Maher offered education commissioner position

This month’s state board of education meeting convened on Thursday, April 13 and Friday, April 14 at the Graduate Hotel in Lincoln.

Before I get into this month’s highlights, I want to challenge you with a mental math problem for elementary students from 1877. No pencil, paper or technology allowed. On a farm, there are 60 animals - horses, cows and sheep; for each horse, there are three cows and for each cow there are two sheep: how many animals of each kind? For the answer, tune in to next month’s highlights.

April’s public meeting was a full-course meal. I’ll begin with what I consider the appetizers. Friday’s meeting opened with a presentation recognizing military children. A resolution was created proclaiming April the month of the Military Child. On average, military children change schools six times during the course of their education. In addition to recognizing military children, Lisa Moody, recipient of the national $25,000 Milken Educator Award was acknowledged. Lisa is a special educator at Jefferson Elementary in Omaha. Lisa’s work with children having special needs, and the overcoming of her own physical challenges, are inspiring. More about Lisa may be found on the NDE website.

Now that your appetite has been whet, it’s time for an entree item. A couple weeks ago, our board met to interview and select Nebraska’s next commissioner of education. The board, by a 5-3 vote, selected Dr. Brian Maher who is currently the chief executive officer and executive director of the South Dakota Board of Regents. Maher previously served as superintendent of Sioux Falls Public Schools and at Kearney and Centennial public schools in Nebraska. Additionally, he was an administrator at Waverly, Elkhorn and Johnson-Brock public schools and a teacher at Elkhorn and Clarks public schools. His contract runs through June 2026. Although Maher formally begins this position July 1, he has been issued a contract to work 10 days prior to July.

I look forward to coming alongside Dr. Maher to work for the betterment of Nebraska schools.

Another item agenda discussed was the authorization to grant Support for Improvement funding for Comprehensive Support for Improvement schools. This is a requirement of the Every Student Succeeds Act, a federal mandate. This year, CSI schools identified in 2018-2019 were eligible to exit this status and there were newly identified CSI schools. In total, there are 40 CSI schools, 23 not-yet-exited schools and 17 newly-identified schools. NDE is tasked with assisting these schools in developing plans to improve academic achievement. Refer to the NDE website for detailed information.

I’ll close my April highlights with what I consider dessert, my visits to educational entities of District 6. Visits during the month of April include:

• New Hope Christian School in Cairo

• Nebraska Christian Schools board meeting in Central City

• ESU 1 in Wakefield

• ESU 9, 10 and 11 meeting in Kearney

• Hasting Education Association in Hastings

• ESU 7 in Columbus

• Adams Central Public Schools near Hastings

• Nelson Mandela Elementary School in Omaha (outside of District 6)

These visits provide me the opportunity to hear from school employees involved in educating our children. The knowledge I receive is valuable in making decisions on your SBOE.

Anyone wishing to view the April business meeting in its entirety may do so at https://www.education.ne.gov/live.