Callaghan resigns

Bob Callaghan will resign from superintendent of the Newton Community School District.

After the superintendent’s quarterly review was held in closed session during the NCSD Board of Education meeting Monday night, the board reportedly went back into open session where Callaghan submitted his letter of resignation, which highlighted many of the school district’s achievements during his time as superintendent.

“I am proud of the accomplishments within the Newton Community School District under my leadership,” Callaghan said in the letter. “Strong accomplishments have occurred over the past seven years: the passing of a $26.9 million bond, implementation of Capturing Kids’ Hearts, academic achievement with two campuses recognized as high performing, two campuses recognized as commendable and two acceptable campuses.”

Callaghan also drew attention to the “successful implementation of the Teacher Leadership System, strong professional development opportunities for teachers, time allocation for professional learning communities and the district embarking on the journey to High Reliability School certification.”

He added, “It has been a pleasure serving the students of the Newton Community School District.”

Robyn Friedman, president of the NCSD school board, said the governing body unanimously accepted Callaghan’s letter of resignation after a prolonged quarterly review meeting. The board wishes Callaghan future success and thanks him for what he has done for the school district during his tenure.

“It was felt that this was what is best for the district at this point,” Friedman said Tuesday. “That is a speaking point from the full board.”

At this point, the school board and administration will have a discussion about what to look for in a new superintendent and may likely engage with superintendent search firms. However, that process has not been set in motion yet.

The school board was scheduled to take action on the superintendent’s contract Monday night, which would have expired at the end of the 2020-21 school year. In March 2018, the board voted 4-3 against extending the contract and has not publicly addressed it since then.

On Tuesday morning, Callaghan sent an email addressed to school district staff informing them of his decision.

“I am proud of and stand by our many accomplishments,” Callaghan said. “I have acted with integrity, a moral compass and a focus on ‘kids first’ to help move our district from a difficult time caused by circumstances outside of the students, teachers or community influence. I wish the district success in all future endeavors.”

Callaghan’s resignation is effective June 30, 2020.

This decision arrives one week before school board elections. Five candidates are vying for the three open seats contested by incumbents Josh Cantu, Donna Cook and board vice-president Ann Leonard, as well as returning school board candidate Nat Clark and newcomer Mark Thayer.

At the Monday night meeting, Thayer addressed the school board about its lack of transparency surrounding Callaghan’s contract even in the event of a closed session, which are not regularly open for the general public to attend. Much of what is discussed during closed session cannot be talked about openly for public record or inspection.

Under Iowa Code 21.5(1)(i), governmental bodies may hold a closed session “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.”

Thayer claimed the NCSD Board of Education has gone into closed session to review Callaghan’s contract and work performance six times since October 2018. Upon further inspection, Newton Daily News confirmed the school board held four superintendent reviews (June 24, July 29, Oct. 14 and Oct. 28 in 2019) and two quarterly reviews (April 22, 2019 and Oct. 22, 2018) during that time.

“If you guys haven’t heard out in the community … there are concerns about transparency,” Thayer said, referencing a handful of letters to the editor submitted to Newton Daily News by himself, Sheri Benson, Fran Henderson and Bob Lane, all of which voiced their support of the superintendent and questioned why the school board has remained relatively silent.

Thayer pleaded with the school board to have a change of heart and “collectively agree” Callaghan and his team have “greatly improved” where the Newton school district was six to eight years ago.

“However, if you have not had this change of heart, I hope that you take into consideration. There’s an election eight days from today,” Thayer said Monday night.

It came as “no surprise” to Thayer when he later learned of Callaghan’s resignation, and he suspected it may be coerced.

“My hope is that the board’s actions do not leave a long-term stain on Newton and its immediate future,” Thayer said in a statement. “Although I am not surprised by the actions of this board, I do feel the voters are the ones who should be upset.”

Clark was sad to hear about Callaghan resigning from his position, describing it as “a big loss for the district.” Although he is disappointed by the outcome, the returning candidate is hopeful he will be among the school members who will “try and find a replacement for him.”

In a statement, Leonard told Newton Daily News the NCSD Board of Education voted unanimously to accept Callaghan’s letter of resignation, which she said “is what is best for the district.”

Leonard added, “I wish him well with his future endeavors and look forward to the next steps for the district.”

Cantu is confident “this was one of the many difficult decisions” Callaghan has had to make as superintendent.

“During his time with the district he has done many great things for both Newton Community Schools and our community,” Cantu said. “His dedication to the district and its students has been recognized and appreciated by many. I wish him only the best and thank him for all he has done for Newton.”

Cook did not immediately respond to calls from Newton Daily News seeking comment by press time.

At the Jasper County League of Women Voters candidate forum one week ago, candidates were asked by moderators to share their thoughts on the perceived lack of transparency surrounding the superintendent’s contract and why a majority of board members do not wish to extend it.

Candidates Thayer and Clark, both in favor of keeping Callaghan, viewed the superintendent’s work in high regard, and the former proposed the school board could arrange some kind of generic, summarized statement about the contract. Incumbent Cook was surprised by the question and affirmed the board makes “every effort possible” to remain transparent.

However, personnel issues are different, Cook said, indicating the superintendent “could request that be open to the public” although she would not recommend he do that. Cantu referred back to Iowa codes regarding closed sessions and noted that individuals do have a right to privacy.

Leonard said there are things the public does not see that are important for the board to address, though she declined to comment about the superintendent’s contract specifically during the candidate forum. She was also unaware of Clark’s claims of past school boards providing generic summaries but does not feel one is necessary when it comes to personnel discussions.

“However, if that’s something the board choses to move forward with to … alleviate some of the questions that the public would have, I’m certainly in favor of that,” Leonard said at the Oct. 22 forum inside Newton City Hall.

The candidate forum was not the only time school board members were confronted by community members about the superintendent’s contract. At a March 2018 school board meeting, Newton Daily News reported several community members sharing their thoughts during the open forum session. Many were unsure where the push not to renew the contract originated.

At that time, school board members Friedman and Travis Padget admitted they heard complaints about Callaghan’s job performance, but Friedman said she also received complaints about other administrators, too. Board members, she added, are responsible for filtering complaints and investigating whether they are genuine “or just ‘somebody puffing smoke.’”

Emails obtained by the Newton Daily News in 2018 revealed teachers in the Newton Community Education Association were urged by their president, Deb Rose, to share their opinion about Callaghan’s performance with board members and question his leadership abilities.

Rose also wrote a list of talking points encouraging teachers to disclose how district leadership has had a negative impact on classroom activities. Complaints cited included increased class sizes, decreased building budgets, no curriculum adoption schedule and a lack of new textbooks.

Callaghan offered no further comment to the Newton Daily News by press time Wednesday morning.

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com