Schools
Morrison to Resign from Board of Ed
Board Member Gail Morrison will leave District 191 by the end of the month.
Longtime School Board Member Gail Morrison will soon bid adieu to District 191, the school system she has served for just over 10 years. Morrison announced her impending resignation last Thursday.
Morrison said she is leaving for personal reasons.
"I've come to a new chapter in my life," Morrison said on Tuesday. "My significant other and I are buying a house together and it happens to be outside the district. It wasn't planned that way. It's just how things have developed."
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During her time in Burnsville, Morrison has been actively involved in the district on multiple fronts. Her children are all graduates of ISD 191 and prior to joining the Board of Education as an elected official, Morrison was employed as the district's partnerships coordinator.
In 2000, she was appointed to the board after a spot came open mid-term. During the next election she ran and won. Since then, she has been re-elected twice over — once in 2006 and again in 2010.
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In the intervening decade, the district's fortunes have changed drastically as the economy fell into disarray and state funding took a dive.
"One of the things I'm proud of is how the Board of Education has learned to do more with less," Morrison said. "We have consistently risen to the challenge because of the hardworking, dedicated people we have, from the superintendent on down."
"It's been an honor to work with the board," Morrison said.
Board Chair Ron Hill said the feelings are mutual.
"Student achievement has been first and foremost with her," Hill said. "She will be missed. She brought a great wealth of experience and depth of knowledge to the board."
The board's next task is to begin the search for Morrison's successor. Morrison's current term expires in 2014. Hill said that the board will appoint a new person to fill in for Morrison. The board will likely begin taking applications in July.
"Our hope is to have someone on board by early August," Hill said. "We'd like to get them trained and up and running before the school year starts."
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