Ten of the 11 voting members of the Kentucky Board of Education were confirmed by the Kentucky Senate on April 15 on the final day of the 2020 legislative session.
The 11 voting members of the board were appointed Dec. 10 as part of an executive order by Gov. Andy Beshear that reorganized the board. The Senate voted to confirm the appointment of seven members representing Kentucky’s Supreme Court districts whose terms will expire April 14, 2024:
• Holly Bloodworth, Murray, Supreme Court District 1
• Patrice McCrary, Bowling Green, Supreme Court District 2
• Mike Bowling, Middlesboro, Supreme Court District 3
• Sharon Porter Robinson, Louisville, Supreme Court District 4
• Lu Young, Nicholasville, Supreme Court District 5
• JoAnn Adams, Pleasureville, Supreme Court District 6
• Cody Pauley Johnson, Pikeville, Supreme Court District 7
The Senate also voted to confirm the appointment of three at-large members whose terms will expire April 14, 2022:
• Claire Batt, Lexington
• Alvis Johnson, Harrodsburg
• Lee Todd, Lexington
The Senate did not confirm the appointment of David Karem of Louisville, who was appointed as an at-large member and who was serving as chairman of the board.
The vacancy on the board will be filled by Beshear; the appointee will fill the remainder of Karem’s term, which expires April 14, 2022. Per the KBE’s bylaws, vice chairwoman Lu Young will serve as chairwoman until the board conducts annual elections for chairperson in August 2020.
“We are pleased that the Senate confirmed 10 of the 11 members to the Kentucky Board of Education, which provides much-needed continuity and consistency in education during these uncertain times,” Kentucky Interim Education Commissioner Kevin C. Brown said. “We look forward to continuing our work with them as we focus on educating, feeding and supporting Kentucky’s students during the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the important work of searching for the next commissioner of education.”
The Senate did not vote on the portion of Beshear’s executive order that added two ex officio seats to the board for the secretary of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet and for an active elementary or secondary school teacher. Those seats were held by Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, the cabinet secretary; and Allison Slone of Morehead, a special education teacher at McBrayer Elementary School (Rowan County).
The Kentucky Board of Education now consists of 11 voting members appointed by the governor and one ex officio member, the president of the Council on Postsecondary Education, Aaron Thompson.
As mandated by Kentucky law, the Kentucky Board of Education develops and adopts the regulations that govern Kentucky’s 172 public school districts and the actions of the Kentucky Department of Education. The Kentucky Board of Education also serves as the board for Kentucky School for the Blind and Kentucky School for the Deaf.
