Generally, board meetings will be open meetings, unless a closed session or exempt meeting is provided for by law. The board will hold a closed session or exempt meeting only when a closed session or exempt meeting is permitted under Iowa law.
Board meetings at which a quorum is not present, or gatherings of the board for purely ministerial or social purposes when there is no discussion of policy or no intent to avoid the purposes of the open meetings law, are exempt from the open meetings law requirements. Since gatherings of this type are exempt from the open meetings requirements, they can be held without public notice, be separate from an open meeting, be held without recording the gathering or taking minutes, and be held without a vote or motion. The board may also hold an exempt session for the reasons outlined in Iowa law.
1. Negotiating sessions, strategy meetings of public employers or employee organizations, mediation and the deliberative process of arbitration;
2. to discuss strategy in matters relating to employment conditions of employees not covered by the collective bargaining law;
3. to conduct a private hearing relating to the recommended termination of a teacher's contract. The private hearing however, in the teacher's contract termination will be recorded verbatim by a court reporter; an
4. to conduct a private hearing relating to the termination of a probationary administrator's contract or to review the proposed decision of the administrative law judge regarding the termination of an administrator's contract.
Since gatherings of this type are exempt from the open meetings requirements, they can be held without public notice, be separate from an open meeting, be held without taping the gathering or taking minutes, and be held without a vote or motion.
Approved March 26, 2018
Reviewed December 18, 2024
Revised January 8, 2025
