Omaha Public Schools has been looking for a new superintendent since Cheryl Logan announced her resignation in December 2022, but recently entered a new phase in finding candidates to fill the position.

The OPS Board of Education officially started searching for the new superintendent on Jan. 5, 2023, and hired GR Recruiting, a search firm, to help them in the process on March 20, 2023. They spent at least $40,500 for the company to lead the nation-wide search. “We’re looking for the best candidates, so they could be from Omaha or Wichita, it doesn’t matter,” said Ricky Smith, the board’s Subdistrict 1 representative and accountability committee chairman.

Currently, the OPS Board are reviewing applications that were sent in from Oct. 17, 2023 to Jan. 16, 2024, using input from surveys they sent out to the community in both May and October 2023. In these surveys, data show that the OPS community wants the new superintendent to mainly focus on staff recruitment and retention, academic outcomes and teacher quality. “Someone who can lead our district in the right direction, to start looking at additional opportunities and futuristic careers,” Smith said.

So far, the biggest struggle in this process has been the inexperience of board members themselves. “Some of our newer, less experienced board members had a lot of questions about the process and they don’t really feel at ease with it,” Smith said.

According to an email sent out on Jan. 30, 2024, OPS will announce the finalists for the position during a public meeting on Thursday. The OPS school board will also be hosting a community meet and greet with the finalists at Buena Vista High School on Feb. 12, 2024.

Matthew Ray, the interim superintendent, is trusted by the community because of his ability to lead the district, according to Smith. The overall goal of finding a new superintendent is to find someone who is a little more experienced than Ray in some areas to improve the district. “I want them to come and asses the district, see where we are, see what’s working right, what we’re doing well and how we can build upon that, but also where there are weaknesses,” Smith said.

With a new superintendent, both the board and the community want to see some improvements and changes in the district. Smith explained how things like getting classrooms full the first day of school, retention rates with staff going up, and improving in English skills for students who may not be from the country are all benefits the board wants to see with a new superintendent.