The Omaha school board plans to conduct a national search to replace retiring Superintendent John Mackiel, who announced Monday that this will be his last school year as the leader of the Omaha Public Schools.
The board has yet to set a timeline for the search, "but they'll move fairly quickly," said Luanne Nelson, OPS spokeswoman.
Board members did not know of Mackiel's announcement ahead of Monday's meeting when he told the board of his August 2012 retirement.
Sandra Jensen, school board president, said it's a credit to Mackiel's integrity that he gave the board so much time to find his replacement.
"We have a whole year in which we will be able to engage our staff, our parents, our students, our community — the entire community with the process as we go about conducting a national search," she said Tuesday.
Mackiel, 61, has served as the district's superintendent since 1997.
Former State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha, a frequent harsh critic of OPS, said Tuesday that Mackiel should not wait a year to retire.
Chambers, who was elected to the Learning Community Council after term-limiting out of the Nebraska Legislature, has repeatedly criticized OPS for having some of the nation's widest gaps between white and black students on academic achievement tests.
In other cities, when superintendents didn't perform, the business leaders stepped in and removed them, Chambers said.
He said he wants OPS to launch a nationwide search for the next superintendent, rather than promote from within.
In 2006, then-Sen. Chambers helped propose a breakup of OPS that briefly became law. The idea was in response to one of Mackiel's most controversial moves — the attempted takeover by OPS of 25 schools and land belonging to the Millard, Ralston and Elkhorn districts.
Roger Breed, commissioner of the Nebraska Department of Education, was superintendent of the Elkhorn school district at the time.
"John and I had our ups and downs," Breed said Tuesday. "But anyone that can be the superintendent and engender the admiration and respect of his district for a period of 15 years in this day and age has my abiding respect and admiration."
Chris Proulx, president of the Omaha Education Association, the teachers union for OPS, said Mackiel took risks, such as OPS's takeover attempt, to help impoverished kids.
"He's willing to fight for what those kids need in terms of adequate funding and adequate support," Proulx said. "You don't always see people willing to take on those political battles."
World-Herald staff writer Joe Dejka contributed to this report.
Contact the writer:
402-444-1074, jonathon.braden@owh.com
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