Patsy Simpson, currently the longest-serving member of the Alamance-Burlington school board, has announced her intention to vacate her seat at the end of May.
Simpson was elected to a fourth term on the school board in November 2020.
In May 2021, Simpson told The Alamance News that her husband, Larry Simpson, Sr., was planning to retire from the U.S. Postal Service and that once he did so, the couple planned to move to family land in rural Virginia in order to be closer to her aging relatives.
Simpson made it official at the tail end of the school board’s latest work session Tuesday afternoon, telling an Alamance News reporter that her last meeting would be May 22.
Upon reconvening in open session following a 1½-hour closed session, Simpson announced to her fellow board members her intention to resign from the school board.
School board chairman Sandy Ellington-Graves responded that the board would begin discussing the process for selecting someone to serve out the remainder of Simpson’s term at the next school board meeting on March 27.
“I just want to thank the people when I ran I told them I would be a voice and an advocate for those who could not speak up,” Simpson said Tuesday afternoon in a subsequent interview with The Alamance News, “and I feel like I have done that.”
Read the newspaper’s editorial tribute to Simpson’s 15 years of service: https://alamancenews.com/patsy-simpson-has-served-well/
Read related story on possible procedure(s) and time frame for selecting Simpson’s replacement: https://alamancenews.com/state-law-prohibits-school-board-from-selecting-simpsons-replacement-until-after-her-resignation-date-of-may-22/
