Topeka ? The search will continue for a new education commissioner, the State Board of Education decided Wednesday.

The board emerged from a closed-door session without a selection to replace Andy Tompkins, who resigned and took a job with Kansas University.

Two candidates were being considered – Alexa Posny, an assistant education commissioner, and Sharol Little, whose retirement as superintendent of the Manhattan-Ogden school district is effective today.

“We decided we needed to have more discussions,” said board chairman Steve Abrams, a Republican from Arkansas City.

He described both candidates as excellent, but said board members wanted more time for discussion.

Board member Bill Wagnon, a Democrat from Topeka, said the board was re-opening the entire process of hiring a new commissioner.

He said he believed the board should hire a professional “headhunter” to look for applicants, and that the process could take up to a year.

The position is one of the most important in state government, officials have said. Tompkins made $141,419 per year when he was commissioner.

Abrams said the board will discuss how to proceed at its next meeting, July 11-12.

Wagnon said the board had received hundreds of e-mails about the hiring process, many of which were critical.

“That reaction caused a sense of concern among board members,” Wagnon said.