In a surprise announcement Aug. 22 at the East Penn School District Board of Directors meeting, Francee Fuller announced her resignation from the board effective at the close of the Sept. 12 meeting.

In her letter to Board President Alan Earnshaw, Fuller said, “It has been my privilege to serve on the board of directors of the East Penn School District for 15 years. Tonight’s meeting is a kind of anniversary for me as I was sworn into office on the second meeting of August, 2001.”

Fuller said she looks back on her years of service with a sense of satisfaction. When she first assumed her seat on the board, “about 6,000 students were enrolled in the district. Today the student population hovers steadily at about 8,000. In the intervening years, our boards built two elementary schools, expanded the high school, renovated and expanded Eyer Middle School, made improvements to Shoemaker and oversaw many educational initiatives.”

Fuller said early in her career, she advocated for the position of home and school visitor and is glad to have a student resource officer.

“While November’s general election is the focus of all our attention, I am cognizant that the spring primaries will come soon after and that the seat that I hold will be up for election. Knowing that I do not intend to run, I am resigning my seat on the board effective at the close of the Sept. 12 meeting. The board will then have 30 days to select a new board member. I hope the board will choose to fill my seat as we have done a number of times during our tenure on the board by holding a public interview.

“In the past, when the district has advertised that the board will hold public interviews for an open seat, historically up to 12 East Penn residents have come forward to take part in the interview at a specially-called meeting, eager to serve.”

Fuller said the candidates sit before the board as a group and are asked a series of questions of each candidate and then the board votes. She said the candidate with the majority of votes then takes the open seat.

“While I will have no role in the selection process, I request that the board ask the candidates if they intend to run for a term of their own and that their answer will help inform the selection decision.”

Fuller chose the date of her resignation to allow her to attend the upcoming meeting of the Joint Operating Committee of Lehigh Career and Technical Institute, which she joined in December, 2001 so she could tell her colleagues there of her decision.

In closing her letter of resignation, Fuller said, “It has been a privilege to have been of service.”