---
title: Administrators
---

# Administrators

The senior administrative team reporting up to the Superintendent and,
through the Superintendent, to the Board.

Roster as published on the district's official
[Meet Our Admin Team page](https://www.iowacityschools.org/our-district/meet-our-admin-team),
reconciled against the May 2026 board record below — the district's
public page lags behind some recent transitions.

!!! warning "Active leadership transition (as of May 2026)"

    On **Friday May 23, 2026**, Superintendent **Matt Degner** publicly
    announced his resignation as Superintendent and requested transition
    to **Executive Director of Secondary Schools**. At the
    [May 26, 2026 board meeting](../meetings/2026/2026-05-26-regular-meeting-of-the-board-of-directors-amended-agenda.md),
    the board approved that transition **5–2** (Directors Finch and Lingo
    voting no — Lingo's stated objection was to the 2-year contract
    length; Finch concurred). The board is concurrently conducting an
    **Interim Superintendent search** through Grundmeier; consensus at
    the May 26 meeting was that the interim should not be eligible for
    the permanent role.

## Cabinet

| Role | Name | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| **Superintendent** | Matt Degner | Approved to transition to Executive Director of Secondary Schools effective per the May 26, 2026 personnel agenda. An interim search is in progress. |
| **Deputy Superintendent** | Chace Ramey | |
| **Chief Financial Officer** | Pat Moore | Announced **April 1, 2026** ([KCRG](../press/2026.md#april-2026)). Officially scheduled start July 1, 2026; per Moore's account at the May 26 board meeting, active start was ~May 18, 2026. Succeeds **Interim CFO Kim Michael-Lee** (who started Feb 25, 2026). Moore came from Solon Community School District, where she'd been CFO since 2004 — 28 years total in school-district finance. Permanent predecessor **Adam Kurth** left ICCSD November 2025; before Kurth, **Leslie Finger** (retired June 2023) had warned Kurth via internal emails about ~$500K in federal tax penalties (per [Cedar Rapids Gazette](../press/2026.md)). |

## Executive Cabinet (reports to Superintendent)

| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Chief Operating Officer | Curt Pratt |
| Chief Human Resources Officer | Nick Proud |
| Executive Director, Educational Services & Student Success | Laura Cottrell-Atekwana |
| Executive Director, Elementary Schools | Eliza Proctor |
| Executive Director, Secondary Schools | Lucas Ptacek *(role Degner has been approved to move into)* |
| Executive Director, Community Relations | Kristin Pedersen |

## Directors

| Role | Name |
|---|---|
| Director of Student Services | Kate Hoffey |
| Director of Curriculum, Instruction & Assessment | Carmen Gwenigale |
| Director of District Activities | Tunisia May |
| Director of Nutrition Services | Alison Demory |

## Other transitions on the public record in 2026

- **Special Education Director** — resignation accepted by the board at
  the [May 15, 2026 special meeting](../meetings/2026/2026-05-15-special-meeting-of-the-board-of-directors.md).
- **Multi-year audit backlog catch-up plan** presented by CFO Moore at
  May 26: FY24 audit to be presented to the board in July 2026; FY25 by
  November 2026; FY26 by the March 31, 2027 statutory deadline; FY23
  restatement also in progress.

## Reporting a correction

District-side updates are the source of truth. If anything in the table
above is wrong — title, name, transition status — open an
[issue](https://github.com/b00mhauer/iowa-city-schools-board-archive/issues)
with the page URL and the correction, and the page will be re-synced.

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