Kentucky education board members voted to oust commissioner, but few willing to explain

One day after the abrupt ouster of Kentucky Education Commissioner Stephen Pruitt by a board reshaped by Gov. Matt Bevin, members remained largely silent about why the state's top education official was pressured to resign 2 1/2 years into a four-year term.

Those voting Tuesday for Pruitt's resignation either did not respond to requests for comment Wednesday or referred inquiries to newly elected board Chairman Milton Seymore.

Seymore, in an interview, repeated his comments from Tuesday that the board "wanted to go in a different direction" and that the board was concerned about low student test scores and the pace of reform.

He said there was no outside pressure or rush to remove Pruitt despite the fact that the ouster came a day after Bevin made seven appointments to the board — making all 11 members his appointees — and that only a day's notice was given for the special meeting at which Pruitt resigned.

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Seymore pointed out the board discussed the matter for four hours in a closed session before returning in open session to vote to accept Pruitt's resignation.

"Everybody had a right to vote," he said. "There wasn’t nobody twisting anybody’s arm."

Eight members voted to accept Pruitt's resignation, one voted against, one abstained and one member was absent.

The board's action came despite a glowing evaluation of Pruitt by the previous board in December, which praised Pruitt for "outstanding leadership" and said it "strongly" supported his continued tenure.

Seymore, appointed to the board by Bevin in 2016, acknowledged he was among board members who signed the favorable evaluation urging the commissioner to stay but said his opinion has changed.

Board Vice Chairman Rich Gimmel, who scheduled Tuesday's special meeting and listed Pruitt's employment as the sole agenda item, abstained from voting for "personal reasons" he declined to disclose.

Gimmel offered only a general explanation as to why the board sought Pruitt's resignation.

“I think there’s been a hunger in some circles for change, for a different direction," Gimmel said. " And I think that just came to a head and reached a critical mass in the last week.”

Gimmel also was among the board members who signed Pruitt's favorable evaluation in December.

A spokeswoman for Bevin, who had criticized Pruitt's performance at a press conference Tuesday prior to the board vote, did not respond to a request for comment.

Only one member, Gary Houchens, also appointed in 2016, cast a no vote.

"I'm deeply disappointed by this outcome," Houchens, a Western Kentucky University education professor, said in a blog post Tuesday. "I have enormous respect and admiration for Dr. Pruitt and I am grateful for the work he has done on behalf of the students of Kentucky."

Former board members who expressed surprise over the decision to oust Pruitt — a decision one said clearly was engineered in advance.

"It's obvious it was orchestrated," said Roger Marcum, of Nelson County, whose term ended last week and who attended Tuesday's meeting.

Marcum said it's incomprehensible that the brand-new members were prepared to decide to end Pruitt's employment as commissioner within 24 hours of being appointed and just minutes after being sworn in Tuesday.

"Obviously either somebody told you what you needed to do and you followed that or it was discussed prior to the meeting," he said.

Mary Gwen Wheeler, of Louisville, the immediate past board chair, said she did not expect Pruitt to be ousted just a few days after her term expired.

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"It took us all by surprise," Wheeler said.

And David Karem, a former board member who helped hire Pruitt in 2015, said he was disappointed the board effectively terminated the commissioner.

"I am not at all happy to see Stephen Pruitt leave," Karem said. "One of the things we did when we hired him was to go through a very careful national search, and one of the things Steve brought that was so positive was his strength in the area of science education."

Pruitt, a former chemistry teacher, was nationally known as a science educator, Karem said.

Bill Twyman, a former board member from Glasgow whose term just ended, said he has no idea why the board decided to oust Pruitt, who Twyman said was highly regarded and highly qualified.

"It makes me wonder," said Twyman, a retired teacher and principal. "I would think it would make the average citizen wonder. Not being in the executive session, all a person can do is guess."

Marcum said he hopes the board will undertake a thorough, national search for a new commissioner as was done when Pruitt was hired.

But Marcum said he's concerned potential candidates could be put off by the controversy over how Pruitt was removed.

"It would concern good candidates for the job, seeing how volatile our situation is in Kentucky," he said. "I can see where they would really question if this is a good situation."

Deborah Yetter: 502-582-4228; dyetter@courierjournal.com; Twitter: @d_yetter. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: www.courier-journal.com/deborahy.