A. The position of Secretary of Education (the Secretary) is created. The Secretary shall be responsible to the Governor for the following agencies: Department of Education, State Council of Higher Education, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, The Science Museum of Virginia, Frontier Culture Museum of Virginia, The Library of Virginia, Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Board of Regents of Gunston Hall, the Commission for the Arts, and the Board of Visitors of the Virginia School for the Deaf and the Blind. The Governor may, by executive order, assign any other state executive agency to the Secretary, or reassign any agency listed above to another Secretary.

B. Unless the Governor expressly reserves such a power to himself, the Secretary may (i) resolve administrative, jurisdictional, or policy conflicts between any agencies or officers for which he is responsible and (ii) provide policy direction for programs involving more than a single agency.

C. The Secretary may direct the preparation of alternative policies, plans, and budgets for education for the Governor and, to that end, may require the assistance of the agencies for which he is responsible.

D. The Secretary shall direct the formulation of a comprehensive program budget for cultural affairs encompassing the programs and activities of the agencies involved in cultural affairs.

E. The Secretary shall consult with the agencies for which he is responsible and biennially report to the General Assembly on the coordination efforts among such agencies.

1976, c. 733, §§ 2.1-51.19, 2.1-51.20, 2.1-51.21; 1977, c. 413; 1979, c. 314; 1985, cc. 193, 447, 505; 1986, cc. 335, 603; 1987, c. 458; 1992, c. 630; 1993, cc. 653, 665; 1994, c. 64; 1998, cc. 701, 899; 1999, cc. 840, 855; 2001, c. 844; 2003, c. 452; 2009, c. 210; 2015, c. 140.