The Superintendent at Union Community Schools has been reprimanded by the Board of Educational Examiners for his handling of a middle school teacher’s inappropriate emails with students, according to the Waterloo Cedar Falls Courier. Travis Fleshner received a written reprimand from the board at its April 22nd meeting. Fleshner oversaw the investigation into inappropriate emails from middle school teacher Mark Hookham. Hookham had his teaching license suspended for at least five years by the board in March. He was allowed to resign from the school with full benefits. Fleshner maintains he did nothing wrong and followed the advice of his legal counsel. He will now have to complete a course in allegations of child sexual abuse and grooming and he must review the circumstances surrounding the complaint and statutory expectations with an official from the Iowa Department of Education. Fleshner will leave Union and become the Superintendent at Aplington-Parkersburg this summer. Those that hired him at A-P say they became aware of the investigation into Fleshner during their search for a new superintendent but that it did not deter them from hiring him.
