FRANKFORT, Ky. — The Kentucky Board of Education (KBE) Interview Committee has voted to recommend three candidates as finalists for Kentucky's next commissioner of education: Buddy Berry, superintendent of Eminence Independent Schools; Robbie Fletcher, superintendent of Lawrence County Schools; and Jim Flynn, executive director of the Kentucky Association of School Superintendents. 

The Department of Education said the full KBE will interview the finalists March 18-19 in Louisville, with the goal of having a new commissioner named and submitted to the Kentucky Senate for consideration of confirmation by the end of the month. 

Berry has served in his current position since 2010 and previously served as a high school mathematics teacher in Owen and Jefferson counties. He is a native of Eminence and earned his doctorate in education leadership from Northern Kentucky University (NKU), 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 (UK). 

Fletcher has served as superintendent of Lawrence County Schools since July 2014, prior to which he was a part-time faculty member at Asbury University and a principal, assistant principal and mathematics teacher in Martin County. He earned his doctorate in education and superintendency certification from Morehead State University, a master’s in supervision and administration from UK and a bachelor’s in mathematics from Morehead State University.

Flynn has held his current position since 2019. He was superintendent of Simpson County Schools from 2003 to 2019 and has also served as a high school principal in Shelby County and a vice principal and high school teacher in Warren County. He has a doctorate in educational leadership from NKU, 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. 

KBE kept firm McPherson & Jacobson LLC to lead the search, which has placed over 750 superintendents and other officials in public and nonprofit organizations across the U.S., according to the Department of Education.

Robin Fields Kinney has served as interim commissioner of education since Sept. 30. She and the board agreed she would not be considered a candidate for the permanent position upon her hire, the Department of Education said.