JACKSON, Miss. (AP) - A former high-ranking employee at the Mississippi Department of Education has received a $48,000 contract to do two months of consulting work for the agency.
The department awarded the contract to J.P. Beaudoin (boh-DWANN), effective May 5, The Clarion-Ledger reported Thursday (https://on.thec-l.com/2r55AmT ).
He was the department’s research chief from August 2015 until last October, with an annual salary of $158,000. He is now the CEO of Research In Action, an education consulting company in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
The contract was first reported Wednesday by Mississippi Today.
Department of Education documents show Research In Action will produce some annual reports that are required by federal law.
Because the total amount of the contract is below $50,000, it did not require approval by the state Board of Education.
When he worked at the Department of Education, Beaudoin supervised six offices, including student assessment, accreditation and educator licensure. He was helped develop state testing standards.
Regulations from the state Personal Service Contract Review board say that for a year after leaving a state government job, it is a breach of ethical standards for a former employee to have a state contract “in matters which were within the former employee’s official responsibility.”
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Information from: The Clarion-Ledger, https://www.clarionledger.com
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