Des Moines Superintendent Leaving After Contract Not Extended

(Des Moines, IA) — The superintendent of Iowa’s largest school district will be stepping down at the end of this school year — a year earlier than expected. Last spring, the Des Moines School Board voted not to extend Superintendent Thomas Ahart’s contract beyond June 2023. Iowa Public Radio reports that Ahart now plans to resign on June 30th. He says Des Moines Public Schools are in a really good place right now, considering especially the “record-low funding” they’ve received over the last decade. At the start of school in the fall of 2020, Ahart led the Des Moines district’s defiance of state rules requiring in-person attendance. Republican lawmakers reduced state support for the district in early 2021 in response.