Omaha Public Schools face a bombshell.
Superintendent Mark Evans is retiring after an announcement at Monday’s school board meeting.
After nearly four years on the job, Evans will resign at the end of the school year.
"I'm really surprised,” said Teacher’s Union President Bridget Donovan. “I had no idea that was anywhere on the horizon.”
Evans says he's leaving the job to spend more time with family and says recent issues with school buses and criticism over sex education curriculum have nothing to do with his decision.
"We're on time and on budget and we're working through a million problems with that,” Evans said. “Problem solving is what we do. It's what we do every year. It's what we do, hopefully in a manner that gets us past bumps in the road. Pardon the bus connection there."
Evans says finding a replacement will be a challenge.
"We're spinning lots of different plates and that's pretty typical for a 9,000-employee, 52,000-student and 90-school district,” Evans said. “How we get that person up to speed is the biggest challenge."
While Teacher’s Union President Bridget Donovan says Evans has been a responsible superintendent, she's not pleased by the way teachers are treated by the administration.
Donovan says not enough is done to stop disruptive students and teachers have little power in making classroom changes.
"Teacher morale, frankly, has been the lowest I've ever seen it,” Donovan said. “In all my years as an educator and a representative of the union, teacher morale has been a very big concern. Teachers have not been feeling respected."
School Board President Lou Ann Goding says she doesn't see morale the same way.
"I don't think all teachers have low morale,” Goding said. “I've seen some really positive things happening in our district and I'm very pleased with the work that's happening and I think they're very proud of that work."
News of Evans' resignation is so new the school board says they haven't made any decisions about how, or how much, hiring a new superintendent will cost.
Goding says they're confident they will find someone new to lead the district by the end of the school year and Evans will help the transition.
