The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announces Dr. Kyle Kruse will serve as the new deputy commissioner of the Division of Financial and Administrative Services. He will assume the position on June 2, 2025. Dr. Kari Monsees, current deputy commissioner, announced his retirement earlier this year, effective June 30, 2025. Drs. Monsees and Kruse will work together during the month of June to allow for a smooth transition.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE’s) Office of Childhood (OOC) has kicked off its series of statewide in-person listening sessions. Feedback from the listening sessions will inform the rewriting of child care licensing rules the OOC was charged with completing, per Governor Mike Kehoe’s Executive Order 25-15.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) announced today the school districts and individual school buildings that earned the 2025 Missouri Purple Star designation — the fourth round of designees in this statewide program:

2025 Purple Star School Districts

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary’s (DESE’s) Office of Childhood (OOC) has fully reviewed the child care subsidy backlog in family applications for child care assistance, provider applications for subsidy contracts, and provider payment reviews through September. Payments will continue to be sent over the coming weeks. Starting in March, the OOC will be reviewing family applications and provider contract applications within the OOC’s expected processing time.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has awarded $2 million to six local education agencies (LEAs) under the Career and Technical Education (CTE) Limited Access Grant. Each LEA was eligible to receive up to $400,000 to expand CTE programming for the 2025-26 school year where access to high-quality learning opportunities has been limited.

Missouri’s 2024 scores on national math and reading assessments remained steady in both grades 4 and 8, according to data released today by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP). Missouri’s scores statistically aligned with the national average on all four NAEP assessments.

The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary’s (DESE’s) Office of Childhood (OOC) continues to clear the child care subsidy backlog in family applications for child care assistance, provider applications for subsidy contracts, and provider payment reviews. The OOC experienced several technical challenges launching the new Child Care Data System (CCDS) in December 2023, which created the backlog. The number of backlogged cases has declined each month since summer 2024, when additional temporary and contracted staff were added.

Nominations are now being accepted for Regional Teacher of the Year, the first step in the process to become next year’s Missouri Teacher of the Year. Nominations are due by April 14, 2025, and are anonymous unless otherwise requested. Nominations can be made through the online Teacher of the Year nomination form here.