Nevada education superintendent Rheault plans to resign

Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Keith Rheault told the state Board of Education on Thursday that he will not seek the governor’s appointment to retain his position and probably will resign sometime before March 2013, when his current three-year term expires.

Under a new law reorganizing the governance of public education, the appointment of the state superintendent has shifted from the state board to the governor.

As part of the reorganization, the governor also will appoint three board members. Four board members will be elected from the state’s four congressional districts.

Rheault said he is not interested in keeping the job because of the position’s loss of independence.

He said that he thinks the next superintendent should be in place before the next regular Legislative session starts in 2013.

Rheault is in his third three-year term. He would have served nine years if he had stayed on the job until March 2013.

Because the new board will not take over until 2013, the current board would be responsible for nominating three candidates for the governor to consider should Rheault resign before then.