A teacher waves to her students as they get off the bus at Carter Traditional Elementary School in Louisville on Jan. 24, 2022, in this file photo. (Photo by Jon Cherry/Getty Images)

The Kentucky Board of Education has named three finalists in its search for the next education commissioner.?

The candidates are Eminence Independent Schools Superintendent Buddy Berry, Lawrence County Schools Superintendent Robbie Fletcher and Kentucky Association of School Superintendents Executive Director Jim Flynn, according to a Monday announcement from the Kentucky Department of Education.?

The board will interview the finalists in Louisville on March 18-19. The board’s interview committee recommended the three candidates. The board received 15 applications before the applications closed last month.?

In September, former Education Commissioner Jason Glass left the role amid tensions with Republicans in Frankfort. At the time, Glass, who is now at Western Michigan University, said he did not want to be part of implementing last year’s Senate Bill 150, a controversial anti-transgender law that limited how schools can teach about human sexuality and gender identity. It also limited how schools adopt policies on who can use which bathrooms, while freeing adult staff to misgender students.

Robin Fields Kinney, who was an associate commissioner of the Office of Finance and Operation within KDE, has been serving as the interim education commissioner.?

The board’s selection comes as Republicans in Frankfort are looking to have more oversight of the Kentucky Department of Education and the state education board. The selected candidate will be the first to seek Senate confirmation under a law the General Assembly passed last year.?

According to KDE, the board plans to submit a name to the Senate for consideration by the end of the month.?

In this legislative session, which ends next month, Republicans are backing legislation to create partisan elections for the KBE. Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear has criticized the idea.?

After Glass’ departure, the governor said it would be “much more challenging” to find a new education commissioner this time around.?

Here is more information on the finalists’ backgrounds:?

• Buddy Berry has been the superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools since 2010. He began his education career as a high school mathematics teacher in Owen County and Jefferson County. Berry earned a doctorate in education leadership from Northern Kentucky University, a superintendent certification from Eastern Kentucky University, a master’s in instructional leadership from Bellarmine University, a master’s in secondary counseling from the University of Louisville and a bachelor’s in mathematics education from the University of Kentucky. He is a native of Eminence.?
• Robbie Fletcher has been the superintendent of Lawrence County Schools since 2014. Before that, he was a part-time faculty member at Asbury University, and a principal, assistant principal and mathematics teacher in Martin County. Fletcher earned a doctorate in education and a superintendency certification from Morehead State University, a master’s in supervision and administration from the University of Kentucky, and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Morehead State University.
• Jim Flynn became the executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents in 2019. Before that, he was the superintendent of Simpson County Schools from 2003 to 2019. Flynn has also held positions as a high school principal in Shelby County, and served as vice principal and high school science teacher in Warren County. Flynn holds a doctorate in educational leadership from Northern Kentucky University, a master’s in biology and secondary education from Texas A & M University at Corpus Christi, and a bachelor’s in biology from Western Kentucky University.