Key Items on the Agenda
Des Moines Community Schools has scheduled a special hybrid session for noon on August 7, 2026, at 901 Walnut Street, Conference Room 609. The agenda is narrowly focused on personnel recommendations, along with approval of the meeting agenda and adjournment.
- The board is scheduled to consider approval of the agenda as presented.
- The superintendent recommends approval of the attached personnel recommendations.
- The personnel report includes resignations, certified staff elections, coaching and stipend assignments, a contract change, and salary changes.
Personnel Recommendations
Staff Resignations
The packet lists 13 resignations across elementary, middle, high school, and district-level positions. Most have effective dates between August 4 and August 11, 2026.
Positions affected include teachers, curriculum coordinators, an instructional coach, an Advanced Learning Program consultant, a Social Emotional Behavioral Health interventionist, and a head vocal music teacher.
Certified Staff Hiring
The personnel recommendations include a substantial group of certified staff elections for the upcoming school year. The proposed hires span elementary, middle, high school, preschool, district, special education, nursing, counseling, intervention, and administrative roles.
Listed salaries vary by position and assignment. Examples include:
- Rachel Abbott — 4th Grade Teacher at Studebaker Elementary, $50,569.
- Ryan Barcus — Special Education Teacher - Strat I at Roosevelt High, $81,794.
- Sarah Chenoweth — Associate Principal at Monroe Elementary, $91,575.74.
- Mary Holmes — Board Certified Behavior Analyst with Student Services at Smouse, $80,949.
- Nicholas Howard — Head Band Director at Hoover High, $79,949.
- Kelly Schnackenberg — Associate Principal at McKinley Elementary, $98,672, prorated.
- Elizabeth Sheridan — Associate Principal at Goodrell Middle, $109,142.
Most certified elections listed in the packet have an August 10, 2026, effective date, although several positions have different start dates.
Coaching and Stipend Assignments
The board is also scheduled to consider numerous coaching and stipend assignments for fall athletics at district high schools and middle schools. The recommendations cover football, volleyball, cross country, swimming, and tennis.
High school stipends listed in the packet include $8,523 for head boys football coaches, $6,832 for head girls volleyball coaches, and $5,344 for several head cross country assignments. Middle school coaching stipends listed include amounts such as $2,198 for head coaching assignments and $1,793 for several assistant or ratio-based assignments.
Contract and Salary Changes
The personnel report includes a contract change for Sarai Tillinghast, listed as an Associate Principal at Roosevelt High with an effective date of August 5, 2026, and a salary of $122,126. The packet notes that this entry reflects a location and salary change only.
Three salary changes are also listed:
- Greta Dittmar — Lincoln High Science Teacher, $51,769.
- Taylor McDole — Lincoln High Science Teacher, $51,769.
- Caitlin McEntaffer — North High Special Education Teacher - Strat II, $51,769.
Each of those salary changes has an effective date of August 10, 2026.
What to Watch at the Meeting
The personnel recommendations are the only substantive action item identified on the special-session agenda. The superintendent recommends board approval of the package, which combines staff departures with proposed certified hires, coaching and stipend assignments, and employment changes across the district.
Because the packet presents the personnel recommendations as a single action item, the meeting agenda does not separately identify individual personnel entries for distinct board action.
