Auburn School Board member Lisa Connors stepped down from her position at the end of Monday night’s regular board meeting.
“I am submitting my resignation from the school board, effective tonight, as I have accepted a position that conflicts with my board work,” Connors announced.
Colleagues were quick to praise Connors, who was first appointed to the District 5 position in 2007, then twice ran successfully in her own right.
“You really brought new insights and really challenged us to think outside the box,” said fellow board member Carole Seng.
“Thank you for all your work,” said district Superintendent Kip Herren. “You were so significant in shaping the systems that were put in place for what I would call reciprocal accountability … working together, not always making the right decisions but correcting it quickly and moving forward.”
Connors has accepted a position as an executive secretary with the Auburn School District.
The district must appoint someone within 90 days to complete Connors’ remaining term or the Puget Sound Educational Service District board will step in and do it. At the expiration of Connors’ term, the appointed member may run for the position on his or her own right in November 2015.
The selection process is free and open, and anyone may submit his or her name as a candidate for the position, Herren said.
“We’ll present the process we go through for recruitment and announcement about the position and then the board’s process for selecting the new member at the next board meeting,” Herren said.
Connors has lived in Auburn since 1997. She has three sons.
In addition to the school board, she has served on the board of directors for Auburn Youth Resources, the Auburn Area Chamber of Commerce Economic & Governmental Affairs Committee and the Auburn Noon Lions Club.
She is a founding trustee of the Auburn Public Schools Foundation and served on its design team for two years.
Connors was instrumental in creating the new Auburn High School PTSA and served as its founding president for two years. She also served extensively in her elementary PTA.
She was the chairperson for the Reading Program, promoting literacy and providing free books to students. She created an after-school program to serve 100-300 students annually that offered a variety of classes in art, science and writing.
