Dubuque school board appoints Rheingans as acting superintendent

The Dubuque School Board appointed Stan Rheingans as the acting superintendent in a special meeting Wednesday night.

Rheingans is the district's Director of Human Resources, but is also certified to be a superintendent.

The appointment comes after current superintendent Dr. Larie Godinez told the board she will be taking an extended leave of absence.

On Monday, the board voted to begin the process of firing Godinez.

The board cited lack of confidence by staff and failure to lead as the reason for considering her termination.

Rheingans has several years of teaching experience as well as five years as a principal in Wilton. He's been the human resources director for the Dubuque school district since 2004.

Rheingans says it's his priority to make sure students and teachers finish out the school year on a positive note, despite what's going on at the administrative level.

"This isn't a celebration in a sense," Rheingans said. "Nobody wanted the scenario to roll out the way that it did, but we all need to maintain as much equilibrium as we can to keep our schools filtered from the distraction."

Godinez has until Saturday to ask the board for a hearing about her future employment.