Updated at 6:08 p.m.
Vermont Secretary of Education Dan French will leave his job next month for a leadership role at an education nonprofit, state officials announced Friday.
French, who has led Vermont’s Agency of Education since 2018, will take an unspecified “senior leadership role” at the Council of Chief State School Officers, an organization of state education officials.
“It has been an honor to serve as a member of Governor Scott’s cabinet and his team,” French said in a press release sent at noon on Friday. “It has been a privilege to serve as Secretary of Education for a Governor who is deeply committed to the future success of all of our students.”
Deputy Secretary of Education Heather Bouchey will take over as interim secretary after French’s departure, officials said.
The Council of Chief State School Officers is an organization made up of administrators who lead public education departments across the U.S., according to its website.
“As an organization, we are committed to ensuring that all students participating in our public education system — regardless of background — graduate prepared for college, careers, and life,” the nonprofit’s website reads.
In announcing the departure, Scott singled out French’s leadership during the Covid-19 pandemic, noting that he was a member of the state’s pandemic response task force.
The majority of French’s tenure was marked by the Covid-19 pandemic, from schools’ closure in March 2020 to hybrid learning in the 2020-21 school year to fully in-person classes in the fall of 2021.
Though Vermont’s Covid-19 response was hailed by many as a national model, the Scott administration’s efforts to return schools to a pre-pandemic normal often caused local confusion and controversy.
“Secretary French has been a critical member of my team for over four years, leading the Agency through unimaginable challenges in the wake of the pandemic,” Scott said.