School board may meet at board member's home

IOWA CITY - Party at Mike Cooper's house?

Well, not quite. But as of right now the Iowa City school board is planning on holding a meeting at the North Liberty home of Cooper, who is on the school board.

The meeting will be a closed session, and it's an important one: the board plans to select a new superintendent. It's scheduled for 6:30 p.m. April 25.

Though the board will deliberate in private, by law they'll have to start and finish the meeting in open session (see pages 11-13 here). So anyone from the public who wants to be there must be welcomed.

Cooper lives at 3829 Stoney Pointe Lane NE in rural North Liberty. Here's a map.

Cooper did not immediately return a phone message.

Board President Patti Fields said she'd need to check on what accomodations will be made for people who attend the meeting, if anyone does.

She said the meeting may be moved, actually, partly for that reason. It was scheduled at Cooper's house in the first place because it was an alternative location and wouldn't require the district to pay someone to staff the administration building on a Sunday night, Fields said. 

Although the board plans to select a superintendent that night, an announcement will not be made until an offer is accepted, which probably will take a couple of days, Fields said.

Interviews with six first-round candidates start today. Two people will interview, one at 4 p.m. and the other at 5:15 p.m. On Thursday, four candidates will be interviewed.

Those names are not being released. Fields said the candidates, in general, have a lot of experience.

“It's a strong group,” she said. “I'm looking forward to getting to know more about them.”

The board will meet Friday to select three finalists. Those names will be made public, and they'll be in Iowa City next week.

Each finalist will be here a day – Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – and will tour the district, meet with staff and a board-selected community group in private, and then have a public meet-and-greet at 6:15 p.m. The board's interview with each candidate will start at 7 p.m. and also will be open.

The person hired will replace Lane Plugge, who's leaving at the end of the school year for another job in western Iowa.

By the way, this week's interviews are at the Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center. Fields said the district is paying $75 each day for the meeting room. She said the candidates are staying at the hotel and meeting there would be easier for them and would keep district staff from having to open the board room at night.