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As the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything about educating children, Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Tom Ahart s leadership of Iowa s largest district became deeply controversial.
On Thursday, Ahart, who has led the Des Moines district for nearly a decade, will defend his administrator s license in front of the state s Board of Educational Examiners. Last week, the Des Moines School Board voted to not extend his current employment contract past June 2023.
And Des Moines schools have garnered negative attention from the Iowa Department of Education and the Legislature because school officials began this year online, rather than at least 50% in-person as required by Iowa law at the time.
The Des Moines School Board voted 4-3 to not extend embattled Superintendent Tom Ahart s current contract past June 30, 2023, during Thursday night s meeting.
The school board met virtually in closed session Thursday to discuss Ahart s contract. The meeting had originally been posted as the contract being only a discussion item but the agenda was changed Wednesday night to include a vote. Motion was made to accept the recommendation from the compensation committee for a 2-year contract for the superintendent through June 30, 2023, with no change in compensation or benefits, said Phil Roeder, district spokesman, in an email.
Board Chair Dwana Bradley and board members Teree Caldwell-Johnson, Kelli Soyer, and Kim Martorano voted not to extend Ahart s contract.