A former Sioux City School Board member told the current board members that people in the community are concerned about what is transpiring with Superintendent Juan Cordova.
Monique Scarlett spoke in the public forum segment as the Monday board meeting began.
“The public would like to know what is happening... Whatever is going on, I think the public should be made aware just a little bit more, while preserving the privacy of the individual," Scarlett said.
The board members were holding their first session since a planned special closed meeting one week ago did not proceed as expected.
The September 15 meeting was designed to be held in closed fashion, as allowed by Iowa law, to discuss a personnel matter.
However, a motion to go into closed session failed. Board member Lance Ehmcke said the session was presumably about Superintendent Juan Cordova and there are rumors about him, so those should be addressed in the open.
Board President Jan George chided Ehmcke, saying he violated the rights by Cordova to have a closed meeting, as the superintendent had requested.
In the Monday meeting, none of the seven board members made any reference to the prior meeting particulars about Cordova.
Afterwards, Scarlett expanded on her comments with Siouxland Public Media News. She said, “We have to have accountability whether it is pleasant or tough.”
Scarlett added, “It just sends red flags for a new superintendent to be hired (in July) and little to no information” on such details as to why Cordova was on a leave of absence for one week as the school year began in August.
An unexplained leave of absence for Cordova ended on the same date he was issued a school administrator license by an Iowa educational agency.
Cordova was hired in the spring after a national search, and he officially began that role on July 1, 2025. Scarlett said she questions the quality of the work by the consultant search firm.
*Also in the meeting, Cordova said he was pleased by the most recent yearly test scores by students in the district, as was released for all school districts by the Iowa Department of Education last week.
“We did great…We moved a lot of schools up and out of what we call a dangerous” category,” the superintendent said.
A bigger summary of those scores could come at the next school board meeting on October 13.
