Iowa agencies left to police themselves

By   /  January 30, 2013  /  Commentary, Iowa Commentary  /  No Comments

Des Moines school board members questioned for closed session.

By Graham Gillette | Special to Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Iowans have little way to monitor public officials’ compliance with transparency laws. Even if they do find possible violations, the state affords them few avenues to hold leaders accountable.
Take for example the Des Moines School Board.
It held a closed session in May citing the provision [...]

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IA: Former Des Moines school board member sues district

By   /  September 24, 2012  /  Accountability, Education, Ethics, General Interest, Iowa, Issues, Judiciary, News, Power Abuse, Uncategorized  /  1 Comment

Former Des Moines School Board Member Graham Gillette

By Sheena Dooley | Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES — A former Des Moines school board member is seeking court action to determine whether the current board violated Iowa’s Open Meetings laws in discussing how to handle the political fallout of former Superintendent Nancy Sebring’s resignation.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a lawsuit Monday in [...]

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IA: Des Moines School Board faces lawsuit

By   /  September 24, 2012  /  Iowa WatchBlog, Uncategorized, WatchBlog  /  2 Comments

Former Des Moines School Board Member Graham Gillette

By Sheena Dooley | Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – A former Des Moines school board member is seeking court action to determine if the current board violated Iowa’s Open Meetings laws to discuss how to handle the political fallout of former Superintendent Nancy Sebring’s resignation.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa filed a lawsuit Monday [...]

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IA: Sebring and sister continue hunt for information

By   /  August 24, 2012  /  Accountability, Education, Featured, Iowa, Issues, News, Open Records  /  No Comments

Former Des Moines Superintendent Nancy Sebring

By Sheena Dooley | Iowa Watchdog
DES MOINES – Des Moines former superintendent Nancy Sebring and her twin sister are gathering district documents and emails related to their controversial departures, filing a dozen information requests with Des Moines officials within the past two months.
District files show more than half of the 23 information requests it received [...]

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Omaha School Board President on Shaky Ground

By   /  July 31, 2012  /  Nebraska, Nebraska Video  /  6 Comments

Based on comments made at Monday’s stormy meeting of the Omaha School Board, Freddie Gray has a 50-50 chance of remaining board president. 
By Nebraska Watchdog’s count it’s currently 6-4 in favor of Gray with two votes undecided.
It appears the 12 member board will vote on Gray’s future next Monday.
According to published reports in the Omaha World-Herald, [...]

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