As the COVID-19 pandemic changed everything about educating children, Des Moines Public Schools Superintendent Tom Ahart's leadership of Iowa's largest district became deeply controversial.
On Thursday, Ahart, who has led the Des Moines district for nearly a decade, will defend his administrator's license in front of the state's Board of Educational Examiners. Last week, the Des Moines School Board voted to not extend his current employment contract past June 2023.
And Des Moines' schools have garnered negative attention from the Iowa Department of Education and the Legislature because school officials began this year online, rather than at least 50% in-person as required by Iowa law at the time.