Updated as of 1:44 p.m. on March 4 to include comment from ABSS School Board Member Seneca Rogers.
Alamance-Burlington School System Superintendent Dain Butler resigned March 4, effective immediately — the latest in a string of senior officials who have left the district in the past month.
Butler submitted his resignation to the school board, which accepted the resignation Monday morning. School board member Seneca Rogers said the board is in total agreement with the decision and wishes Butler well on his future endeavors.
“We feel that this is going to give us an opportunity to get that new direction going for us and to get to working on the things that are very needed in our school system,” Rogers said.
Butler was superintendent for just under two years. He was elected by the school board and began his position on July 1, 2022. At the time, he signed a four-year contract.
For now, Director of Student Support Services Kristy Davis will serve as acting superintendent.
“I feel like she's going to do great in the role,” Rogers said. “She has a great knowledge base of things, and then also other people within our cabinet will be able to support her.”
Rogers said the school system is searching for an interim superintendent to take over while the board begins the process of searching for a full time superintendent.
This has been a tumultuous year for ABSS. In summer 2023, ABSS spent nearly $26 million on cleaning up 32 of its 36 schools after a mold outbreak. School Board Chair Sandy Ellington-Graves declared that the school district was in financial crisis in November 2023.
At the end of January, Butler announced a plan to lay off and reduce hours for over 50 employees, including school nurses, social workers and counselors — which was put on hold after county commissioners approved $250,000 to delay the reduction in force. State Sen. Amy Galey also requested the Joint Legislative Commission on Governmental Operations look into the financial crisis on Feb. 5.
In February, Chief Financial Officer Kim McVey left the system amid the financial crisis and investigation, and Deputy Superintendent Lowell Rogers was suspended with pay after charges of failure to report a crime against a juvenile.
According to the resignation agreement from the school board, Butler will receive $102,038 in severance pay from its local unrestricted fund balance, and potentially an additional amount up to $116,362, if the district has enough money available in fund and so long as the district is authorized to use for this purpose. It is upon the interim financial officer and an outside auditor to determine whether the district can pay Butler the additional money.
Rogers said though the board agreed unanimously about his resignation, some members disagreed on the amount of money being allocated to Butler.
“It is a concern just based off of where we're at financially right now,” Rogers said, “and wanting to make sure that we are as responsible as possible going forward with our dollars, everything we have and how we use our money.”