Vickie Kauffold named new Catholic schools superintendent effective July 1

Vickie Kauffold has been named superintendent of Catholic Schools in the Archdiocese of Omaha, effective July 1, replacing Michael Ashton, who announced his resignation earlier this year, the Catholic Schools Office announced.

A native of Auburn, Nebraska, Kauffold earned education degrees from Doane College in Crete, Nebraska, and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She has over 30 years of education experience – 12 years in the classroom and 20 years as an administrator, including 17 years in the Diocese of Lincoln.

Kauffold joined the archdiocese’s Catholic Schools Office in 2016 as facilitator of curriculum and assessments and became assistant superintendent in January 2019.

“I’m grateful for Vickie’s leadership as assistant superintendent, and I am confident in her ability to serve educators, students and parents in this new role,” said Archbishop George J. Lucas.

“Vickie brings experience and unwavering passion for Catholic education and its important contribution to the Church and civic society,” Ashton said.

“It is an incredible honor to serve schools in this role,” Kauffold said. “I look forward to collaborating with leaders around the archdiocese.”

“It’s an immense responsibility,” she said. “I’m fortunate that I know all our school administrators and they know me, so there’s already a level of trust. I’m happy to continue serving them in a new way.”

Kauffold will assume leadership of the Catholic schools at a critical time. The coronavirus pandemic has had a drastic effect on school operations since March, when public health restrictions closed schools statewide, forcing them to shift to remote learning.

“We don’t know when or if schools will get back to normal,” Kauffold said, “so the immediate (priority) for us is to continue to provide support, guidance (and contingency planning) to our school leaders to help them navigate this uncertain time.”

“This period of isolation has reminded us that we need strong family units and community,” Kauffold said, so, long term, she hopes to explore ways to deepen the faith journey of students, parents, teachers and administrators in order to strengthen individual families, schools and parish communities.