KY education board hopes to select new commissioner in time for Senate confirmation

The Kentucky Board of Education will try to select a new education commissioner in time for confirmation by the Kentucky Senate in the 2024 General Assembly session, a state education spokesperson has confirmed.

The next education commissioner will be the first who needs to be confirmed by the state Senate after the 2023 General Assembly passed Senate Bill 107, sponsored by Sen. Mike Wilson, R-Bowling Green.

“After … consultation with our executive search firm McPherson and Jacobson, LLC. a decision has been made to try and select a qualified candidate in time for consideration of confirmation by the Kentucky Senate in the upcoming General Assembly session,” said Kentucky Department of Education spokesperson Toni Konz Tatman.

Prior to the new law, the Kentucky Board of Education members, who were appointed by the governor, hired the commissioner of education. That’s still the case, but now confirmation is required.

Former Education Commissioner Jason Glass had said the new law was one of the reasons he resigned in August. GOP lawmakers and politicians had urged Glass’ ouster this year over KDE’s inclusive LGBTQ stances.

Glass also said he didn’t want to enforce the new “dangerous and unconstitutional” Senate Bill 150, which critics have called an anti-LGBTQ measure that will harm students.

The closing date for applications for the new commissioner is Feb. 16 at 11:30 p.m. An interview committee then will identify candidates, conduct interviews and formalize a list of finalists on March 7-8, with finalist interviews scheduled for March 18-19, a Kentucky Department of Education news release said.

Tatman said officials from the Kentucky Board of Education’s executive search firm McPherson and Jacobson, LLC. have indicated that they think it’s possible to choose a candidate before the end of the General Assembly. The assembly’s session runs through April 15.

The goal is to have a new commissioner in place by July 1. After Glass resigned, Robin Kinney was named the interim commissioner. She was an associate commissioner overseeing the Office of Finance and Operations when she was placed in the interim role.

“If at any time during the process it is determined that the timeline will not meet our expectations to identify the most qualified candidate, the KBE can revisit the timeline,” Tatman said.

In one recent case elsewhere in the U.S., a nominee for Mississippi superintendent of education named by that state’s education board late last year was not confirmed by the Mississippi Senate in March.

Tatman said Kentucky candidates will be told they have to be approved by the Kentucky Senate.

The Kentucky Board of Education will release the names of the finalists at the appropriate time in the search process, Tatman said.

Several state board members have terms that expire in March. It’s unclear how that will impact the search for commissioner. The members have to be reappointed by the governor and approved by the Senate,

“As with any appointments or reappointments to boards, it is not known if board members will be reappointed,” Tatman said. “However, we do not believe that will impact the search for the next commissioner.”

As the CEO for both the Kentucky Board of Education and the Kentucky Department of Education, the commissioner recommends and implements state education board policies and directs the state education department in the management of the state’s 171 public school districts.