Kentucky education board appoints interim education commissioner. Here’s who it is
An official already in Kentucky’s Department of Education was named Thursday as the state’s interim education commissioner.
Robin Kinney, the state Department of Education’s associate commissioner, was named to the position Thursday afternoon. Kinney oversees the Office of Finance and Operations. She will not be eligible for the permanent position. A unanimous vote was taken to appoint her by the Kentucky Board of Education without comment.
She will make an annual salary of $260,000.
Kinney was named to the position after Kentucky Education Commissioner Jason Glass said he’s leaving his job, and the state, because he didn’t want to enforce the new “dangerous and unconstitutional” Senate Bill 150 that critics have called an anti-LGBTQ measure.
Glass has said he would leave his job Sept. 29 to become an associate vice-president at Western Michigan University.
Kinney will assume her new role Sept. 30, one day after Glass leaves his position.
“The board is confident in Robin’s dedication to public education and her experience in KDE,” Kentucky Board of Education Chairwoman Sharon Porter Robinson said in a news release. “She will serve our state well during her tenure as interim commissioner. We appreciate her willingness to take on this important role, and we look forward to her leadership as we continue our mission to provide the best education for Kentucky’s students.”
Kinney was part of the Kentucky Department of Education from 2003 to 2008, and then rejoined in 2015, according to a news release. She previously served as interim commissioner for a short period in December of 2019 following the departure of former Commissioner Wayne Lewis.
She received a bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Kentucky and a juris doctorate from UK’s College of Law. She is a licensed attorney in Kentucky and Florida.
“I’m honored to serve in this capacity until the board is able to select a new permanent commissioner,” she said. “My goal will be to make sure the initiatives of the board and the agency continue on through this transitional period. I look forward to working alongside Team KDE as we continue to support our schools and districts.”
Kinney said the best part of her job is “getting to work with really smart and dedicated people -- both at KDE and in our districts.”
In her current role, she oversees four divisions that deal with budget and financial management, resource management, district support services, and school and community nutrition.
Kinney and her husband, Scott, live in Frankfort. Their daughter, Megan, is a kindergarten teacher in Shelby County Schools.
On Aug. 21, the Kentucky Board of Education authorized the Department of Education to issue a solicitation for a national search firm that could begin a search for a new permanent commissioner.
The goal is for the search firm to start work no later than Dec. 1.
Over the next three months, state board of education members will engage with various stakeholder groups, including all of the education department’s advisory councils, to ask about the traits they hope to see in the state’s next education commissioner, the news release said.
