Iowa Association of School Boards facing corruption and secrecy problems, could benefit from transparency

The Des Moines Register reports that the Iowa Association of School Boards spends $6 million a year of taxpayer dollars. However, it describes it as a “privately run nonprofit organization.” This begs the question: how is an organization “privately run” when it’s run on $6,000,000 taxpayer dollars?

The Iowa Association of School Boards fired its Executive Director Maxine Kilcrease last week, and thus showed some responsibility on behalf of the taxpayers whose money fund its activities. Kilcrease being fired came six months after she allegedly raised her own annual salary to $367,000 without the knowledge or consent of the organization’s governing board.

The association is an advocacy organization for school boards in Iowa. Sunshine Review labels these sort of organizations “taxpayer-funded lobbying organizations,” because they work to advocate on behalf of local governments and are funded by dues paid by those governments. Governments are, of course, funded by taxpayers.

Because the Executive Director did not consult the board on her pay increase, the board stated it felt “misled and blocked from information.” The board fired the now-former executive director under a clause in her contract that allows the association to withhold her remaining contract amount in the case of “moral turpitude.” Additionally, Kilcrease will be required to reimburse the organization for roughly $50,000 in pay, in addition to the $59,000 Kilcrease repaid earlier this month.

The association is also paying for handwriting analysis on IASB documents related to Kilcrease’s employment, a possible indication that there’s some question as to their legitimacy.

Kilcrease’s unauthorized pay increase is worse in context, and seems to be deserving of the label “moral turpitude.” Kilcrease laid off several association employees, supposedly in order to help address a $1.5 million budget shortfall. Kilcrease, meanwhile, raised her own pay and gave major pay raises to three other IASB officials close to her or responsible for her being hired.

But the IASB has even more problems, making some school districts question their membership in the organization. The FBI, the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Education, and a team of forensic auditors are all looking into a variety of allegations related to IASB. There are also allegations of nepotism and conflicts of interest.

Even more than mere allegations, there is an actual history of misconduct and incompetence in the organization. Former Chief Financial Officer Kevin Schick allegedly used an association credit card to help pay for a vacation in Bora Bora.

The association board’s treasurer, expressing shock and dismay about Kilcrease’s actions, stated that until recently the board had a long-standing policy that barred the board from accessing any information on the salaries of staff members other than the executive director. The association does not even have internal transparency.

All of the problems these association is having could have been avoided. In New Hampshire, a recent court case has made it so that groups like the Iowa School Board Association have to fulfill Freedom of Information Act requests. Iowa should consider legislation that would do the same. The secrecy, even within the association, has allowed problems to fester, and the saying “sunshine is the best disinfectant” may be overused, but it’s absolutely true. A persistent journalist or a regular citizen armed with a FOIA could have prevented some, if not all, of the problems the Iowa Association of School Boards is facing.

More importantly, an organization spending $6 million in taxpayer money is not a private nonprofit. The IASB should consider some affirmative disclosure as a responsibility it takes upon itself, a responsibility to the taxpayers who unwittingly fund it, even without legislation or a court case compelling it to do so.