TOPEKA — Kansas education commissioner Randy Watson announced Wednesday he plans to retire from the position he has held since 2014. Watson said he will remain in the position until the Kansas State Board of Education hires a new commissioner. “He’s always asking, ‘How can I make this board function on behalf of Kansas education as its best possible peak?’ He exemplifies that so well,” Hopkins said. Before he was named education commissioner, Watson was the superintendent for McPherson public schools. The Coffeyville native earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees and a doctorate from Kansas State University.