Gov. Andy Beshear has appointed three new members to the Kentucky Board of Education, including the president and CEO of Elizabethtown Community and Technical College.
Dr. Juston Pate, who has served as president and CEO of ECTC since January 2017, was appointed by Beshear to the state Board of Education, along with Mike Borchers and Paul Long.
- Pate began his career as an English and humanities teacher at the high school level before transitioning to higher education.
- Borchers retired as superintendent of Ludlow Independent in June after 13 years in the role. He spent his entire 29-year career in Ludlow, including time as a teacher, coach and administrator.
- Long has been a lawyer in Stanford for more than three decades. He served as Lincoln County Attorney from 1990-1997 and is currently on the Lincoln County Industrial Board.
The governor also re-appointed four current members of the body that adopts the regulations governing Kentucky’s 171 public school districts and actions of the Kentucky Department of Education.
The four re-appointed members are Holly Bloodworth, Steve Trimble, Sharon Porter Robinson, and Lu S. Young.
- Bloodworth, the 2014 Kentucky Teacher of the Year, spent more than 30 years in K-12 education for Murray Independent and continues to serve through roles at Murray State University. A National Board Certified Teacher, she also supports teachers on their path to National Board certification.
- Trimble is a retired educator with more than 30 years of service to Kentucky’s public schools. He spent most of his career working in Johnson County, where he started as a wrestling coach and health and physical education instructor, and later served as superintendent.
- Robinson, the current Board Chair, is a retired educator whose 31-year career took her from positions in the classroom to the U.S. Department of Education. She also served as president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education from 2005 to 2017.
- Young, the current Board Vice-Chair, has more than 30 years of service to public education and continues to serve educators through her role with the University of Kentucky (UK) College of Education. Young is a clinical associate professor in UK’s Department of Educational Leadership Studies. She was also superintendent for Jessamine County from 2004 to 2013.
The appointments of all Kentucky Board of Education members are subject to confirmation by the Kentucky State Senate.
(Photo: ECTC president and CEO, Dr. Juston Pate, courtesy of social media)
By Tom Latek, Kentucky Today and Ken Howlett, News Director
Contact Ken at ken@k105.com
