About the Presenters

Dr. Suzanne Jimenez, National Director, Innovation and Insights for Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, previously served in Virginia Public Schools and in the American school system in Brazil for a combined 31 years in the roles of teacher, principal, supervisor of elementary education, director of student services, and director of special education. For nearly ten years she served concurrently as an Adjunct Professor at George Mason University in Special Education in the College of Education and Human Development. She received the Award of Outstanding Leadership from the Virginia Council of Administrators of Special Education and the Arlington Distinguished Leader Award for her role in leading innovation and change. Dr. Jimenez received a doctoral degree from The George Washington University.

Julie J. Weatherly, Esq. is the owner of Resolutions in Special Education, Inc., a special education law and consulting firm in Alabama. Julie is a member of the State Bars of Alabama and Georgia and for 38 years continues to provide consultation and legal representation to school agencies across the country in the area of educating students with disabilities. She is also a member of the faculty for many national and state legal institutes and is a frequent speaker at special education law conferences. Julie has developed a number of professional development and training programs (in person and virtual) that support special education legal compliance and has been published nationally as a part of her trainings, workshops, and seminars. In June of 1996, Julie appeared on CBS news program 60 Minutes to discuss the cost of meeting the legal requirements of IDEA. In 1998, she was honored by Georgia’s CEC as the Individual Who had Contributed Most to Students with Disabilities, and in April 2012, Julie received the Award for Outstanding Service from the Council of Administrators of Special Education (CASE). Julie devotes a good bit of her time consulting and providing professional development sessions for CASE and other state and local school agencies and associations.

Phyllis Wolfram is the Executive Director for CASE, the Council of Administrators of Special Education, and resides in Springfield, Missouri. She has worked in public education for 37 years. Phyllis’ administrative experience spans 29 years in the field of special education administration at the local level. She has been a local special education director in three different districts ranging in size from a small rural district to the largest urban district in the state of Missouri. In addition, she has experience in the area of gifted education, Section 504, ELL, and early childhood. Phyllis served as the President of CASE from July 2018 to March 1, 2020, resigning her position early to assume the role as Executive Director for CASE. She also served as the Chair of the CASE Policy and Legislation Committee for three years, chaired the CASE Ad Hoc Committee on IDEA Reauthorization in 2010, and served as a member of the CASE Task Force; Design for the Future, 2005. Phyllis has also served on the Board of Directors for the Council for Exceptional Children and the CEC IDEA Reauthorization Workgroup. In addition to her work at the national level she has served as the MO-CASE President (2006-2008) and the MO-CEC President (1998). In 2017, Missouri CASE honored Phyllis with the Distinguished Service Award and in 2018 CASE honored her with the Harrie M. Selznick Distinguished Service Award.

On December 4, 2018, John Eisenberg assumed the role of Executive Director of the National Association of State Directors of Special Education (NASDSE). Before this new role, John worked in the Office of Special Education and Student Services at the Virginia Department of Education for 15 years, seven of those as the State Director of Special Education. Throughout his career in special education, he worked in a variety of other roles including Director of the Virginia Deaf-Blind Project, Technical Assistance Specialist with the National Technical Assistance Consortium for Deaf-Blindness, and a classroom teacher for students with developmental disabilities and deaf-blindness. John proudly served on the NASDSE Board of Directors for over four years and became President in 2015. John earned his M.Ed. in severe disabilities from Hunter College at the City University of New York and his B.A. from New York University. He is also a proud graduate of the Virginia LEND program from Virginia Commonwealth University. He comes from a family of teachers and special educators and is very passionate about improving the educational outcomes of children and families across the United States.

Traci M. Hogan, Assistant Superintendent for Special Education at Greenville County Schools, holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in communication disorders from Marshall University and holds principal and superintendent certifications in South Carolina. She has 28 years of experience in special education which includes working in the public school system and the private sector. Traci has held leadership roles in small, medium, and large school districts across South Carolina. She is currently responsible for special education programming for over 12,000 students with disabilities in the state’s largest school district. Traci has completed the Education Policy Fellowship Program through the Institute for Educational Leadership and is an alumna of the Riley Institute’s Diversity Leadership Initiative and Furman University’s Women’s Leadership Initiative. Traci is a member of many professional organizations and is currently serving as the Past President for the South Carolina Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Scott Rhymer is the Assistant Superintendent for School Leadership at Greenville County Schools. He served as a teacher, instructional coach, and assistant principal for curriculum and instruction in three different school districts in South Carolina prior to arriving in Greenville County Schools as Principal of Greer Middle International Baccalaureate School. Scott served Greer Middle for five years and left with all core content scores on state accountability measures with double-digit growth. Scott next served as Principal of Mauldin High School, the largest high school in Greenville County with just under 2,300 students. Under Scott’s leadership, Mauldin achieved over 95% graduation rate in addition to a total revamp of course flow charts, offering additional opportunities for students who had previously not taken honors, AP, and dual-credit classes the opportunity to do so. Scott prides himself to be a high-energy leader with a knowledge of instructional leadership that helps principals reach their potential as building leaders. Scott has the ability to translate achievement data into easily understood language and then build on that understanding to develop strategies to improve learning.