Kentucky’s Education Commissioner nominee to meet with Senate committee Friday

Valarie Honeycutt Spears
·2 min read

Kentucky’s Senate Education Committee will meet at 3 p.m. Friday with the Commissioner of Education nominee, Robbie Fletcher.

Under a new law, Kentucky’s state Senate must confirm the state board of education’s hiring of Fletcher, currently the Lawrence County Superintendent, as commissioner.

A Thursday afternoon notice from the Senate Committee on Education said Fletcher would be introduced at the meeting and only a discussion would be held.

Angela Billings, spokesperson for Senate Majority Leadership, said in an email that the Friday committee meeting is an “information only meeting. No vote.”

That means there would be no vote at the meeting for the resolution supporting Fletcher’s confirmation. The appointment requires confirmation by the entire Senate.

Billings said the resolution will have to go to the Senate floor for confirmation.

“It could occur Friday but is not likely to happen until Monday,” Billings said.

Monday is last day of the 2024 session of the General Assembly.

A statement from the Senate Majority Caucus said, “Dr. Fletcher will discuss his vision for the future of education in Kentucky with the committee. “

For Fletcher to be confirmed, the resolution supporting him would be called for a Senate floor vote — processes generally controlled by such Senate GOP leaders as Senate President Robert Stivers, Majority Floor Leader Damon Thayer and Majority Whip Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green — and approved by a majority of the Senate.

Fletcher was hired by the Kentucky Board of Education to replace Jason Glass, who resigned last year after Republican leaders called for his ouster because of the Kentucky Department of Education’s inclusive LGBTQ policies.

Thayer has said that Fletcher’s confirmation is not a given. Fletcher has said he would work to earn the trust of lawmakers.

The commissioner of education is the chief state school officer. The commissioner oversees daily operations of the Kentucky Department of Education and acts as superintendent of the Kentucky School for the Blind, the Kentucky School for the Deaf and the 50 area technology centers.