The newest member of the Columbus Municipal School District board is resigning his post.
CMSD school board president Angela Verdell confirmed to The Dispatch this morning that Greg Lewis gave her a letter of resignation Wednesday. Lewis will officially leave the five-person board on Dec. 31, according to Verdell.
The Columbus city council appointed Lewis to the school board for a five-year stint in February. He replaced Aubra Turner, whose term on the board was expiring.
Lewis has been an employee with the Columbus-Lowndes Recreation Authority for more than two decades. He is currently CLRA’s program director. In October, the CLRA board voted to hire Lewis as the authority’s next executive director. He will assume the position — initially, on a six-month probationary period — after current CLRA executive director Roger Short retires at the end of the year.
Lewis could not be reached for comment this morning.
Ever since Lewis was tapped to lead CLRA, there has been speculation that he would resign from the CMSD board. CLRA board attorney Will Cooper told The Dispatch last month he was concerned with Lewis having a conflict of interest because CMSD has several leases with CLRA.
However, Columbus Mayor Robert Smith told The Dispatch this morning that it was his understanding that there would be no conflict of interest leading CLRA and serving on the city school board.
Smith was unaware this morning of Lewis’ pending resignation.
Verdell said she and the school district are “very appreciative of the exemplary service” Lewis gave the board during his 10-month stint.
“Mr. Lewis has added an additional level of expertise and professionalism to the board that will be missed,” she said in a statement.
Smith told The Dispatch that if Lewis is indeed resigning, then the city council would vote during its next meeting — Jan. 6 — whether to accept or reject the resignation, though typically a resignation is accepted.
After that, the council will advertise for the post for 30 days before making an appointment.
Apart from Verdell and Lewis, the other members of the CMSD board are Jason Spears, Glenn Lautzenhiser and Currie Fisher.
William Browning was managing editor for The Dispatch until June 2016.
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