YOUR AD HERE »

State board replaces education commish

Monday, May 23

Breckenridge Elementary – Master plan meeting, 3:30 p.m.

Tuesday, May 24

Central Administration Office – School Board meeting, 5 p.m.

Thursday, May 26

Summit Cove Elementary – Color Coyote, noon

Snowy Peak High School – Graduation at Dillon Amphitheater, 4:30 p.m.

Upper Blue Elementary – Spring music program, 5:40 p.m.

Friday, May 27

Summit Middle School – Tiger Trot

Summit High School – Commemoration, 6 p.m.

Saturday, May 28

Summit High School – Graduation, 10 a.m.

Colorado Education Commissioner Richard Crandall formally tendered his resignation to the state Board of Education this past Thursday, May 19 — after just four months on the job.

Unanimously appointed by the board in January, he cited the requirements of the post, on top of out-of-state family commitments, as the reasons for his premature departure. The board quickly called a special meeting Friday evening, May 20, where it named Katy Anthes, previously the department’s chief of staff, as interim commissioner.

“I appreciate the importance Mr. Crandall places on family and his recognition of his professional and personal limitations in this demanding position,” Steve Durham, state board chairman, said in a news release. “We know there are many challenges ahead as the department transitions to new leadership and believe Dr. Anthes is the right person to lead us during this important time for Colorado’s public education system.”



The state’s board will now conduct a new search for a permanent replacement, having gone through the same process after former Commissioner Robert Hammond announced his retirement in April 2015. He served in the chief role beginning in May 2011 previously as deputy commissioner, and Elliot Asp, a special assistant to Hammond, served in the interim role from June 2015 until Crandall accepted the job in January.

Colorado’s Department of Education (CDE) annually sets the direction of the state’s approach to public education and has experienced a spate of significant executive departures in only a year’s time. With Hammond’s retirement also came the exit of the then-deputy commissioner, associate commissioner in charge of assessments, the top administrative officer as well as the communications chief. Marcia Neal, the board’s former chair, also left in 2015 and, upon completing his tenure as interim commissioner, Asp also moved on.



“I appreciate the board’s confidence and look forward to working with them and the CDE staff on our efforts to advance educational achievement for all Colorado students,” Anthes said in the release. “Our service to schools and the education community will be our top priority while we move ahead with our critical statewide initiatives.”

—Compiled by Kevin Fixler


Support Local Journalism

Support Local Journalism

As a Summit Daily News reader, you make our work possible.

Summit Daily is embarking on a multiyear project to digitize its archives going back to 1989 and make them available to the public in partnership with the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. The full project is expected to cost about $165,000. All donations made in 2023 will go directly toward this project.

Every contribution, no matter the size, will make a difference.