More on today's KBE meeting, Mooneyhan questions board's process

"The way that I’ve been dealt with in this situation,

I don’t see any Kentucky educator

that would want to apply for the job."

--Leon Mooneyhan

This from the Herald-Leader:

The Kentucky Board of Education has decided to continue with Kevin Noland as interim commissioner of education so it can focus instead on finding a permanent commissioner.

The board made its decision after meeting for nearly three hours in closed session on Saturday.
Noland, a deputy commissioner and legal counsel for the state board, has been serving his third stint as interim state commissioner. He had stated in the past that he did not want to continue as interim and wasn’t interested in the permanent position.

”I told the board of education at its meeting two weeks ago that I would prefer not to continue,” Noland said. “One full time job is enough for me. But at the same time … I would do whatever they needed me to do to maintain stability as they pursue an aggressive search for the commissioner of education.” ...

...“We decided that there wasn’t a need for an interim” other than Noland, said board chairman Keith Travis. “We had dialogue with Mr. Mooneyhan. We appreciate his willingness to support us and to serve should the need be there.”

Mooneyhan said he wasn’t offended by the board’s decision but has questions about the commissioner search process.

“The way that I’ve been dealt with in this situation, I don’t see any Kentucky educator that would want to apply for the job,” Mooneyhan said. “We have a board that has had a failed search, and so they need to take some positive steps in how they are going forward, and I think their decision today doesn’t support that.”

Mooneyhan thought the board would have laid out a clear plan on the commissioner search, but it has yet to do that...

...“Every time Kevin has been the interim, I think he’s done an admirable and in some cases a remarkable job … it’s always been under very difficult circumstances,” said Wayne Young, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Administrators. “Given the complete unsettled atmosphere, with there being some apparent internal conflict, it would strike me as sensible to go with a known quantity.“

There has been some talk about tension on the board as a result of the botched commissioner search. At the Aug. 8-9 meeting, the board will elect new officers. Some board members indicated there may be a movement to name a new chairman to replace Travis, who has held the post since 2004. The board has 11 members, six of whom were appointed by Gov. Ernie Fletcher in April 2006. Travis has said he would be interested in continuing to serve as chairman, if re-elected.

Despite these problems, the board is now committed to finding a permanent commissioner, Travis said.

“That’s where we’re going to focus our efforts,” he said. “We don’t have a firm time schedule as such, we are aggressively pursuing it.”