Mike E. Adams, the Foster representative on the District 55 School Board, resigned his board seat Monday night.
“I’m going to spend three years on active duty starting Feb. 1,” said Adams, a major in the Air National Guard. “I’m going to resign tonight.”
The board accepted his resignation 8-0, with Chanz Keeney absent. Present were Adams, Leena Ellis, Dale Keene, Chairman Jason Redick, David VanDerlip, Kevin Burger, Jenny Daniels and Mike Reynolds.
While serving on active duty in the National Guard for so long, Adams said, he could retain his office, but he could not perform the functions of the office under state law. The board could appoint a pro tem member, but he decided that would be too much of a hassle for the next three years, during which he would actually have to run for office again.
Adams is going on “Title X active duty orders,” he said. He will serve as special victims counsel, providing legal advice to victims of sexual assault as part of a new program.
He will be stationed in Salem and traveling extensively throughout the Northwest, including Alaska, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Oregon and Washington, while working for three Air Force and Army JAG officers from the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C.
Adams was part of the the working committee that is setting up the new program.
Adams previously served a shorter period on active duty while serving on the board and deployed to Afghanistan. He attended board meetings using Skype, a video messaging application.
“Mike’s gone out of his way to be of service to this board,” Redick said.
Adams served 2½ years on the board, and he has served more than nine years on the Sweet Home Planning Commission, from which he also will be required to resign.
Adams will continue to reside in Sweet Home.
Anyone interested in appointment to the School Board must live in the Foster area. For more information, contact the superintendent’s office at (541) 367-7126 or stop by the Central Office, 1920 Long St. Following the required application period, the board will appoint a successor.
In other business, the board:
n Approved Friday as a make-up day for one of three school days canceled due to snow in December. The district will not make up two of the three days.