Jackie Ellenbecker.

Monday night’s South Tama County school board meeting started with a blaze: during the public comments, board member Jackie Ellenbecker, who was elected less than a year ago in November of 2023, asked to speak and delivered her resignation letter. After sharing a bit of background and addressing prior comments and actions she had experienced, Ellenbecker dove into her reasons for leaving the board table, which were primarily tied to the actions of Superintendent John Cain and the decisions he made in the aftermath of STC Sophomore Sydney Culbertson’s sudden passing.

“After learning more about the role of being a school board member, I began to question practices and express concerns regarding how the board was functioning, decisions being made outside of the board room, and concerns with the superintendent imposing on board decisions,” she said. “Twice in April of 2024 I questioned the need for disciplinary action regarding policy violations by Superintendent Cain. Both times my request was disregarded by fellow board members.”

From there, Ellenbecker dove more specifically into the recent controversy.

“The situation leading to my resignation was in reference to school being delayed or canceled for a funeral of a student who passed. A delay of school was the original decision made by Superintendent Cain. However, after receiving an overwhelming amount of calls, emails, and messages, as well as a known petition being signed by the community, I requested an emergency board meeting to discuss the topic. This request, which at least two board members agreed needed to occur, was met with great resistance,” she said. “At one point, I was presented with a list of policies to read as well as told by the president of the board ‘Overturning the superintendent’s decision could severely damage not only his relationship with the board, but the authority of his position with staff.’ I responded by addressing that there is not a law or policy that says we cannot meet, therefore I am asking for the meeting. This was approximately two hours after making the request.”

The following morning, Ellenbecker added, Cain made the decision to cancel school himself, but a board meeting had already been scheduled.

“The special board meeting on 9/20/24 ended up being conducted by Superintendent Cain instead of the board. A new agenda that was not posted nor sent to the board was presented at the meeting in paper form. Superintendent Cain proceeded to make shaming and unprofessional remarks towards the two board members who asked for the special meeting,” she said. “The questions that were asked were directed at us two board members in an unprofessional manner, with follow-up remarks pertaining to the arrangements he had made for school to only be delayed. It was clear that the new agenda was designed in an attempt to make the two board members uncomfortable and attacked for their difference in opinion.”

That same afternoon, Ellenbecker said, she sent an email to the other board members addressing concerns with Cain’s “misconduct” during the board meeting and requesting that he be “held accountable for his actions.”

“I mentioned that I dealt with these same passive aggressive comments for a couple months after going against his recommendation to keep our music teacher positions and that I will not remain on a board that allows their employee to attempt to disrespect and shame me into not speaking up,” she said. “I was up front and honest in that email that if the majority of the board was not willing to hold Superintendent Cain accountable, I would be resigning. My resignation will come as no surprise to three of the four board members as only one other board member was in favor of a written reprimand.”

She concluded by urging the four remaining board members to “take back our board” and “take back our school district.”

“Priority should be given to our students and the community which elected you as board members to represent them and be their voices. Your sole purpose is to provide checks and balances while making important decisions that dictate the overall direction of the school district,” Ellenbecker said. “This purposeful system is thrown off balance when the line between recommendations and authority is crossed, the result being (that) the role of the board of directors and the superintendent are reversed. This is happening more and more within our district. While the guilt of resigning is very strong, the need to have enough self-respect to walk away is stronger. I leave with my integrity intact.”

During the course of her speech, Cain set a three minute timer to keep track of her allotted time. When time expired, Ellenbecker continued reading, even saying “You’re going to have to have me removed, I’m finishing my letter.”

Shortly after, High School Principal Robert Boley gave Ellenbecker his time, and she continued. Another timer rang out after three minutes, and Ellenbecker continued with someone else being heard saying “let her finish.”

After reading her letter in full, Ellenbecker handed over her letter and placed a final sticky note on the wall. During the past few board meetings members have placed positive notes on the wall, Ellenbecker’s final note read “take back our board.” She exited the meeting after placing the note, leaving behind her school provided device and ending her time on the STC school board.

After the meeting, Cain commented on Ellenbecker’s resignation to the News Chronicle.

“Thank you to Director Ellenbecker for the 10-month time period that she was able to commit to the South Tama District in her role as a board member,” he said. “As a District, we have 30 days to find a representative to replace Director Ellenbecker, District Director, Section 2. I am confident that we have community members that are interested in supporting our community in this critical role as a board member and who share a passion to seek to improve the opportunities our district provides to all of our students.”

When reached for subsequent comment, Ellenbecker spoke highly of STC staff.

“One point I did not make in my resignation letter that I want to be sure is heard loud and clear is how lucky South Tama is to have staff who are committed to not only to our school district but also to our community,” she said.

Below is Ellenbecker’s resignation letter printed in its entirety.

This is my letter of resignation from my elected position on the South Tama County School District Board of Directors, effective upon handing said letter to the board. I was elected in November of 2023 and was sworn in December 2nd,2023. This decision was made after careful consideration and to clarify, this decision was not made due to being an “emotional female” in which I have been accused of being. I am the very opposite, in that I am skilled at making rational and factual decisions, doing so daily in my line of work. The decision to resign was made with the same consideration, knowing I would be making decisions that not everyone would like or agree with, but ultimately wanting to make positive changes to our district’s educational system and reconnect the school and the community. I came into this position without a personal agenda and solely to be an advocate for what is right, fair, and ethical in regard to the education of the students in our district, for the staff who work within the district, and for the taxpayers of our community in which the school belongs to. This position as a board member is not too hard, too much work, or too much for me to handle, if conducted lawfully and ethically. After learning more about the role of being a school board member, I began to question practices and expressing concerns regarding how the board was functioning, decisions being made outside of the board room, and concerns with the superintendent imposing on board decisions. Twice in April of 2024 I questioned the need for disciplinary action regarding policy violations by Superintendent Cain. Both times my request was disregarded by fellow board members. The situation leading to my resignation was in reference to school being delayed or cancelled for a funeral of a student who passed. A delay of school was the original decision made by Superintendent Cain, however, after receiving an overwhelming amount of calls, emails, and messages, as well as a known petition being signed by the community, I requested an emergency board meeting to discuss the topic. This request, which at least two board members agreed needed to occur, was met with great resistance. At one point I was presented with a list of policies to read as well as told by the president of the board “Overturning the superintendent’s decision could severely damage not only his relationship with the board, but the authority of his position with staff.” I responded with addressing that there is not a law or policy that says we cannot meet, therefore I am asking for the meeting. This was approximately two hours after making the request. The following morning Superintendent Cain made the decision himself to cancel school, however, a board meeting had been scheduled. The special board meeting on 9/20/24 ended up being conducted by Superintendent Cain instead of the board. A new agenda that was not posted nor sent to the board was presented at the meeting in paper form. Superintendent Cain proceeded to make shaming and unprofessional remarks towards the two board members who asked for the special meeting. The questions that were asked were directed at us two board members in an unprofessional manner, with follow-up remarks pertaining to the arrangements he had made for school to only be delayed. It was clear that the new agenda was designed in an attempt to make the two board members uncomfortable and attacked for their difference in opinion. That same afternoon I sent an email to the other board members addressing my concerns with Superintendent Cain’s misconduct in the board meeting, requesting that he be held accountable for his actions. I mentioned that I dealt with these same passive aggressive comments for a couple months after going against his recommendation to keep our music teacher positions and that I will not remain on a board that allows their employee to attempt to disrespect and shame me into not speaking up. I was up front and honest in that email that if majority of the board was not willing to hold Superintendent Cain accountable, I would be resigning. My resignation will come as no surprise to three of the four board members as only one other board member was in favor of a written reprimand.

I leave with a message for the remaining four board members, take back our board; take back our school district! Priority should be given to our students and the community which elected you as board members to represent them and be their voices. Your sole purpose is to provide checks and balances while making important decisions that dictate the overall direction of the school district. This purposeful system is thrown off balance when the line between recommendations and authority is crossed, the result being the role of the board of directors and the superintendent are reversed. This is happening more and more within our district. To the point that at the last school board meeting Superintendent Cain interrupted the board president and told her he would be reading the mission statement… At a board of directors meeting! The inappropriateness of that act was not only so far outside his role, but the fact that he felt he had the right to do so was infuriating. While the board members should work closely like a team to discuss relevant topics and decisions, each has the right to voice their opinions and cast a vote without the worry of retaliatory responses. There is not the expectation that all board members will always agree on everything, that’s part of the design and why all power lies with the majority. Yet our superintendent expects the board to always agree to his recommendations and when we don’t, he throws out terms like “a team trusts each other” and other inappropriate comments meant to incite guilt. I want to believe that every member of the board took on this voluntary role with good intentions and motivation to make South Tama better. To do that though, you must take back our board and take back our school. The superintendent has made many comments towards board members intentionally creating self-doubt and/or lack confidence in their ability to understand concepts surrounding the school system. This manipulation has allowed for less actual decisions being made by the board and more being made on an individual basis. An example being on tonight’s agenda with the request for the board president our superintendent approving special education contracts and open enrollment applications. Notice it was placed under the consent agenda instead of as an action item. Everyone around the board table is more than capable of understanding all information and of making informed decisions. The superintendent is expected to do everything in their power to provide the entire board with all the information needed to make informative decisions, even if that information might lead to a decision that goes against their recommendations. I throw caution to continuing the practice of hour long monthly private meetings between board members and the superintendent, I was the only board member not participating in those meetings. While this is a gray area, concerns have been raised as to whether what is discussed in the meetings should be documented and shared with the entire board as well as if this is even an ethical practice. I would encourage discussions to occur in the boardroom if there are questions and remember all board members have the same ability to add agenda items.

Though this is not current practice within our board, with the president and the superintendent solely making decisions whether items are or are not put on an agenda, I encourage board members to challenge this practice during open board meetings. Example being that at the last board meeting I brought the retaliation law (79.14B) and the Intellectual freedom – protection-complaints law (79.73) to the boards attention and I instructed Superintendent Cain to look through the district policies to see if or where these laws are currently incorporated, then asked that we discuss them being a standalone policy that included what the board’s response will be if allegations are made. Tonight’s agenda does not have these items as requested. This is just unacceptable. Not only does this type of selectiveness restrict the ability for all board members to have a voice but doesn’t allow for transparency. I want to say thank you to all of those who have reached out to me and shown me support. While the guilt of resigning is very strong, the need to have enough self-respect to walk away is stronger. I leave with my integrity intact.

Jackie Ellenbecker