DES MOINES, Iowa — Truro is a small Iowa community. The U.S. Census Bureau reports less than 600 people live there.
Of those 517 people, more than 300 have signed a petition calling for the resignation of Sharon Dentlinger, superintendent of the Interstate 35 Community School District.
The petition started by Sarah Wagner reads in part, "Ms. Dentlinger has failed in her duties to provide transparent and open communication with staff and the community when it comes to serious issues regarding the safety of students and staff."
Local 5 spoke with parents who said that statement is in regard to an incident reported by the Madison County Sherriff's Office on April 3.
The department shared on Facebook that they responded to a report of a possible threat made against a student. Parents say they had not been notified by the district prior to sheriff's office's post.
"A lot of people were kind of mad about that," said Seth Porter, a resident who signed the petition. "There had been incidences before that, and that's kind of just the straw that broke the camel's back."
Local 5 reached out to the district and to Dentlinger herself, but have yet to hear back at this time.
However, in a statement online, Dentlinger shared more about the district's perspective on the incident, saying the district has a process to address the level of threat and maintain confidentiality.
The statement reads in part, "The safety of our students and staff is of the utmost importance to every leader in this district. I am in no way minimizing this incident and I recognize there are things we can do better as a system, me included."
The Interstate 35 School Board also released a statement, writing:
"The Interstate 35 School Board has full confidence in and supports the Superintendent and Administration. Following a thorough review, including an independent investigation, we stand behind our Superintendent and Administration going forward."
Some district residents told Local 5 the key issue they have with the department is transparency and school staff morale.
Porter explained with a small town like Truro, it's wrong to leave parents in the dark about school safety matters.
"Preschool all the way up to seniors go there. So everybody goes there in the same building," Porter said. "And I don't know. I mean, people have little kids there. If there's threats and stuff like that, parents have the right to know what's going on."
The Iowa Department of Education requires schools to have a plan for a variety of emergencies that threaten students.
Interstate-35's school website has a "Parent Emergency Guide" outlining their safety protocols, but it doesn't list when parents should be notified about an emergency incident..
However, the guide does state staff members should instruct students to refrain from using social media..in the event of an emergency.