Government : Union School Superintendent faces discipline by the Iowa Board of Education

The Union Community School superintendent faces discipline by the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners due to the mishandling of an investigation involving former Union Middle School teacher, Mark Hookham. Hookham resigned in April 2021, during the investigation of inappropriate emails between Hookham and two middle school students. As a result of the investigation, Hookham's license was suspended for at least five years.

The Board of Educational Examiners accused Travis Fleshner of two different charges. The first was "failing to make reasonable effort to protect the health and safety of the student of creating conditions harmful to student learning, in violation of 282 Iowa Administrative Code rule 25.3(6)(c), The second charge was "with failure of an administrator to protect the safety of staff and students, in violation of 282 Iowa Administrative Code rule 25.3(6)(s)."

Originally, the Board of Educational Examiners decided that Fleshner failed to respond correctly to the allegation against Hookham and failed to investigate in a timely manner. The investigation later showed that Fleshner did indeed perform an investigation consistent with the advice of the district's legal counsel and district procedures.

Flesher accepted the written reprimand as part of a settlement from the Board of Education Examiners. Fleshner will also be required to complete a course on allegations of child sexual abuse and grooming as well as review the circumstances surrounding the complaint that led to this case. He will also pay fees that resulted from the processing of the complaint in the amount of $447.99.

In February, it was announced that Fleshner had been hired as the new superintendent for Aplington-Parkersburg and will begin there July 1, 2022. The Aplington-Parkersburg Board of Education said that Fleshner has their support. Click here to read their statement. In part, Aplington-Parkersburg answered the criticism of the hire by saying, "We understand we may hear concerns about hiring Travis based on public articles citing questions and criticism about how the claim against one of his Union teachers was handled, however, what has been posted on social media and promoted on the Change.org petition is not factual and is slanderous toward Travis Fleshner. Travis has 100% support from the board and the administrative team and we look forward to him joining our community and leading our district."