Iowa Department of Education director announces resignation

The head of Iowa's Department of Education, which sets standards for K-12 schools and oversees the state’s community colleges, is stepping down next month to pursue other opportunities, the Iowa Governor’s Office announced Friday.

Ann Lebo leaves the department shortly after Republican state lawmakers and Gov. Reynolds approved a new $345 million private school financial aid package, and with dozens of public education-related bills swirling through the Iowa Legislature.

Lebo’s resignation from the $150,300-a-year job is effective March 14, almost three years to the day since she became the state’s director of education, according to the governor’s office.

Reynolds’ office and Department of Education did not respond by Friday evening to questions as to who would lead the department following Lebo’s departure. They also did not immediately respond to requests for a copy of Lebo’s resignation letter.

Attempts to reach Lebo for comment Friday afternoon were unsuccessful.

The department provides oversight to the state education system that includes public elementary and secondary schools, state accredited non-public schools, area education agencies, community colleges and teacher preparation programs. The department employs about 220 people.

Lebo joined the department on March 13, 2020, at the early onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in Iowa. Days later, Iowa schools closed for the remainder of the school year, reopening in August.

Lebo oversaw the transition to remote learning in the spring of 2020 and the return to in-person learning that fall.

“From her very first day on the job, Ann was immersed in the pandemic’s impact on education,” Reynolds said in a statement. “I will be forever grateful for her leadership and student-centered approach during that challenging time, and I wish her much success.”

Lebo also led the department during fights and a court challenge over masking requirements and discussions over race and gender identity in schools, and oversaw an influx of federal pandemic relief funds.

Before joining the Iowa Department of Education, Lebo served as the executive director of the Iowa Board of Educational Examiners, which she joined in 2016. She was previously a secondary principal in Grundy Center and an adjunct faculty member in education and leadership at Waldorf University.

Lebo also served on the statewide Teacher Leadership and Compensation Task Force in 2012 and was appointed to the Governor's STEM Advisory Council in 2017.

In a statement, Lebo said it has been a “tremendous honor to work alongside the dedicated team at the Department of Education and serve Iowa schools, administrators, educators and students.”

“The last three years have been some of the most challenging of my career, but also incredibly rewarding,” she said. “I’m proud that Iowa was on the leading edge of prioritizing in-person learning throughout the pandemic and I’m thankful for Governor Reynolds’ leadership in that effort.”

Jean Hessburg, public relations director for the Iowa State Education Association, Iowa’s main public teachers union, said of Lebo’s departure: “We hope the next person the governor appoints has a strong public education background and we look forward to working with them as we move ahead.”

Lawmakers were unavailable or declined to comment on Lebo’s resignation Friday afternoon.

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