It appears some former and current members of an eastern school board will not be going to jail.Cedar County District Judge Mark Smith apparently got their attention. He ruled Friday that former and current members of the Durant School Board must serve 30 days in the county jail and pay $500 fines for being in contempt.
That’s because they violated a court order in the manner they reinstated Monica Rouse to her old job as Durant High School principal. The board fired Rouse in 2010, claiming wrongdoing. But she won an appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court and returned to work in April. But the school district gave her little authority and put her desk in an empty storage room in Durant’s elementary school.
Smith’s ruling says those named could avoid jail time by giving Rouse all of the rights she had prior to her termination. And that’s reportedly what the board voted to do in a special closed meeting Monday night.
By Phil Roberts, Davenport