State education department names new temporary leader after sudden resignation

By: Matthew Sanders

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ) -- The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced a new head of the state’s K-12 schools on Wednesday.

Lisa Sireno will serve as interim commissioner for the department, DESE said in a news release. Sireno was the department’s deputy commissioner of learning services, a job she took over in July.

Sireno is DESE’s third leader this year. Stacey Preis announced her sudden resignation on Tuesday following a State Board of Education meeting. Preis had been working as commissioner after Karla Eslinger retired on June 1.

The state board is in a national search for Missouri’s next K-12 education leader. The group hired The K12 Search Group on Tuesday to help it find a new commissioner, with money coming from unnamed “philanthropic organizations” through the National Association of State Boards of Education. Some state education groups and lawmakers have criticized DESE’s decision to use private funding for the search firm as an issue of transparency.

Sireno has worked at DESE since 2015 in various roles on career readiness and assessment. She worked as the University of Missouri’s director of resource assessment before joining DESE, the department said.