Stephen Murley hired as Iowa City school district's next superintendent

The Iowa City school board has agreed to hire Stephen Murley as the school district's next superintendent.

Board President Patti Fields made the announcement at Tuesday night's meeting.

Murley, 43, has been superintendent of the 8,500-student Wausau school district in Wisconsin for five years.

'I'm incredibly excited about it,' Murley said of the job. 'I think the Iowa City area is a unique community.'

Fields said Murley had the communication skills, experience and collaborative approach the board was looking for in a superintendent.

The other two finalists were Brad Meeks, superintendent of the Farmington school district in Minnesota, and Mark Bezek, superintendent of the Elk River school district in Minnesota.

Murley will replace Lane Plugge, who's leaving the district in June for a job in western Iowa.

Fields said the board was unanimous in its support for him. The board met for two and half hours Sunday night in closed session, but Fields said afterward they had not come to an agreement on whom to hire.

She also said the board may hold another closed session to discuss the matter further. If a majority of the board met again, it does not appear it sent out notice of the meeting, as is required by  state law.

It's not clear when the board made its decision. The board is currently holding its regular meeting and is not available for questions.

Murley said he had been in talks with the board, its attorney and the search consultant on and off since Sunday evening.

Fields did not say what Murley's salary will be. Murley said they were still negotiating that.