Miller elected president of Missouri Board of Education

The next president of the Missouri Board of Education has ties to the Springfield area – which is not uncommon – and will lead during the search for a new state Commissioner of Education and the implementation of the A-F report card, among other changes.

Brooks Miller, former president and CEO of Jordan Valley Health Center, was elected to lead the eight-member governing body through a time of change. Currently, he lives near the Lake of the Ozarks.

He is the latest recent board president connected to the Ozarks. Mary Schrag, who served in the role during the past year, is married to Springfield Mayor Jeff Schrag; and Peter Herschend, founder and co-owner of Herschend Family Entertainment Corp. — which owns Silver Dollar City among other properties – served as president for eight years during his lengthy tenure.

Schrag stepped down this month amid a leadership shakeup of the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Other recent exits include Commissioner of Education Karla Eslinger and Kelli Jones, deputy commissioner of learning services. DESE has also welcomed a new general counsel and will have a new chief of governmental relations before the next legislative session.

Miller was elected board president during the June 23 meeting, the first for interim Commissioner of Education Stacey Preis. 

“Everyone has been very receptive and welcoming,” she said at the meeting. “Staff have been fantastic, and their positive energy is contagious.”

Gov. Mike Kehoe issued an executive order to add letter grades to state report cards. The state board was told to come up with an implementation plan.

Preis said Lise Sireno, assistant commissioner for DESE’s Division of Learning Services, has taken the lead on the work.

“The response is due to the governor’s office by June 30, so we are making finishing touches on that and won’t have any problem hitting that deadline,” Preis said. “The next steps will be a review of this plan with this board in August and then consideration of the A-F grading framework by the board in September.”

Board member Jon Otto, of Kansas City, was elected vice president.

The meeting was also notable because it included the swearing in of new members Robbie Myers, of Poplar Bluff, the emergency management director in Butler County, and Jordan Bradberry, of Kansas City, who owns a real estate development company.

Bradberry, Miller, Myers, Otto and member Gretchen Shull, of Webb City, were appointed by Kehoe.

Board members Kerry Casey, of Chesterfield, and Pamela Westbrooks-Hodge, of Pasadena Hills, were appointed by former Gov. Mike Parson. Casey is expected to serve through mid-2027, but Westbrooks-Hodge’s term expires next month.

A national search for the new commissioner is expected to start later this year, and Casey said the board is currently identifying potential firms.

The board is expected to have a retreat July 14 in Jefferson City. Otto said that meeting should include an overview for new board members, an update on goals and revisions to the strategic plan “since we’re all pretty much new now and we’re going to have a new commissioner.”