Resident tapped for U.S. education department role
STAMFORD — A Stamford resident will play a major role in helping American schools reopen in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Nick Simmons, who has served in the administration of Gov. Ned Lamont since 2019, will be a senior adviser to Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, focusing on “school reopening and recovery.”
Simmons has worked as Lamont’s director of strategic initiatives and was in charge of coordinating with the state departments of Education and Public Health on the reopening of schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as closing the K-12 digital divide and supporting students with remote learning.
According to a press release from Lamont’s office, Connecticut has offered more in-school learning for students than any other state in the northeast.
But what really set the state apart was its school and student data collection systems, which according to Lamont’s office, was “the most comprehensive” in the nation.
“We had one of the best weekly data tracing systems,” Simmons said, adding that he now has “the opportunity to bring the Connecticut model to Washington.”
The state’s performance with delivering education during the pandemic has seemingly caught the eye of the administration of President Joe Biden, who earlier this year selected Cardona, formerly the top education official in Connecticut, as the national education secretary.
“President Biden has made very clear that he wants to get all schools safely reopened as soon as possible,” Simmons said. “That’s the goal.”
Simmons said Cardona was one of the colleagues he worked most closely with in the past year and they stayed in touch after Cardona’s nomination.
The 31-year-old Simmons, who is the brother of state Rep. and Stamford mayoral candidate Caroline Simmons, said one of his first jobs will be to scale the data systems used in Connecticut for
the wider United States.
In Connecticut, state officials kept weekly tabs on what school districts were offering in terms of in-person and remote learning. That would give them an idea of how many of the state’s students were in each model at any time.
Lamont applauded the selection on Friday, calling it “a good choice.”
“The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the way schools function in nearly every capacity, and I am proud of the way Connecticut’s education officials, teachers, and staff have been able to respond in order to ensure that students continue to receive a quality education,” Lamont said, in a press release. “From the outset, Nick has worked to help coordinate these efforts for my office, and I appreciate the time and energy he has contributed on behalf of the students of Connecticut.”
Before serving in Lamont’s administration, Simmons was a seventh-grade math teacher and assistant principal in Harlem, N.Y. He holds a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, a master of business administration degree from Harvard Business School, and a bachelor’s degree from Yale University.
On Friday, Simmons said he was excited about the opportunity, but sad to leave his colleagues in Connecticut.
“It’s bittersweet to leave all the incredible colleagues who have been doing terrific work in the Lamont administration,” he said.