Andy Gahan, principal of Coralville Central in the Iowa City Community School District, said that veteran first-grade teacher Aspen Lohman is “beloved,” “experienced,” “respected,” and a “leader,” in an email from 2022.
But since February 2025, she has been on leave from the district after reported assaults by a student that left her with acute panic attacks, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder.
A dozen community members spoke in support of Lohman at the Iowa City Community School District’s regular board meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 23, to advocate for Lohman and for safer parameters for not only school faculty but also students.
Lohman’s story gained traction from community members after her husband, John Lohman, CEO and founder of the Corridor Media Group, Inc., published a column in the Corridor Business Journal on Sept. 5 titled “Iowa City Community School District must protect our teachers,” detailing Lohman’s experience working at the district, which has now resulted in an indefinite pause since going on leave.
“Unfortunately, Aspen’s teaching career abruptly stopped in February 2025. She took leave after an attempted assault at the school by a former student,” John Lohman wrote in the column. “She had previously been assaulted by this same student twice in December 2024; one involved a headlock during her planning time and one involved strangulation while teaching in front of her first grade class.”
The column highlights the response from the district, stating that “It seems that (Superintendent Matt) Degner and Mr. Gahan are violating the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners (IBOEE) Code of Conduct and Ethics, Standard VI which requires them to protect the safety of students and staff,” and that the Iowa City Education Association “have held some perfunctory meetings with teachers since Aspen’s assaults, but nothing has been implemented to keep teachers safe, and here we are with another new school year.”
Community shows up to support Aspen Lohman
All 12 community comments advocated for Aspen Lohman, as well as greater transparency from the district. Lohman, who was not in attendance at the meeting, shared a statement via a reading from her mother, Danella Van Tasell.
Angela Strobel, one of the commenters, found out via email about Lohman’s leave after her son was in Lohman’s class and witnessed her getting strangled by a student. Strobel stated that the district did not inform families about the incident.
“It is not OK for me not to know that happened to my son and to be able to talk to him about it,” Strobel said. “Whatever policy stopped me from knowing to even discuss with him what happened that day, and what he had seen, I think that needs to change.”
Tim Rogers, former colleague of Lohman and a former ICCSD Coralville Central educator, described Lohman as “kind, caring, and compassionate,” and emphasized the need to protect teachers, as it will ultimately help protect students.
“My challenge to the board and to the superintendent is, what can we do to help our teachers? These schools are like home. Your teachers are the guardians. If the guardians don’t feel safe in that home, how will the children be able to come there and feel safe?” Rogers said. “When I was teaching at Coralville Central, I was always told, ‘kids are resilient.’ Well, my question is, are the teachers resilient? There are a lot of situations they have to deal with daily.”
ICCSD emphasizes its commitment to feedback
The Tuesday meeting was the second board meeting since the column from John Lohman first circulated. Still, it comes at a time when the board presented “Continuum of Services,” the district’s practical implementation of emphasizing staffing, professional development, policy updates and system enhancements to better support students with diverse educational and behavioral needs.
Before the discussion began, Superintendent Degner acknowledged those who had made public comments at the start of the meeting.
“Thank you to the people who participated in the comment portion tonight,” Degner said. “I think you see the passion for our staff and also the passion our staff have for our kids, and we have a responsibility with this dual commitment to make sure we serve all kids in the district at the highest level, and that our staff feel that they are working in an environment that they can be safe and confident in as well.”
The district’s presentation included data that underscored the urgency of the safety concerns, as expressed by community members who participated in public comments. District data show that there were 11 incidents in the 2024-25 academic year where staff required outside medical attention due to intentional student contact.
In response, a district team, including deputy superintendent Chace Ramey, executive directors at both elementary and secondary schools, the executive director of educational services and student success, and representatives from the special education and human resources departments, is continuing to review the data, including discipline referrals and employee accident reports involving intentional student contact, to identify trends and further needs.
The district also emphasized its commitment to staff feedback and transparency through existing systems, such as Ombuds Services and the Say Something tool, which directly contacts the district’s leadership team.
Board Vice President Molly Abraham said that trust needs to be increased from all avenues.
“I think that there’s a lot of good systems in place, but the trust isn’t there. We hear that over and over, that teachers don’t want to report incidents that happen because they don’t think anything will happen,” Abraham said. “I’m not sure that we’re hearing the true amount of things that are happening … we need to keep going with the conversations … We need to keep working on that, so we have more trust, more information from teachers to their administrators.”
Jessica Rish is an entertainment, dining and education reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. She can be reached at JRish@press-citizen.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, @rishjessica_
This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Community packs ICCSD school board meeting calling for safer conditions for teachers
Reporting by Jessica Rish, Iowa City Press-Citizen / Iowa City Press-Citizen
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