Senate draft shifts Secretary of Education search to governor-initiated request, extends timing

The House Education Committee was briefed that the Senate draft of H.480 changes how the Secretary of Education search would begin and extends the timeline before an outside national search must start.

Beth St. James of the Office of Legislative Council said the Senate replaced the House’s automatic directive that ‘‘the state board shall begin a robust national search process not later than 60 days after public notification of the resignation of a secretary of ed’’ with a process that begins when ‘‘the Governor shall send a letter to the Chair of the State Board of Education asking the Board to initiate the candidate selection process for a new Secretary.’’ St. James said the Senate removed the adjective ‘‘robust’’ and added that the state board must begin the national search within 60 days of receiving the governor’s letter; the Senate also shortened the governor’s initial notice period from 60 days after resignation to 30 days after a vacancy or anticipated vacancy is public.

St. James explained that, under the Senate draft, the total maximum time before the board begins an outside search could be about 90 days (30 days until the governor’s letter plus up to 60 days for the board to start the search), compared with 60 days under the House-passed text. A committee member asked whether the governor-initiated request reflected current practice; St. James said it appears to reflect customary practice even if it is not codified in statute.

Committee members did not take formal action at the briefing and said they would seek further input about whether to accept the procedural change.