Suspended superintendent sues Charles City Community Schools | Iowa

CHARLES CITY, Iowa – The suspended superintendent of the Charles City School District is suing the school board.

Dr. Anne Lundquist was placed on paid administrative leave in April. The school district did not disclose a reason for the suspension but said an investigation is ongoing.

Lundquist has now filed suit in Floyd County District Court against school board members Dr. David Schrodt, Dara Jaeger, Kathryn Fox, Bruce Koebrick and Josh Mack. In her complaint, Lundquist says she used a Charles City School District copier to “copy certain private evaluation comments she had written about individual district employees who were under her direction and control.”

Lundquist says a copy of some of those comments was left on the copier and eventually given to Charles City School Board Chairman David Schrodt. Lundquist says Schrodt then contacted the other school board members and they agreed to suspend her.

Lundquist’s lawsuit alleges that the school board violated the state’s open meetings law and damaged her reputation by making private notes about school employees that Lundquist claims were “perfectly proper and legal” in her role as principal.

The lawsuit seeks “fair and reasonable damages” for the school board’s “willful” and “reckless” actions.

Prior to her suspension, Dr. Lundquist had announced that she would retire at the end of the 2023-2024 school year and that Charles City Community Schools was looking for a new superintendent.