What Did Superintendent Wells Do Wrong? It's Confidential, Cedar Falls School Board President Says

A mysterious week for the Cedar Falls Community School District, where in 48 hours the first year superintendent quit, unquit, was losing his job and quit again, for now will remain a mystery.

All of the key players say their lips are sealed.

Here's what we know:

On Monday, Superintendent Mike Wells notified the school board and district staff he would resign. At that night's school board meeting, he withdrew the resignation, saying he realized he had their support.

School Board President Deon Senchina told several news outlets she was completely surprised by Wells announcement he would resign. Later Wells would say the board had told him to resign, but that Senchina's public declaration of surprise was part of what led him to believe he had the board's support after all.

On Tuesday, the board called a special meeting for Wednesday where Wells learned his contract was not being renewed, so again he resigned, effective July 1. He did this after a roomful of around 100 of his supporters - teachers, parents and community members - gave him a standing ovation when he entered the room and when he finished speaking.

So just what, exactly, did this man with so much community suppport do that made the Cedar Falls School Board decide not to renew his contract?

The answer may be protected under Iowa law.

"It is a personnel issue, and we just need to keep that confidential," Senchina told Patch Thursday. "We all agreed that we wouldn't discuss it."

She said she was ethically constrained to keep the board's concerns with Wells private.

In the weeks leading up to his resignation, Wells' performance had been the subject of five closed-session meetings with the board. Senchina said Wells had asked for those meetings to be in closed session, which means what was said in them is private under Iowa's legal code.

"Iowa law says that whomever's performance is being evaluated has the option of it being open and closed," she said. "He asked that the meetings be closed."

On Thursday, Wells also declined to discuss the issue.

“I’ve made a commitment to the board that this is behind me," he said. "I have no comment."

It seems, for now, the community's questions will remain unanswered.

Read more:

Wells Releases 'Talking Points' to Cedar Falls School Board Before His Resignation: 'You Knew What You Were Getting'

'I Have Not Been Perfect': Resignation Letter from Cedar Falls Superintendent Mike Wells

Share your views by writing a letter to the editor in Local Voices.

Follow @CedarFallsPatch on Twitter, on Facebook and through our newsletter for future school news updates.