Beleaguered Iowa school district replaces board member following resignation over financial woes, ‘dysfunction’ 

The Iowa City Community School District (ICCSD) has appointed attorney Audrey Moeller to its board after one member resigned last month, citing financial challenges and board “dysfunction.”

“I took on the role because I want to contribute to the community,” Moeller, whose child attends the district, told the local ABC affiliate Sept. 18. “I am a believer in public schools.”

The appointment comes as the district prepares to release an update in a few weeks regarding its dire fiscal situation, according to the article.

“The financial crisis has put Iowa City’s public schools under scrutiny from the State School Budget Review Committee (SBRC). When (Jayne) Finch resigned, she said the district was not following a state corrective plan that could have prevented the crisis.”

Threats of state takeover after poor recordkeeping

The school system, which enrolls approximately 15,000 students, revealed its troubled financial state earlier in the year.

“Following years of poor bookkeeping, the district developed a several-million-dollar budget deficit, over-hired staff and moved $38 million between internal funds without required board approval,” the affiliate reported in an Aug. 22 article. “The cash flow crisis forced the district to take out short-term loans just to meet payroll.”

Finch blamed the district for the steps it took regarding the budget review committee, which has authority to recommend state interventions or even takeovers of underperforming districts.

“Had the ICCSD followed the SBRC-required corrective action plans, we might have avoided the crisis we are in,” Finch wrote in her resignation letter.

She also wrote that regaining the public’s trust was unlikely in the current board climate, according to the affiliate.

While Moeller acknowledged challenges lay ahead for the district, she said she joined the board to help address those financial concerns.

“What I want is for the students and the teachers to not have to worry about that sort of thing when they are going about their day,” she concluded.

As previously reported by Heartlander News, Iowa marked dwindling public school enrollment this year, highlighting lower birth rates and fewer students attending their local districts.

“While the vast majority of Iowa families chose to send their child to their high-quality neighborhood public school in 2025, more than one out of six students selected other school choice options available through open enrollment to a public school outside a family’s resident district, innovative public charter schools and accredited nonpublic schools,” the state education department said in a release.

(Image credit: Audrey Moeller/Screenshot/KCRG TV-9 News)