Jodi O’Mara Named Acting Superintendent of Springfield Public Schools for Four Months

The Springfield Public Schools Board of Directors appointed Jodi O’Mara as acting superintendent after a unanimous vote, putting a 30-year Oregon educator in charge as the district confronts budget deficits and possible layoffs. The board action follows a settlement reported to include payment to former superintendent Todd Hamilton equal to a year of his gross salary in exchange for dropping his legal claim against the board.

Board minutes show the Board voted to appoint O’Mara on Feb. 23, and the district posted on its website March 2 that she officially began serving as acting superintendent. Reporting from local broadcasters described O’Mara starting her first day on Monday, March 2, while Lookout Eugene–Springfield reported she will serve March 1 through June 30, 2026 — a span multiple outlets characterize as four months. The district has not been quoted with a single definitive effective day in the public posts.

The Feb. 23 vote resolved an impasse that followed a Friday night meeting when two members, Board Chair Jonathan Light and Vice Chair Amber Langworthy, changed their votes from principal Ame Beard to Jodi O’Mara after a weekend of gathering input. Lookout reported both Light and Langworthy cited the need for prior superintendent experience as their reason for switching to O’Mara.

O’Mara arrives with more than 30 years of Oregon experience, including a decade as superintendent of Mapleton School District and three years serving as an administrative mentor in Springfield supporting elementary principals at four schools. She told reporters, “So, I kind of have been in the trenches and it's amazing to be in the schools to see what's happening,” and added, “I'm so excited now as the acting superintendent to be able to come in at a different level and help support what's happening in the schools.” She also said, “Just being present and engaged and in the moment, I think that is going to be really key to helping to calm the waters and move forward.”

O’Mara has framed immediate priorities around returning attention to students and grounding difficult budget choices in staff input. Local accounts note she plans to use a student-focused decision-making framework and consult those “in the trenches” to shape responses to cuts and staff reductions that could be on the table.

Reporting by NBC16 and KVAL identified the reported settlement with Todd Hamilton and noted both outlets submitted public-records requests seeking the exact payout amount but had not received that information at the time of their stories. The district’s handling of the payout and the mechanics of the settlement are likely to affect budget calculations that O’Mara will face during her term.

Lookout’s explicit March 1–June 30 timeline and the broadcaster accounts that place her first day on Monday underscore a small but notable discrepancy in start-day reporting; regardless of the precise first calendar day, O’Mara will lead Springfield Public Schools through the end of June as the district navigates fiscal decisions and the short-term leadership transition.