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By Sheena Dooley | Iowa Watchdog
Former Des Moines superintendent Nancy Sebring and a married man wrote sexually explicit emails to each other, which were sent from Sebring's work email, some during the workday.
DES MOINES — Former Des Moines superintendent Nancy Sebring and her husband lived separate lives long before news of her recent affair broke this week, according to a statement released Wednesday by the couple.
Randy Sebring stayed in Colorado during his wife’s entire six-year tenure leading the Des Moines school district. The two parted ways seven years ago, he wrote.
In recent months, Nancy Sebring turned to a married man for comfort. The two carried on an affair for a period of at least six weeks that spanned from March to May. The relationship became public Saturday when the Des Moines Register published steamy email exchanges between the two, which were sent from Nancy Sebring’s work email — some during the workday.
They also revealed Des Moines school board members’ efforts to cover up the incident when Sebring resigned May 9 after being confronted about the emails. The board told the public that Sebring needed more time to prepare for a job leading the Omaha school district, which she was slated to start July 1.
She voluntarily resigned from Omaha after the media released a handful of the emails.
In Wednesday’s statement, Nancy Sebring apologized to faculty, students and parents for her lapse in judgment, calling it unacceptable. She didn’t return phone calls seeking further comment.
Current and potential future fallout from personal emails sent from her work email prompted Nancy Sebring to also file a lawsuit Wednesday in Polk County Court to prevent further distribution of the communications. She contends the district is failing to follow its policy to delete employee emails permanently once they have left the district.
The district has no such policy and routinely deletes them after about 90 days, said Phil Roeder, district spokesman.
She also said others have or will request unredacted copies of the emails, which have portions whited out. In most cases, her lover’s name and email address are redacted, but he is identified in several. Iowa Watchdog has opted not identify the man to protect his privacy.
“As a public body, Des Moines Public Schools is obligated to comply with public records requests according to Iowa law, and until such time as a court directs us to do otherwise we will continue to do so,” Roeder said in an email to Iowa Watchdog. “Nancy Sebring or her attorney will need to address the reasons they wish to block this public records request.”
Iowa Watchdog is releasing the full emails, although some have information that was whited out by the district.
Iowa Watchdog has more of the emails — those related to the sex scandal — and will release further communications in the coming days to allow readers full access. The emails are unedited, although contain information that was whited out by the Des Moines district officials.
WARNING: These emails contain language that some might find offensive and shocking. Adult content.
Find previously posted emails here.
