A collection of left-leaning Virginia advocacy groups is asking Gov. Glenn Youngkin to reconsider appointing replacements for three state Board of Education members whose terms ended early because of maneuvering by Republican legislators.

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       The three members — Jamelle S. Wilson, Anthony Swann and Stewart D. Roberson — were all nominated before last fall’s gubernatorial election by the Republican winner’s predecessor, Gov. Ralph Northam (D). But House Republicans declined to confirm them during the legislative session in January, after Senate Democrats refused to confirm Andrew Wheeler as state secretary of natural and historic resources.

       Wheeler, Youngkin’s pick for the role, is a former coal lobbyist who served as President Donald Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency administrator. Republicans have explicitly said Wheeler’s rejection led them to block 11 Northam nominations — including for the three Board of Education seats, as well as positions on the Air Pollution Control Board, the Water Control Board, the Virginia Marine Resources Commission and the Safety and Health Codes Board.

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       Because House Republicans refused to confirm Wilson, Swann and Roberson, the trio’s terms ended years earlier than expected. In a Tuesday letter to Youngkin, the collection of advocacy groups, calling itself the Virginia Grassroots Coalition, asked the governor not to appoint replacements for the threesome but rather to renominate Wilson, Swann and Roberson to their roles.

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       “This goes against the spirit of the law and the precedents set by all preceding governors since 1971,” the letter reads. “That was the year that the constitution was changed in part to prevent Virginia Governors from removing Board members who disagreed with the Governor’s agenda.”

       That change to the state constitution, the letter notes, was enacted partly to prevent Virginia’s then-governor from forcing the state Board of Education to obey his preference for “Massive Resistance” to desegregation of the state’s schools. The letter is signed by Marianne Burke, chair of the education working group for the Virginia Grassroots Coalition.

       A spokeswoman for Youngkin did not respond on the record to a request for comment about the letter Wednesday.

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       The Virginia Grassroots Coalition supports “progressive candidates & policies,” according to its website, and member organizations include the Fairfax County Democratic Committee, Arlington Blue Families and Loudoun Progressives. Other groups listed as endorsing the coalition’s Tuesday letter include the Virginia Education Association, the Fairfax County and Hanover County branches of the NAACP, the Virginia chapter of the National Organization for Women and LGBTQ advocacy group FCPS Pride.

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       Tuesday’s letter states that the three challenged board members would “provide much needed expertise to the Board,” pointing to Swann, Wilson and Roberson’s long careers and advanced degrees in education.

       Swann is a Franklin County fifth-grade teacher who was named Virginia’s 2021 teacher of the year. Roberson is a former Hanover County Public Schools superintendent who leads an architectural and engineering company. Wilson is also a former Hanover schools superintendent who now serves as dean of the University of Richmond School of Professional and Continuing Studies. She joined the state board in 2017 and has served as its vice president.

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       “Their tenure on the Board will provide continuity, stability, and a buffer from political influence on policies as intended in the Constitution,” the Tuesday letter states.

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       Youngkin made education a cornerstone of his campaign for the governorship and has continued to focus on the topic during his early weeks in office. On his first day in the job, he issued executive orders making masks optional in schools and banning the teaching of critical race theory.

       In recent years, the nine-member Board of Education has supported policies favored by Democrats.

       The letter also points out that, when Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) took office in 2014, he reappointed all 40 people nominated for positions by his predecessor, Gov. Robert McDonnell (R), even though the General Assembly had not confirmed those people by the time McAuliffe gained power.

       “Governor McAuliffe reappointed all of those previously appointed people and communicated his support to the General Assembly so they could serve their terms,” the letter states. “It seems only appropriate that the three Board of Education appointments made by Governor Northam be allowed to complete their terms.”