Dr. Stacey Preis unexpectedly resigned as Missouri’s Interim Commissioner of Education during the State Board of Education meeting on Tuesday, October 20, with the resignation taking immediate effect. Following her departure, the State Board appointed Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education’s (DESE) Deputy Commissioner of Learning Services Lisa Sireno to serve as Interim Commissioner of Education, effective Wednesday, October 21, 2026.

Sireno was selected in July to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Learning Services. Previously, she served as Assistant Commissioner in DESE’s Office of Quality Schools, overseeing Missouri’s statewide assessment, accountability, school improvement, virtual learning, charter school and gifted education programs.

Sireno joined DESE in 2015 as Standards and Assessment Administrator in the Office of College and Career Readiness. Before joining the Department, she served as Associate Director of the University of Missouri’s Assessment Resource Center.

Additional information regarding the selection of Missouri’s next Commissioner of Education will be shared as it becomes available.