PORT TOWNSEND — The longest-serving member of the Port Townsend School Board has announced her resignation effective Oct. 31 for personal reasons.
The School Board is expected to accept Anne Burkart’s resignation at a meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Gael Stuart Building, 1610 Blaine St.
Burkart was first elected to the board in 2007, when she defeated incumbent Harold Sherwood, and was re-elected in 2011 without opposition. Her current term expires Dec. 31, 2015.
Burkart, 71, is returning to Orange County, Calif.
“Health and other family and financial considerations make it necessary to move closer to family in Southern California,” she said in her resignation letter in the board agenda packet.
Burkart said she was leaving “with a heavy heart” but added that the public school district has made progress during her time on the board, the longest of any now serving.
“My seven-year tenure on the board has been one of the most satisfying endeavors of my life,” she wrote.
“I believe this district is on the cutting edge of how education should and will be delivered to all students in the future.”
Moving forward
Burkart wrote that she is excited about the direction of the district’s Maritime Schools Initiative and the leadership of Superintendent David Engle.
Twenty years ago, Burkart retired from a sales position at Pacific Bell in Orange County and moved to Port Townsend.
The timing of the decision to return has to do with health problems suffered by her husband, Mike, and the sale of their house in Kala Point, she said.
“I am resigning at the end of October to give the board a chance to select someone else,” she said.
“I wanted to do this before winter because we have a big house that costs a lot of money to heat.”
When a seat becomes vacant midterm, the remaining board members choose a replacement, who serves until the next election.
The scheduling of advertising and interviews for a replacement could be addressed at Monday’s meeting.
Burkart said she did not know whether she’d be involved in the selection of a new member.
While only five members can serve at a time, Burkart said she would be around to help the new member acclimate to the position.
The vacancy will be the second on the board this year.
In March, Nathanael O’Hara, a Port Townsend accountant, was selected to replace Bill LeMaster, who resigned for personal reasons.
Other current board members are Chairwoman Holley Carlson, Jennifer James-Wilson and Pam Daly.
Burkart is following the path of former Jefferson County Treasurer Judi Morris, whom she knew in Southern California when their husbands worked for the same company.
Morris resigned in June, also for personal reasons and after the sale of her house in Kala Point.
Burkart’s district includes Kala Point, Woodland Hills and part of the southern end of Port Townsend.
“I’m very excited about the direction the district is taking,” she said.
“I believe that place-based education is the wave of the future.”
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Jefferson County Reporter Charlie Bermant can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at cbermant@peninsuladailynews.com.
