4 finalists will vie to be the subsequent chief of the Nebraska Division of Training, together with a present in-state superintendent and two others with shut ties to the Cornhusker State.
The Nebraska State Board of Training on Tuesday launched its record of finalists to be the subsequent state Commissioner of Training. An advert hoc committee answerable for the search in the end named 4 candidates out of the 9 that utilized, Nebraska Division of Training spokesperson David Jespersen stated.
Matt Blomstedt stepped down as commissioner in January after 9 years.
* Lisa Coons, chief tutorial officer for the Tennessee Division of Training in Nashville.
* Brian Maher, CEO and govt director of the South Dakota Board of Regents in Pierre, South Dakota.
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* Melissa Poloncic, superintendent of DC West Neighborhood Colleges in Valley.
* Summer time Stephens, superintendent of Churchill County College District in Fallon, Nevada.
The Nebraska Board of Training will interview the finalists March 30. Finalists can even spend the day assembly with numerous teams, together with NDE employees. The state board plans to make its alternative the subsequent day.
“The board acquired a powerful slate of candidates and whereas selecting finalists was not a simple job, we really feel very assured in our alternatives,” Board President Patti Gubbels stated in a information launch. “Every finalist brings a novel perspective and intensive expertise that may profit our state.”
The state is paying McPherson and Jacobson, an Omaha-based superintendent consulting agency, to help with the search.
In January, the board launched its profile for the place primarily based on a piece session and suggestions from the general public. Candidates weren’t required to be superintendents, regardless of board members indicating they needed that as a requirement.
Board member Kirk Penner had beforehand indicated that he needed a superintendent from throughout the state.
Whereas just one candidate matches that mould — Poloncic — Maher and Stephens are additionally native Nebraskans with instructional ties to the state.
Maher was appointed in June 2020 to guide South Dakota’s six public universities because the Board of Regents’ govt director. Beforehand he was a superintendent in Kearney and Centennial earlier than a stint main faculties in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Maher has additionally held administrative roles in different Nebraska districts, together with Waverly, Elkhorn and Johnson-Brock. He holds a doctorate in instructional administration from the College of Nebraska-Lincoln and a grasp’s from the College of Nebraska at Omaha.
Poloncic is the one finalist at the moment working within the state. She has been the superintendent of DC West since 2014 and was beforehand a principal in Millard.
Poloncic was additionally a trainer in Kearney and Sutherland and a marketing consultant for Academic Service Unit 16 primarily based in Ogallala. She holds a doctorate in instructional management from UNL and a grasp’s from the College of Nebraska at Kearney.
Stephens has been the superintendent and profession and technical schooling administrator at Churchill County College District in Nevada since 2018. She was beforehand a superintendent in Wyoming and the director of curriculum in Beatrice.
She began her educating profession at Bellevue East Excessive College and later was the secondary English curriculum coordinator at Norris Public Colleges. She additionally holds a doctorate in instructional administration from UNL and received her bachelor’s and grasp’s at Doane College.
Stephens was additionally a finalist for the superintendent opening at Bennington Public Colleges.
Coons, who seems to be the lone outsider to Nebraska, has been the chief tutorial officer of Tennessee’s schooling division since 2019, overseeing pre-Ok-12 tutorial programming. The chief tutorial officer experiences to the commissioner.
Earlier than that, she was an govt at Metro Nashville Public Colleges after serving as the manager director of tutorial management on the state stage.
Blomstedt served because the Commissioner of Training for 9 years earlier than stepping down at the start of the 12 months to work for an schooling coverage consulting agency primarily based in Washington, D.C.
Deputy Commissioner Deb Frisson has served as interim commissioner within the meantime.
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Contact the author at zhammack@journalstar.com or 402-473-7225. On Twitter @HammackLJS