Myra Jones-Taylor, commissioner of the Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC), will leave her position Sept. 1.
In announcing the departure, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said Jones-Taylor will pursue “new professional opportunities.”
Originally appointed executive director of the new agency in June 2013, she became commissioner in May 2014 when the OEC became an independent, cabinet-level agency.
Malloy said Jones-Taylor has increased access to early childhood education in the state.
He credited her specifically with bringing in more than $50 million in new federal grant money to the state over four years, boosting publicly funded preschool capacity by nearly 3,000 spaces, streamlining such programs as Care4Kids, Birth to Three and the Children’s Trust Fund, and implementing an information system to provide consistent data on children enrolled in state-funded early care and education programs.
“I leave the agency knowing that an uncompromising commitment to do what is right and just for the families we serve is woven into the fabric of the Office of Early Childhood,” Jones-Taylor said in a statement.
Deputy Commissioner Linda Goodman will serve as the acting commissioner until a replacement is named, Malloy said.
