LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – The Kentucky Board of Education has picked Florida-based Greenwood/Asher & Associates to lead its search for the state’s next education commissioner.
The board voted unanimously Wednesday during a virtual meeting, the first major Kentucky board to do so under Gov. Andy Beshear’s directive to conduct business remotely.
Contract details were unavailable Wednesday. The Kentucky Department of Education said a contract would be finalized by the Finance and Administration Cabinet.
Greenwood/Asher led the search that found Terry Holliday and Stephen Pruitt, former education commissioners.
Kentucky is looking for a new education commissioner after Beshear reorganized the Kentucky Board of Education on his first day in office. The board then negotiated the resignation of Wayne Lewis, the former education commissioner who has since taken a job as the first dean of Belmont University’s School of Education.
The board has said it wants to conduct a national search to find Kentucky's next education commissioner, and seven former board members removed by Beshear's executive order have challenged Beshear's reorganization in federal court, which denied their request for an injunction blocking the governor's order.
Kevin Brown, general counsel for Jefferson County Public Schools, has served as interim commissioner since Lewis stepped down and is ineligible for the permanent position.
Kentucky is looking for an education commissioner in unprecedented circumstances as the novel coronavirus known as COVID-19 has sparked a global pandemic.
All public school districts across the state have closed for at least two weeks, and officials like Beshear and JCPS Superintendent Marty Pollio have said those closures may be extended as governments clamp down on social activities to mitigate the virus’s spread.
Betty Asher, the firm's executive vice president, said the ongoing COVID-19 outbreak will likely limit in-person interactions with potential candidates and may hinder the search for a new education commissioner based on the searches they're conducting for other organizations.
"There's some challenges with recruiting just because people have been in meetings as information has changed hour to hour to hour, but we are continuing to get responses for open positions," Asher said. "We just have to work a little bit harder.
"We're doing much of our work online, holding meetings remotely and doing interviews remotely, and that has worked very well for us."
In fact, Asher says the firm is leading online community forums with finalists for some jobs it's looking to fill.
"It is not the same as we've done in the past, but we're finding it to be just as effective," she said. "I think we'll be able to move forward."
Brown also told the board at the start of Wednesday’s meeting that he expects to apply as soon as Friday for a standardized testing waiver from the U.S. Department of Education, which has signaled that it would offer relief for school districts across the country concerned about testing students after extended closures during the 2019-20 school year.
Brown said he expected an announcement from the U.S. Department of Education on that front Thursday.
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