the board of micromanaging the superintendent and violating the state's open meeting law. They also said a district employee had illegally forwarded e-mails that Menozzi has said were his. The board has denied intentionally breaking the open meeting law.

Menozzi was principal of Lakeville's McGuire Middle School for 10 years before coming to New Prague in 2008.

Two weeks ago, he said he will start a new job this summer leading Southeast Polk schools in Pleasant Hill, Iowa.

"This is not about me and the board," he said Friday of the uproar. "It's more about the community's concerns with the actions and the decisions of the board."

Turning up the heat

New Prague is abuzz about what's going on -- and what may happen next.

State law doesn't allow the recall of board members through a community vote, but some residents have signed an anonymous "no confidence" petition. Those leading the discussion at Tuesday's meeting urged residents to attend meetings, recruit candidates or run for office themselves.

The terms of five of the board's seven members expire this year, including those of three appointed in the past year to replace members who resigned.

Former board member Bob Reed, who resigned last fall, said tension built last year when Menozzi and the board negotiated his new contract.

Menozzi asked for more than the board was willing to give, and some board members took it personally, Reed said. "I don't think some of them got over it."

After that, "They began to look for every small detail that [Menozzi] did wrong."

The board ultimately approved a contract that would have paid Menozzi a base salary of $146,000 next year. The Southeast Polk district, which has about 6,200 students to New Prague's 3,800, has offered him base pay of $175,000.

Some conflict centers on Menozzi's reporting of vacation and expenses, according to district e-mails and papers that residents got through public data requests.

In a Dec. 17 e-mail, board member Larry Pint told the board that despite instructions to notify a board member when he would be out of the office, Menozzi "continues to choose not to do so."

"I think it is time to take greater action on his continued insubordination," Pint wrote.

Another document describes the outcome of a closed board meeting held on Jan. 10. Citing data practices law, Knutson declined to answer some questions about the meeting, but said it was closed for preliminary consideration of allegations against the superintendent. Menozzi disputes that, and said he believes the board violated the open meeting law that day.

The district's 2010 audit report noted two issues related to the superintendent's expenses, according to a letter to him from Sandy Linn, the district's business services director.

One was his purchase of $50 in gift cards that he gave to employees, which the auditor said wasn't an appropriate use of public funds. Menozzi says he no longer gives gift cards. The audit also noted that Menozzi's expenses were not reviewed by the board.

According to Linn, the auditor said that "there was no specific wrongdoing by [Menozzi] that prompted these comments" in the report.