PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- State Sen. Hanna Gallo said Friday that she will file legislation to delay the creation of a new Board of Education that is supposed to begin overseeing the state's elementary, secondary and higher education programs as of Jan. 1.
Gallo said the delay is needed to give the Senate more time to review the governor's appointments to the new board, which will replace the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education and the Board of Governors for Higher Education.
Both of the existing boards have already held what was billed as final meetings, but Gallo's legislation will call for them to continue through Feb. 7, according to a Senate news release.
Under legislation adopted this year, the new board is supposed to have 11 members, all appointed by the governor and all of them subject to approval by the Senate. Governor Chafee, however, while announcinng plans to appoint George Caruolo, the current chairman of the Board of Regents, to chair the new board, has not announced other appointments, the news release said.
Gallo, a Cranston Democrat, said the Senate "has an obligation to fully and properly vet the governor's appointments to the new Board of Education, and that simply is not possible given the time constraints before the new board is to go into effect on Jan. 1."