Newman's Status Focus Of Feb. 12 Meeting

The employment status of Glenwood Community High School principal Kerry Newman is likely to be decided at a special meeting of the Glenwood Board of Education Tuesday, Feb. 12. The meeting will take place at 4 p.m. in the third-floor conference room at the school district’s central office, located on the campus of the Glenwood Resource Center at 103 Central.

The Opinion-Tribune

Kerry Newman

The Opinion-Tribune

Devin Embray

Newman, principal at GCHS since 2007, has been on paid administrative leave since Jan. 18. School district officials have declined to discuss the reason for Newman’s leave, but superintendent Devin Embray did meet in closed session with members of the board of education Wednesday night (Feb. 6) to discuss findings of an internal investigation involving Newman.

Newman wasn’t in attendance Wednesday night, but said she will be present at Tuesday’s special meeting. Discussions will take place in closed session, but any possible action on Newman's employment contract would happen in open session.

The agenda for Tuesday’s meeting states, “The board will move into closed session, as provided in Iowa Code Section 21.5(1)(i), to evaluate the professional competency of an individual whose appointment, hiring, performance or discharge is being considered when necessary to prevent needless and irreparable injury to that individual’s reputation and that individual requests a closed session.”
    
“I’m anxious to get this finalized and move forward,” Newman said in a telephone interview Saturday.
    
A telephone message from The Opinion-Tribune left at the superintendent’s office on Thursday had not been returned by Embray as of Saturday afternoon.