Prominent West Hartford Resident/State Early Childhood Official Is Retiring: Lamont

WEST HARTFORD/HARTFORD, CT – A prominent state official and former state legislator from West Hartford is retiring from her post leading a key state agency overseeing early childhood education.

Gov. Ned Lamont announced Thursday that Connecticut Office of Early Childhood (OEC) Commissioner Elizabeth "Beth" Bye, 63, will be retiring from state service effective Oct. 1.

Bye was a state representative (19th District) from 2007-11 and a state senator (5th District) from 2011-19.

In 2019, the Greenwich-native Bye was appointed to her current post.

Lamont said Bye is retiring to pursue a master's degree in social work for a "new career working with children and families in health care settings."

The governor is selecting OEC Deputy Commissioner Elena Trueworthy to succeed Bye.

Trueworthy will begin serving as head of the agency in an interim capacity immediately upon Bye’s departure.

Lamont said he will submit her nomination to the General Assembly at the start of the 2026 regular session in February.

Bye is also known in state history as being half of the first-ever gay couple to be married in Connecticut.

In 2008, she married Dr. Tracey Wilson, who was a West Hartford town historian and a retired teacher. Wilson died Feb. 23 of cancer at 70. Bye and Wilson raised four children.

Lamont wished Bye well on her soon-to-be retirement.

“Beth Bye is one of the most caring, compassionate, and energetic people that I know, and her passion for the development and wellness of the youngest members of our communities knows no bounds,” Lamont said in a statement.

“Because of Beth’s advocacy and work in our administration, Connecticut is in the process of adding thousands of new early childhood education slots that will improve lives forever. I am so grateful that she has led this agency for these last several years, and I am confident that our early childhood system has made significant improvements because of her work.”

Bye has led OEC since the start of Lamont’s first term in January 2019.

Earlier in her career, she was the director of both the Trinity College Community Child Center and the University of St. Joseph School for Young Children.

She has also served as early childhood director at the Capitol Region Education Council (CREC).

Lamont said Bye helped develop what is "on track to become the largest expansion of early childhood access in Connecticut history, enabling thousands of additional children to enroll in these services that would have otherwise been unattainable for their families."

She also worked with the human service commissioners and Lamont to launch Universal Nurse Home Visiting in Connecticut.

Bye looked back on her time serving the state and credited her successor as well.

“Working with Governor Lamont and the team at OEC to make Connecticut the most family friendly state with the expansion of early education and the launch of universal home visiting has been the honor of my career,” Bye said in a statement.

“The achievements Connecticut has made to improve the wages of early educators and make child care more affordable for families happened only because of decades of work by advocates, legislators, philanthropy, and families.

"This collaborative work is a model for other states and the nation. I am grateful for the trust that Governor Lamont and the early childhood community placed in OEC and in me. Elena Trueworthy has been a key leader at OEC throughout my tenure.

"She has the vision, leadership, experience, and passion to lead OEC into the future. There is nobody better to continue this critical work. I look forward to retirement and getting back to working directly with children and families in the near future.”

For the full announcement of Bye's retirement, click on this link.

For more information on Beth Bye, click on this link.