Iowa City school board member Baruah announces resignation

Tuyet Baruah, a two-term member of the Iowa City school board and frequent voice of opposition in board discussions, has resigned effective this September, she said Wednesday.

Baruah, first elected to the Iowa City Community School District's board in 2009, said she has been offered a new position in the education field.

Her resignation likely means five seats on the seven-member board will be up for election in September. Four other board members have expiring terms this year.

A replacement for Baruah will be chosen in a special election on the same Sept. 8 ballot as the other seats, provided her resignation is considered official by Saturday, said John Deeth, a clerk in the Johnson County Auditor's Office. That person would be elected to a two-year term and be eligible for re-election to a full, four-year term in 2017, Deeth said.

Candidates would have to choose between running for Baruah's seat or running for the other four seats, he said - they can't do both. The filing deadline is July 30.

Baruah said she notified board members and the district of her resignation in an email Wednesday morning, before posting an online video announcing her decision. Her resignation will be effective after the election, she said.

At school board meetings and in discussions about district issues, Baruah often has opposed or expressed concerns with measures supported by other board members.

She has criticized the board's approach to balancing student demographics among schools, voting in May against a change in school boundaries that in part sought to achieve that balance.

Baruah also opposed the district's since-rescinded diversity policy, which was ruled non-compliant with federal law by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

And she has argued against the closure of Hoover Elementary School, planned for no earlier than the 2017-18 school year as part of a 10-year facilities plan approved in 2013.

'I've provided alternative perspectives,” she said. 'I hope that the new board welcomes alternative perspectives.”

Board members should focus on the district as a whole and use research to back up their decisions, Baruah said. She said she is not endorsing any candidate to replace her.

Baruah will donate the approximately $400 in her election account to the Domestic Violence Intervention Program, she said in the video.

Baruah was arrested last September on a domestic abuse charge. The case was soon dropped.

'It was a matter of self-defense on my part, and the county attorney saw the size differential (between the two people involved) and I believe made the correct decision,” Baruah said. She said the incident had no bearing on her quitting.

Baruah won a second term in 2013, garnering the most votes in a field of nine candidates.

Five non-incumbents - Jason T. Lewis, Brianna Wills, Tom Yates, Phil Hemingway and Brian Richman - have announced campaigns for the board this year.

Board member Jeff McGinness said in April he will not run for re-election, while board member Orville Townsend said he would not run this fall when he was appointed last year.

Board members Patti Fields and Marla Swesey also have expiring terms.