Transparency should have saved one of Iowa's largest school districts
The Iowa City school district continues to muddle through with efforts to bring its spending into order
The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA) published this piece on its opinion page on Sunday, June 21, 2026.
As far back as 12 years ago, the Iowa City Community School District had issues with transparency.
At the time, I was the executive director and editor of the former Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism — IowaWatch, now part of Investigate Midwest. One of our reporters was requesting public records from several Iowa school districts for a story she was working on.
Nearly all of the districts responded immediately or, if not immediately, within a reasonable time and in a friendly, open manner. The Iowa City district’s response from its community information officer was different. It began with a pleasant greeting, then continued:
“Per your request and prior to starting the process, I wanted to inform you that the fee for the work will more than likely be between $25.00–$50.00. I will not know the exact amount until we navigate further through the process.”
In an opinion piece published the same day in April 2014 by the Iowa City Press-Citizen, The Daily Iowan, and The Gazette — an arrangement initiated by the Press-Citizen’s opinion editor at the time — I wrote:
“Want to know a good way to deter the public from obtaining a public document? Start by talking price, especially more than they think they should have to pay. Money matters to citizens, and many of them seeking information from a public entity see a high cost as a roadblock, especially if they are not aware of their right to inspect public documents on site without any initial fee.”
Sure enough, money still matters to citizens. So does transparency. Unfortunately, the Iowa City school district has been lacking in both.
You may have read about this: no review of school finances for three years, no bond rating, and no money on hand had the district not sold its former headquarters and the site of a closed school.
What a mess in Iowa’s fourth largest school district in certified enrollment covering 133 square miles that prides itself in being an education champion, nestled into the home of the University of Iowa. This is the district of Iowa City West High School, ranked No. 1 in the state by U.S. News & World Report for opportunity and excellence. Liberty High ranks eighth and City High ranks 12th.
This is at least a $7.5 million mess. That is how much the school board is considering in budget cuts, including the loss of 23 teaching positions. All because no one thought to look closely at what the district was spending. The district has produced, or helped produce, annual audits.
District finance officials apparently were dipping into a self‑sustaining athletic fund to supplement salaries elsewhere. Moody’s Investors Service revoked the district’s bond rating in October 2024, so signs of trouble were already evident.
The major problems were discovered in January, media outlets report. That is when the school board approved a $10 million interfund loan — retroactively — because the loan had been used to pay staff salaries in August 2025.
The superintendent has stepped down to another job in the district. Hints suggest an effort to pin blame on a former chief financial officer, although those responsible for hiring that person deserve some of the tire tracks.
SCHOOL PAPER TAKES SCHOOL DISTRICT TO TASK
“The WSS Editorial Board believes that the district should not have gone so long without a qualified CFO, and it certainly should not have reassured the board that cash flow issues were temporary while approving a loan made without their notice,” the editorial board of West High School’s student newspaper, West Side Story, published on April 23.
The piece also stated: “Pretending that the district’s financial woes only come from state cuts simply isn’t the reality at hand. The ICCSD has clear problems with transparency, hiring qualified staff and long-term overspending practices. It’s time for the community to demand more accountability from our school district.”
“I've been our beat reporter on the Iowa City Community School District board for a long time, but I always felt like many people didn't understand the intricacies of how the ICCSD, School Board, and budgeting process actually work,” Henry Timmer-Hackert, the West Side Story’s editor-in-chief last school year and the editorial’s main writer, said. The other writer was Jake Beneke, who is to be one of the paper’s two co-editors-in-chief next school year.
Go to West Side Story’s May 29 deep dive into the mess that Timmer-Hackert wrote. Timmer-Hackert, 18 now but 17 when he wrote the story and the aforementioned editorial, is headed for Iowa State University, where he intends to study engineering.
“I ended up pitching the story as a way to clarify what was actually going on with the district and to comment on the question of what the district needs to do next,” he said. “I like covering local topics like this as a school publication, since I think it’s one of the places that our writing is more likely to make a difference,” he said.
“I think local politics only really get attention when something goes wrong, which contributes to a lot of misinformation. When people don’t know much about the school district, they just repeat the first thing they hear, which often leads to slightly incorrect information. I personally heard people make a lot of takes about the school board situation that weren’t quite correct because they didn’t know a small detail or a new update.
“Our story was written to be approachable no matter your level of familiarity, which I’m really proud of.”
SOLVING THE PROBLEM
The district’s schools can boast classroom performance rates that exceed the state’s rates by far.
One of West High School’s just-graduated seniors was on a four-student U.S. team that competed the European Girls’ Math Olympiad in Bordeaux, France in April. That is academic performance on the international stage. Catherine Xu and her teammates won two gold medals and two silver medals while placing fifth out of 15 teams.
City High’s Amal E. Eltayib was is one of nine Iowans named semifinalists for up to 161 spots in the 2026 U.S. Presidential Scholars program. City High has its own film festival and, along with West Side Story and Liberty High’s The Live Wire, The Little Hawk routinely wins state and national journalism awards. Students across the district earn honors in music, science and athletics.
The district has smart kids. It is tempting to say the students should run it but that might be a bit too flippant. A lot of people thinking they are problem solvers will take a shot at doing so. For certain, the next school board election in Iowa City ought to be interesting.
Meanwhile, those in charge — from administrators to the school board — ought to aspire to meet at least the level of the district’s student achievement when it comes to managing a budget and insisting on transparency before the public. Twelve years is a long time to leave such a basic task on the to‑do list at a public entity like a school district.
Think of how transparency could have saved the district from the financial straits in which its leaders, teachers, students and taxpaying public exist today.
Lyle Muller is a member of the Iowa Writers’ Collaborative. Check out some of the collaborative’s most recent reporting in this week’s summary. And order his book about an Iowa United Methodist Church’s attempts to wrestle with controversies since its 1841 founding.
There are many people accountable for the unacceptable failings of the Iowa City school district.
But the ultimate responsibility lies at the feet of the school board. Independent financial audits must be completed every year.
While management may coordinate and support the audit process, it is the board’s audit. It is the board’s fiduciary responsibility.
An annual audit process would have discovered the problem earlier . . . and likely mitigated the unfortunate damage that has occurred.
For years I read the Little Hawk and Westside Story when free copies were in local businesses. Guess I need to find online. The failings of the ICSD leadership is beyond my comprehension and tolerance. No money, no mission. Those four words were often said by Sister Mary Venarda, RSM, former CEO of Mercy Hospital, Iowa City. Her words were prophetic. Thanks for this report Lyle.