Former Jordan Valley CEO, Mattax Neu Prater partner appointed to State Board of Education

Gov. Mike Kehoe has selected the former president and CEO of Jordan Valley Community Health Center and a physician and partner at Mattax Neu Prater Eye Center as two of four picks for the Missouri State Board of Education.

Brooks Miller, formerly of Jordan Valley, and Dr. Tom Prater of Mattax Neu Prater were named as appointees by Kehoe in a news release yesterday. Michael Matousek and Jon Otto, both of Kansas City, were the other two selections for eight-year terms on the State Board of Education, which sets policies for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, defines academic performance standards for public schools and accredits school districts, among other duties.

Miller, of Sunrise Beach, served as president and CEO of Jordan Valley from its 2003 inception until last summer, when he was succeeded by Dr. Matthew Stinson.

Miller, who could not be reached for comment by deadline, last year told Springfield Business Journal that he would not use the word retirement to describe his departure from Jordan Valley.

"What I enjoy is fixing things, building things – one or the other. I’ve had a lot of that here at Jordan Valley," he said at the time.

Prater, of Springfield, told SBJ this morning that he expects to be confirmed for the State Board of Education seat next week and start his term at the board's May meeting. Prater in 2024 was appointed to the board by former Gov. Mike Parson, but he said he was never confirmed due to a filibuster that took place the day of his confirmation hearing. He was an interim member through year's end, and he's been sitting in as an audience member this year.

"It's an honor. It's going to be a lot of work," Prater said of the appointment by Kehoe. "I have a little bit of knowledge having served on the Springfield school board for six years. At the state level, we're really focusing on different issues. We have to look for improvement and test scores in kids and performance in kids.

"We have to be responsive to what the legislature wants us to do, and we have to educate the legislators."