EDUCATION

5 new members appointed to State Board of Education

Kris Turner

kris.turner@indystar.com

Glenda Ritz, superintendent of public instruction for Indiana, talks during a State Board of Education meeting about the ISTEP test, and length changes to it, on Feb. 13, 2015. Two new members were appointed on Wednesday by legislative leaders in the first changes made after the passage of Senate Bill 1.

The Indiana State Board of Education has been overhauled with five new members joining the 11-person body.

The change was prompted by Senate Bill 1, passed earlier this month, which alters the makeup of board. It allows the leaders of the House and Senate to each choose a member and Gov. Mike Pence to appoint eight members.

The 11th member of the board always is the state superintendent of public instruction.

Steven Yager, who recently retired as the as the superintendent of Northwest Allen County Schools and Southwest Allen County Schools, is the new appointment to the Indiana State Board of Education. He was appointed by Senate President Pro Tem David Long, a Republican, under the new rules established by the passage of Senate Bill 1.

Previously, the board was made up of 10 gubernatorial appointments and was chaired by the state superintendent. Glenda Ritz, the current state superintendent, will remain as chair of the board until the end of her term next year, after which the board is free to choose its own chair.

SB1 was largely intended to quell the dysfunction of the board, which has clashed in the past, spending hours arguing about minutiae and procedure.

Brad Oliver, an assistant professor and former administrator at Indiana Wesleyan University, and Dan Elsener, president of Marian University, were not reappointed to the board.

Andrea Neal, a history and English teacher at St. Richard's Episcopal School, also was not reappointed. Both Neal and Elsener asked not to be reappointed.

The other five members were reappointed.

Byron Ernest, who heads the Schools for Hoosier Academies in Indiana, was appointed to the State Board of Education by House Speaker Brian Bosma.

Here's a look at the new members:

1. Steve Yager, appointed by Senate President Pro Tem David Long. Yager has served as the superintendent of Northwest Allen County Schools and Southwest Allen County Schools, which he retired from last year.

2. Byron Ernest, appointed by House Speaker Brian Bosma. Ernest heads the Schools for Hoosier Academies in Indiana. He was named Indiana Teacher of the Year in 2010.

3. Eddie Melton, appointed by Gov. Mike Pence. Melton is the manager of federal governmental relations and community relations at the Northern Indiana Public Service Co. He also is a member of the Commission on the Social Status of Black Males, which he also was appointed to by Pence.

4. Vince Bertram, appointed by Pence. He currently is the president and chief executive officer of Project Lead The Way. He was appointed in 2014 to be the STEM education expert for the U.S. Speaker and Specialist Program by the U.S. Department of State.

5. Lee Ann Kwiatkowski, appointed by Pence. She is the assistant superintendent for school improvement at the Metropolitan School District of Warren Township. She previously worked for the Indiana Department of Education.

Call Star reporter Kris Turner at (317) 444-6047. Follow him on Twitter: @krisnturner.