'It's the right thing for me to do': District 64 board member resigns
This story has been updated to correct information about Little's service on the school board.
A Park Ridge-Niles School District 64 board member has resigned less than a year into her current term.
Rebecca Little, a Park Ridge resident, quit last week. She had been on the board since 2019 and was elected to a 4-year term in 2021.
Little didn't attend the last board meeting on Feb. 7; she announced her resignation in an email to District 64 officials two days later.
"I am very sorry to be resigning before my term is up, but it's the right thing for me to do," she wrote. "I could unroll the scroll of reasons, but who has the time or the trumpet."
In the same email, Little thanked officials for their dedication to students.
"I have nothing but faith in your abilities to keep our district on the right path," she wrote.
Little's absence at the Feb. 7 meeting led to a 3-3 tie on a motion to make protective masks optional in the school buildings. Because of the tie, the proposal failed.
District 64 officials have since decided, without a board vote, to recommend but not mandate students and employees wear masks to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus.
That change, effective Wednesday, was announced Tuesday night via an email from Superintendent Eric Olson.
It'll be up to the remaining board members to appoint someone to serve on the panel until the April 2023 election.
Under state law, the board has 60 days to name a successor.
The board will meet in closed session Thursday to discuss the vacancy. That meeting is set for 7 p.m. at Emerson Middle School, 8101 Cumberland Ave., Niles.