The Iowa Association of School Boards has voted out the woman who was set to take over as president of the troubled organization in January.
Current association president Russ Wiesley of Waukee issued a statement saying the boardmembers did not feel that president-elect Lee Ann Grimley of Springville shared “their vision of the direction the association should take and could not provide the leadership needed as the board moves forward.”
Grimley was removed on an 11-2 vote. This is the latest in a number of shake ups in the organization since the executive director was fired last year after reports surfaced she had given herself a $150,000 raise three months into the job. There were also questions raised about other spending of the operating funds of the organization.
The board recently hired retiring Southeast Polk superintendent Thomas Downs to take over as its new executive director. Wiesley says the board will select a replacement for Grimley after Downs takes over the job on July first.
The I.A.S.B. is a private, nonprofit association that represents Iowa’s K-12 school districts, 10 area education agencies and 15 community colleges.