Omaha Public Schools superintendent resigning to head home

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Dr. Cheryl Logan, superintendent of Omaha Public Schools, announced Tuesday that she is resigning.

After four and a half years as the head of OPS, her resignation will be effective in June 2023. Before Omaha, Dr. Logan worked in the Philadelphia school district. She said she has an unnamed opportunity already lined up back home for next year.

Logan told the OPS board in April that she had been approached by a district in Washington, D.C. — which she noted was in closer to proximity to her family — but said she had withdrawn from consideration.

“Alas, it is time for me to return home to my family. It is time for me to have tea with my sisters on Saturdays, to watch my nephew play soccer and to spend quality time with my husband and daughter, located close to my native home and both of our families,” Logan said in her letter to OPS staff and families on Tuesday.

Meeting up with 6 News at Buena Vista High School on Tuesday, Dr. Logan re-emphasized her desire to return to her family.

“Why now? It’s time to go home,” she said. “My family has been waiting, and it felt like the right time in terms of the things I wanted to accomplish — the charge I was given when I got here. And I am particularly homesick.”

The OPS Board of Education selected Dr. Logan to lead the school district in January 2018.

In her own letter to staff and student families, OPS Board President Shavonna Holman listed several of the district’s accomplishments during Dr. Logan’s tenure, including building five new schools on time and on budget; navigating the pandemic and deploying new technology to all 52,000 students; creating “immediate and long-term staffing supports and pipelines”; and transitioning the OPS employee retirement system to management by the state employee retirement board.

“I think the early literacy work hasn’t been as glamorous for many — is actually the most important work I’ve done here,” she told 6 News. “I think Pathways is a continuation of the work from 20 years ago.”

When Dr. Logan became superintendent for Omaha Public Schools, leading 52,000 children, she was a trailblazer: the first woman and Black person to head the school district.

“We are extremely thankful to have worked with Dr. Logan. Her expertise, energy, and heartfelt care for our children is exceptional. The joy she finds in preparing young people for success in college, career, and life is unmistakable,” Holman said in the letter.

Logan’s announcement comes a day after the OPS board voted to change the district’s busing policy, decreasing the number of students eligible for busing and increasing walking distance to a stop for others.

It also comes on the heels of another area superintendent’s planned exit from an Omaha-area school district. Dr. Terry Haack announced Monday that he would retire from his post as superintendent of Bennington Public Schools at the end of the school year.

Read Dr. Logan’s letter to OPS staff & student families

Dear Omaha Public Schools Community,

It has been a joy to serve as your Superintendent. The leadership Omaha Public Schools has exemplified at the state and national level amongst large, urban school districts is something we should all be proud of. We have a caring, committed staff and we serve the best students.

With deep gratitude for the time we’ve spent together, I notified our Board of Education that this will be my final school year with our school district. I will step away from my position at the end of June 2023. I am forever grateful for, and honored by, the friendships and partnerships we’ve built together. Alas, it is time for me to return home to my family. It is time for me to have tea with my sisters on Saturdays, to watch my nephew play soccer and to spend quality time with my husband and daughter, located close to my native home and both of our families.

From the time the Board of Education offered me this opportunity in 2018, we have accomplished much through our Strategic Plan of Action. We’ve elevated learning through hard work, new materials and expanded programs. With the support of the voters, we’ve built five new schools on time and on budget and renovated several more. We have positioned the long-term financial health of our school district to ensure we can deliver a quality education for all children. We’ve navigated three school years amid global pandemic disruptions.

It takes everyone – staff, families and our community – to make our system “go.” We have important work ahead in the second semester of our 2022-23 school year. Even through challenging times, our service to students, families, community and our investment in the future generation remains at the center of our work.

Thank you for supporting me along the journey of meeting the challenges and opportunities that have come our way. We worked diligently to support our 52,000 students. I look forward to a strong finish.

Cordially yours,

Cheryl J. Logan, Ed.D.

Superintendent

Omaha Public Schools

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This is a developing story. Stay with 6 News for updates.

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