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Retired Alaska educator named interim deputy education commissioner

Alaska Statewide Mentor Project

Alaska’s interim Commissioner of Education Susan McCauley has named a temporary replacement for the Department’s number two position.

According to a press release, retired Alaska educator Betty Walters will take over as interim deputy commissioner, effective Wednesday, March 2. 

Walters has been an educator since 1964, and served as superintendent in the Kodiak Island Borough School District for over a decade.

She replaces Les Morse, who announced his retirement as deputy commissioner last week. Morse could not be reached for comment.

The deputy commissioner supervises department activities with over 200 staff members, including K-12 oversight, the state archives, museums and the library, the state arts council and Mt. Edgecumbe High School, according to the department. 

This is the second major leadership change in the Department of Education and Early Development in recent weeks, after former commissioner Mike Hanley was fired in early February. 

The Education Department has said little about how the next commissioner will be chosen; a spokesperson says the State Board of Education will talk next steps at a meeting March 21-22.